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   regime becomes apparent. At its core, it undermines the principle of consent   
   of the governed. It vaunts expertise and professionalism over politics and   
   the principle of representation. Over time it has become unable to hide its   
   contempt for American citizens. Its leaders have called them deplorables and   
   worse. It seeks to take children from their parents and prosecutes parents if   
   they complain. It seeks to restrict speech to assertions that enjoy its   
   sanction.   
      
   These policies stifle the native strength of our country, which is the source   
   of American greatness. Take an example from the progressive attempt to disarm   
   Americans. Hillsdale College is a sponsor of the U.S. Olympic shooting teams,   
   who train at our Halter Shooting Sports Education Center. One of the best   
   shotgun shooters in the world is Vincent Hancock, who just won his fourth   
   gold medal in Paris. He recently gave a talk on our campus in which he noted   
   that in the competition for shooting medals, China is ahead. It wins about   
   ten medals every Olympics, and the U.S. wins about five. Of course, he   
   continued, there are so many more Chinese than there are Americans—but   
   whereas in China no one is allowed to own or fire a weapon except with   
   official sanction, any American can own guns and become proficient with them.   
   America has more great shooters than any country—people who have trained by   
   their own efforts and for the love of it, and who could no doubt dominate at   
   the Olympics. But of course, we don’t conscript Olympic athletes as China   
   does.   
      
   Alexis de Tocqueville writes that in America every community and every person   
   is the best judge of the things that concern mainly itself and himself. The   
   army of America is the population of America. So too the workforce. No   
   public-sector army or workforce should be allowed to become dominant. The key   
   to restoring our political and social institutions is to understand that we   
   need strong government, but it must be limited. This is possible only if we   
   govern ourselves in most things.   
      
   What does President Trump propose to do? Since his election, appointments and   
   announcements have come rapid fire. My favorite directly addresses the   
   problem of the administrative state. It is the creation of a Department of   
   Government Efficiency, or DOGE, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk   
   introduced certain efficiencies at Twitter. He eliminated six of the seven   
   letters in its name to call it X. He eliminated 6,500 of its 8,500 employees,   
   which comes to 76 percent. He fired most of the “moderators,” the people who   
   prevent users of the platform from saying things. Doesn’t this suggest a   
   pattern for government? Ramaswamy came to national prominence protesting   
   companies who forgot about their customers in favor of a woke agenda. He had   
   made a lot of money remembering his customers. Doesn’t this also suggest a   
   pattern for government?   
      
   The DOGE will work as an advisory group outside the government to find a   
   cheaper and better way to do things—or not to do things! It will work with   
   the Office of Management and Budget, the office in the White House that has   
   final approval over regulations. It can do a lot, but fundamental change   
   rightly requires legislation.   
      
   Trump’s party controls both houses of Congress by narrow margins. Will they   
   pass legislation to abolish a department? To alter the tenure rules for   
   bureaucrats? Or even to confirm Trump’s appointments? If not, achievements by   
   executive order can disappear in a day in the next administration. The recent   
   history of Congress, which created and has been operating alongside the   
   administrative state for decades, does not encourage optimism. It will help   
   that Trump won the popular vote, a moral victory, and that the politics of   
   Trump have been changing the party. But will it be enough?   
      
   To “expect the unexpected” is a logical contradiction that contains a truth:   
   we do not know what will happen. We sail where we have not been. No president   
   has ever staked his administration on overcoming the administrative state.   
   Reagan, the best of Trump’s modern predecessors, was hindered by having the   
   priority of dealing with the Soviet Union, and his party never controlled the   
   House. Others who talked about reducing bureaucracy never attempted to do so   
   in a fundamental way.   
      
   ***   
      
   If politics and policy at home will be an unpredictable battle, there may be   
   literal battles abroad. We are subject to direct and sudden attack by nations   
   that are more numerous than we. The Chinese navy is larger than ours and   
   gaining every month. Our defense industry is calcified, and military   
   recruitment is down. We have spent trillions attempting to build democracy in   
   nations that had never known it—and still do not. Our national debt piles to   
   the moon.   
      
   We will need the wisdom of Winston Churchill, born 150 years ago this month,   
   on these matters. He has been ill understood by Republicans in recent years.   
   Some thought they were following Churchill’s example, for instance, in   
   attempting over many years to build a democracy in Iraq. Indeed, Churchill   
   ruled that country as colonial secretary for 20 months after Britain   
   inherited the problem of Iraq following World War I. But his policy, unlike   
   ours, was to leave as soon as practically possible and meanwhile cut the   
   cost.   
      
   Different Republicans have suggested that Churchill caused World War II. In   
   fact, he struggled for almost a decade to avoid it by calling for weapons   
   production to deter Hitler. He had warned of the dangers of modern war   
   throughout his life. That danger was not only physical destruction and death,   
   but also the conscription of national life at the expense of freedom. For   
   Churchill, as it seems for Trump, war is something to be avoided and, when it   
   must be fought, fought fiercely to a rapid conclusion. He called World War   
   II, in which he won his glory, “the unnecessary war.” Whatever their   
   differences, Trump has these ideas in common with Churchill.   
      
   Our great advantage is the same that Britain has enjoyed: bodies of water   
   between us and our worst enemies. But the oceans, like the English Channel,   
   are not as wide as they used to be. To a greater extent we must be protected   
   by diplomacy and weapons. In his first administration, Trump built weapons,   
   and his diplomacy was highly successful. It may be harder this time.   
      
   ***   
      
   Despite the trials we face and those to come, we would be wrong not to expect   
   success. It is necessary. To remain free, we must have a government   
   accountable to us. That is the first precept of constitutionalism. That is   
   what must be restored.   
      
   We are made for freedom. Its beauty calls to us as much as goodness and   
   knowledge call to us, and for the same reason. This is apparent every day in   
   the operation of Hillsdale College. Everyone here is a volunteer. No one   
   comes to Hillsdale without understanding what it is and without promising to   
   help it thrive according to its 180-year-old mission. That is why we are able   
   to cooperate, to think freely, to argue all we want, and to remain civil to   
   each other. That is why we have few rules: goals freely adopted are better   
   than rules and enforcement. We are able to have what the word college means:   
   a partnership.   
      
   The country is the same. Founded with a beautiful Declaration that makes its   
   mission clear, governed under the longest surviving written constitution in   
   history, Americans built a society, a culture, and an economy of freedom from   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)