Why the 2024 Election Matters
When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
-Thomas Jefferson
I haven’t written publicly about my opinions on specific elections. I haven’t thought many have mattered that much. This is the first election in my lifetime that feels existential for America.
We all want the same end goals. A happy, healthy, and fulfilling life for our friends, families, and communities. For any election, the question is which candidate will lead to those.
One side has pledged to tame the beast of government. The other wants to grow it to become even more powerful. I’ve never been more afraid for our country. I’ve never cared more about an election.
Greatness can collapse. It happens due to bad policies. It happened with Lebanon, allowing in too many migrants of a different culture that destroyed their country. It happened in Argentina which had a top 5 GDP per capita in the world from 1900-1914. Russia and China both tried land redistribution, which set them back generations and killed tens of millions.
It’s easy for prosperous countries to decay. Stagnation, poverty, and decay are natural. Growth is unnatural.
The US is at risk.
Nowhere Else
There’s only America. Every country in the world that has followed the socialist path slowed down or halted innovation. This is the top point for me. There are so many other countries in the world that have the policies the left is advocating for. They’re poorer, less innovative countries than America because of those very policies.
Maybe you’d enjoy their lifestyles more. That’s fine. If you like those policies and outcomes more, move to those countries. But don’t make America into those socialist countries.
Innovation in every sector overwhelmingly comes from America because of our freedoms, markets, and comparatively reduced regulation. Please don’t fuck up the last country in the world that has freedom and markets. There’s nowhere else to go to innovate and speak and live freely. If America breaks, world civilization suffers.
The Canadian government has locked citizens in their homes for “safety concerns” and frozen the bank accounts of peaceful protestors. Multiple European nations have thrown citizens in jail for benign social media posts critical of policies.
We’re Almost There
Don’t break the innovation machine before we hit escape velocity. We can fix almost everything, but all technological progress will slow if we push excess rules and regulations.
Europe didn’t have PayPal and a thriving tech ecosystem, not because they lacked talent and drive. Europeans were blocked because of regulations. The US almost killed PayPal with regulations. Without PayPal, we wouldn’t have YouTube, Tesla, Yelp, Palantir, SpaceX, and many many more.
A Harris administration poses an existential threat to the innovation economy.
Taxes and Spending
If we confiscate 100% of the wealth of the top thousand wealthiest people in America, it’d pay for eight months of runway for the US government.
We can’t tax our way out of this anymore. It’s way beyond just raising revenue. It’s a spending problem. It’s absolutely necessary to reduce government spending. The cost of simply servicing our debt may soon become insurmountable.
Media
Corporate media creates false narrative after false narrative. They blatantly lie, e.g., saying Harris wasn’t the border czar when the media themselves said she was the border czar. This video covers the most common lies about Trump.
If Trump and Harris propose the exact same policy, they’ll attack Trump and applaud Harris.
This isn’t new:
Corporate media fact-checking has long been a joke.
But it’s gotten even worse. Corporate media toes the party line and repeats talking points. They call Vance slick after the VP debate and say the Harris campaign is joyful. If this coordination of our media doesn’t creep you out, I don’t know what would.
What’s sad is that the majority of Democrats still trust corporate media. So, even after all their lies, our media is effectively brainwashing over a quarter of society.
Vance and Trump do interviews and podcasts and answer questions thoughtfully and at length. Harris gives canned answers and has done one normal interview to date.
The media’s mission is no longer to “inform the viewer.” It’s to “tell the viewer what to think.” It’s blatant propaganda. Journalism is now activism.
Billionaire Democrats own most of the media, including Reid Hastings (Netflix), Jeff Bezos (Washington Post), Marc Benioff (The Times), and Laureen Jobs (The Atlantic). Bill Gates has donated over $319 million to the mainstream media, including the BBC. George Soros purchased over 200 radio stations, and the government streamlined the acquisition.
Corporate media says whatever they can to defend their side. Former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s plagiarism was “duplicative language.” And they’ll misinterpret and attack their enemy every chance they get.
The 60 Minutes interview was edited to make Harris look better. 60 Minutes edited Trump’s past interview to make him look worse. Bill Ackman went hard on the 60 Minutes manipulation. In general, his point of thinking of the media as a mouthpiece for the Democrats is the proper frame for everything they say and do:
Asking “Who does this serve?” instead of “What is going on?” explains why a true story about a laptop belonging to the president’s son was dismissed as false: This story would help the wrong people. It explains the reticence in reporting the real effects of gender medicine, or the origins of Covid—stories that could help the wrong people and hurt the right ones. It explains why much of the staff of The New York Times demanded the ouster of talented editors for publishing an op-ed by the wrong person, a conservative senator. It explains why a story about an opposition candidate colluding with Russia was reported as fact—the story wasn’t true, but it helped the right people. It explains why President Biden’s cognitive decline, a story of obvious importance to people of any political affiliation, was avoided until it became impossible to ignore. And it explains why journalists rarely pay any price for these shortcomings. If the goal is ideological more than analytic, these aren’t shortcomings. They are the point.
It’s no coincidence how every media group that allowed open discussion and debate from both sides has gone to the right. This is due to how far left the left has moved. Read Bill Clinton’s policies or listen to any of his speeches while in office. They mirror Trump.
Rule of Law
Harris doesn’t respect the Constitution and has said so many times. Biden attacked Harris during the DNC primary debate, saying, “Let’s be constitutional. We got a Constitution” is ominous foreshadowing. Harris has never wanted to follow the Constitution, as shown by her actions and words.
Harris has said she wants to ban hate speech, i.e., free speech, and de-platform her opponents. They appointed a Supreme Court justice who is openly against the first amendment. She has said she wants to have forced buyback programs for guns and go into people’s homes to seize them.
Abuse of Power
“Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”
-Lavrentiy Beria (Head of Stalin’s secret police)
The DoD will tell Palantir and SpaceX they can’t hire foreign nationals due to security concerns. The DoJ then sued SpaceX for not hiring asylum seekers and Palantir for not hiring more Asians (i.e., Chinese nationals who applied). There are tons of examples of this. Meanwhile, not one person on the Epstein client list has been prosecuted.
The Biden, Harris administration has looted the public coffers. They depleted our oil reserves before the mid-terms to buy votes. They retaliated against opponents with lawfare.
The Twitter files exposed how Democrats worked with social media companies to censor opposing political views. Zuck even recently came out saying how he regretted his complicity in this.
Eric Adams, the moderate left NYC mayor, said they’re using lawfare to silence him over the migrant crises destroying NYC. This is the same for others who didn’t follow the party line. Get in line or pay the price. This is how developing countries operate. It’s despicable.
The administration and party used lawfare against RFK to get him off the ballot. Then, after RFK endorsed Trump, they used lawfare to keep him on the ballot.
Beyond lawfare, federal agencies are suppressing information. From the FBI crime numbers to the Hunter Biden laptop to the Russia hoax, it’s no longer a coincidence. It’s a pattern.
The federal government lifted barbed wire to let illegal migrants into America. Federal agents also cut and removed barbed wire to allow more illegal migrants into America. There’s no excuse for this, and our former border czar Harris has given no explanation.
And let’s not forget the egregiousness of covid era policies— from Governor Newsom shutting down restaurants and small businesses and telling people to isolate while eating at the French Laundry. Our government officials forced people to stay home while they hosted sex parties.
The left also encouraged and applauded the violent riots in 2020, which have led to a meaningful decline in the safety and vibrancy of nearly every great American city.
Assassination
Two assassination attempts. Two.
There have been two very close attempts on Donald Trump’s life. The last time there was an assassination attempt on a presidential candidate was in 1981. Afterward, Reagan won 49 out of the 50 states. It was a statement that violence in politics is not ok. It united the nation.
We barely hear about either assassination attempt these days. Corporate media outlets even suggested it’s Trump’s rhetoric that’s the problem. Giving off the feeling like “he had it coming.” Think about that.
Transparency
Harris spent her campaign actively avoiding the most friendly media of all time. They gave softball questions, and she still managed to make a fool out of herself. She refuses to have a dynamic debate with intelligent people.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance take interviews and go on long-form podcasts to answer tough questions. Harris and Walz don’t expose themselves to tough questions. Harris exposed herself to a moderately difficult interview once, and she flopped so hard that Trump’s team posted the entire unedited interview on their YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Trump and Vance are on the front lines, taking bullets, sometimes literally! Harris and Walz are hiding from their own friends. Harris won’t even do an interview with the Times.
Who is the person you want running the country? Trump, who can stay strong after taking a bullet, or Harris, who’s too afraid of an interview? Who do you think has something to hide?
Dystopia
The Democrats control every major institution. This should be sickening and scary. It’s dystopian.
Harris said they’d get rid of the filibuster. The Democrats can utilize this to create new states and give amnesty to illegals. If that’s true, it’ll be the last election. Harris has recently changed her position on numerous issues and now says she’s moderate. Everyone is allowed to change their opinion, but they need to be able to explain why. She hasn’t said why she suddenly changed her opinions after having the same opinions for 20-plus years in politics. How can we trust her?
Watch Trump on The View in 2011 with the same talking points. He sits down with them, and they’re friends. He hasn’t changed. They changed. Even watch The View in 2015 interview Trump and how they had a friendly conversation.
Harris has been known as the farthest left, most incompetent member of her party. There’s a reason she dropped out before the 2020 primary even started. Once people get to know her, they realize how unpalatable she is.
As VP, over three years, 92% of Kamala’s staff quit. This is record-breaking. I’ve heard staffers in DC say for years that she’s the most incompetent person. Now, the media purports her as some political savant and savior while she hides behind a teleprompter.
Some say the divorcees of tech billionaires may be the downfall of Western civilization by funding the far left. Shanahan, the leftist tech billionaire divorcee who got most involved (RFK’s running mate), saw how evil and corrupt the DNC is firsthand. Her team made this commercial, which hits on how and why she changed her opinion.
Military
The Democrats are now the party of forever wars. Of course, Dick Cheney endorses Harris.
Zelensky signed bombs with Shapiro in Pennsylvania. Think of how crazy this is. Imagine if the leader of a foreign government came to America to sign bombs with Republican politicians. It’d be attacked and scrutinized relentlessly. And rightfully so.
Looking at their track records, the chance of World War 3 occurring is drastically higher under a Harris admin than under a Trump admin.
Dark Path
If the left wins, I fear for the country. They have already abandoned their principles and used power in nefarious ways to attack political opponents. The right trying to win is principled. If being principled loses, then the right of the future will no longer be principled. I wish this wasn’t the case, but it seems inevitable.
You already see it at the fringes with conspiracy theories and saying how they actually want to lock up their opponents. The right has never locked up their opponents or utilized lawfare, despite Trump chanting “Lock her up” about Hillary at rallies.
However, if the left wins this time, the future right won’t be so kind. The real populists will take over. Lawfare will come from the right, which will lead to the degradation of our society.
Incentives
Trump has lost money because of his political career.
During a private round table, Vance said Trump asked his wife what she thinks about her husband’s political life. She gave a diplomatic answer, saying JD loves supporting the people of Ohio. And Trump went, “Yeah, my wife fucking hates this shit too.”
Whatever you think about Trump and Vance, they aren’t doing it for the power or money. They’re doing it because they believe they’ll save America. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for Harris.
Power Games
The left schemes to get into and stay in power. They’re compensated by the government. Their candidates are professional gov operatives and people who have never worked in the private sector.
California used to be purple until Democrats won and solidified power. They did this by giving money to NGOs that were, in reality, activist organizations for the left. The left now always wins regardless of bad policy choices (high-speed rail, homelessness, mismanagement of forests, zoning, and taxes that lead to rising costs of living). Government unions and NGOs created a perpetual voting machine for the CA left that has remained undefeated for decades.
RFK Endorsement
“Our [democratic] party was the party of tolerance. Today, it’s the party of hatred and division. I don’t consider them deplorable, but they consider me deplorable.”
-RFK
RFK and Shanahan endorsing Trump is a huge signal.
RFK gave an impassioned speech on Capitol Hill against censorship and how Democrats and platforms have attacked him, and how un-democratic and un-American the Democratic party has become. It’s illuminating.
The Democrat party has become the party of war, censorship, corruption, big pharma, big tech, big ag, and big money.
-RFK
This, unfortunately, isn’t wrong. Democrats have raised more money than Rs. They’re also the party of corporate media.
Most importantly, Democrats are now the party of prestige. They’re prestige chasers. The party of institutions. Of credentials. Of naive views out of touch with everyday people and how society and the world operate.
As another put it, “When a lifelong Democrat, from an iconic democrat family, who tried to run as a Democrat, and whose running mate was a Democrat, warns you about the dangers of voting for the Democrat in this election, you should probably listen.”
Climate
Climate change is now a foreign policy issue.
Abortion
It’s not on the table for either party. Neither candidate can or will do anything about or around abortion federally at this point. The left pushes this issue, but it’s no longer an issue as it’s now with the states. I’d prefer it to be with each city.
Gaslighting
The Rs shout, “Lock her up,” and don’t do it. The left says the right is going to lock them up and take their freedoms away, and then the left actually locks up the right. The lawfare is unprecedented.
The left said Biden was as sharp as the day they met him. The entire media lied about his health. The left says the right will end democracy. They do this while passing laws that allow people to vote without showing ID and letting in millions of illegal migrants to the US.
Biden said he was going to be moderate. I believed him, and I’m sure many voters did. His admin was the farthest left we’ve ever had. And sadly, the most incompetent from our border to Afghanistan to Ukraine.
Harris said— they wanted to pass a border bill, but the right blocked it. So the border issue was the right’s fault! However, the border was already under control with the existing executive orders that the Biden admin reversed on day 1. The Fox interview with Harris goes into this, and she doesn’t have an answer or admit any mistakes.
Corporate media projects Trump as a threat to democracy when the left bent the rules to make Biden win the 2020 nomination. After winning the general election in 2020, they told the world how they colluded to win the election. It’s Cambridge Analytica times ten, and they bragged about how they did it. The Party of Democracy then appointed Harris as the nominee.
Policy
This election is sadly not about policies. The narrative is around vibes because only the Republicans have any policies they’re advocating for.
Trump talks about using nuclear power to make the US dominate the global AI sector. He talks about cleaning up our food supply. Make America Healthy Again.
Harris has openly supported Biden’s policies, which include taxing unrealized gains, and has campaigned on price caps on food (i.e., make bread lines great again) and censoring speech. We can judge Harris by her past actions under the Biden admin and before. She was ranked one of the farthest-left candidates ever.
Harris wanted to ban fracking, but now she doesn’t. Defund police, now she doesn’t. Open border, now she doesn’t. She has given no explanation as to why her beliefs changed.
The “Dangers of Trump”
For many reasons, I don’t see what happened on Jan 6th as a threat to democracy. For one, Trump can’t run for a third term because of the 22nd Amendment. It’s a non-issue. Claims of stolen elections are unfortunately common on both sides.
The attacks on Trump are often fabrications. I haven’t bothered to look into the truth of some recent attacks because they’re irrelevant, e.g., on Howard Stern, Harris repeatedly attacked Trump for sending Covid testing kits to Russia in 2020. There are so many reasons I don’t care about that.
Trump lies like a child. Harris lies like a snake. Trump exaggerates and speaks in hyperbole. Moreso than other politicians, he’s easy to take out of context and attack. As Trump says himself, he’s an entertainer– he’s doing it to get people engaged. Trump is directionally correct, which is the point of politics and campaigning. He exaggerates to make a point, “It’s YUGE!”
At the RNC, Trump said his children have been subpoenaed more than anyone in history. That’s obviously not true, but the fact that even his family are victims of lawfare is an important point to emphasize.
Economic and Regulatory
Our debt payments are too high. Bureaucracy and top-down cronyism reign. This is a pattern I’ve seen before play out in the state I was born in, California.
The Bay Bridge was originally supposed to cost $250 million and take 4 years, instead it cost $6,500 million and took 11 years. Not one of the elected officials or bureaucrats in charge had repercussions. This is the same for all leftist government programs. Not one person was fired for the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. There’s no accountability on the left.
From the 1890s-1920s, public service was a cornerstone issue in American politics. Our society pushed for meritocracy, good governance, public trust, and anti-corruption. This is no longer discussed.
Federally– we’re spending $42B on rural Internet and have installed none. We’re spending $7.5B on electric chargers for cars, and only a handful were built in the first year. Make America competent again.
Feelings
When talking to those on the left, they admit how emotionally driven it is. It’s not about the actual policy. It’s about the feeling. Politics is feelings. Attacking others’ presumed incentives is a powerful strategy. The left assumes their political opponents are sociopaths when, in fact, their politicians are the sociopaths. It’s classic projecting.
The left thinks the right is evil. The right thinks the left is naive. The left tries to be nice, but it’s careless compassion.
When each candidate proposes the same policy, e.g., no taxes on tips. The media attacks the Republican who proposed it and praises the Democrat who proposed it. They say Biden is sharp, and it’s misinformation and conspiracy theories that he’s senile until he debates and the world sees the corporate media lies. But next week, they trust the media again.
In the friendliest of interviews, Harris can’t say what makes her different than Joe Biden.
I have always had disagreements with other political parties, but a campaign has never felt so fake. Check out this Harris ad… men don’t talk and act like this. It’s creepy. Be human. Be real.
Giant Douche vs. Turd Sandwich
This election, like every election ever, reminds me of the giant douche vs turd sandwich choice in South Park. We can’t deal with the shit.
I prefer the candidate I vote for not be hawking shoes, watches, and crypto during an election. It’s cheesy and uncouth. But the left helped Trump win the nomination by using lawfare to get the right to double down on him. By attacking Trump, the Biden-Harris administration chose Trump as the Republican nominee.
It’s hard to take the left seriously that Trump is a true threat to democracy when they handed the nomination to Trump.
Conclusion
It’s lawfare, institutional power, equity, racism, and censorship versus rule of law, individual liberty, capitalism, meritocracy, and free speech. It’s seed oils versus beef tallow.
The left can’t explain themselves in interviews. A vote for the left is a vote for the apparatus. A vote for those whose expertise and passions center narrowly around manipulating public opinion at the expense of social outcomes. How has the apparatus served you?
A vote for Democrats reinforces the media to be the most biased they’ve ever been. It reinforces that assassination attempts are ok. It says you want to do what you are told by out-of-touch elites and government bureaucrats.
It’s incompetence versus competence. I didn’t think it would be that bad if Biden won in 2020. However, the incompetence under his regime has been unprecedented.
Voting for Democrats is deciding to have a controlled flight into terrain. It’s nice in that it’s controlled. You have all the familiar cronies and institutions. It’s existential in that it’s into the ground.
Send a message that you’re not ok with assassination attempts on a candidate. A message that you’re not ok with the government using lawfare as a weapon. Make the left pay the price for incompetence, for being wrong, and for gaslighting.
If the left wins, there’s a strong chance Democrats regulate tech, add new states, give amnesty to illegal migrants, and stack the Supreme Court. If one of these things happens, it breaks America. We’re almost at escape velocity. If we don’t break society, we’ll be amazing.
If the right wins big, it could bring the left to the center– it can destroy the institutional apparatus of the left. We have a once-in-a-generation chance to reduce gov spending. To reign in government bureaucracy. The government will do more for citizens for less.
Let’s fix the country. We have everything in our favor. Let’s not self-implode like China. Don’t fuck it up, America. MAGA.