The Second Coming of Ronald Reagan

08.09.2024 05:05

An inconvenient truth: there are dictatorships freer and more efficient than many democracies. More than reflecting well on dictatorships, this speaks poorly of democracies. In the ’60s, in a wonderful interview with Esquire, William F. Buckley made this clear when he stated that the idea that everyone is qualified to vote is “one of the great self-delusions of democracy!” However, this wasn’t a defense of a government formed by a well-versed elite; it was quite the opposite. It was at this point in the conversation, in this context, that Buckley famously said: “I would rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the telephone directory than by the Harvard University faculty.”

“Under a certain circumstance dictatorship is best,” he continued, “I’m interested in human freedom, and the kind of government that maximizes it. I think I could have had more freedom under Franco, for instance, than I would have had under the Spanish Republic.” It’s amusing to read this comment from Buckley in 1961, because today in Spain, in my country, it’s quite common to hear intellectuals and artists — not necessarily right-wingers — express the feeling that they were freer under Franco than they are now. And, in many ways, they were. That gives you an idea of just how far government intrusion into individual freedoms has advanced over the last half-century of democracy. Of course, this isn’t exclusive to Spain. The United States is also in the midst of a rollback of freedoms.

Government is always inefficient. Sometimes, when there’s an idiot in charge — and don’t think I’m referring to Joe Biden — it’s not only inefficient, but also ineffective and harmful. Government oversight is an indispensable requirement for democratic health. Most politicians don’t want oversight, and they couldn’t care less about democratic health, just like most of us men prefer not to know our cholesterol levels, because that would force us to take action, and not the kind we enjoy. Better to stay blissfully ignorant than … save one’s life. Better to wade through government corruption than … save the nation.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan made one of his many great decisions: the creation of the Grace Commission, a private-sector investigation of government inefficiency aimed, in the president’s words, at “draining the swamp.” Draining what? Was he drunk? I don’t think so. When malaria ravaged the United States and Europe during the past century, draining swamps was a way to combat the disease by eliminating the mosquitoes that transmitted it. So, the metaphorical order to “drain the swamp” really meant: fight the government mosquitoes that cause the disease, eliminate inefficiency and waste in government, and show no mercy — shoot down every atom of incompetence.

Now Trump has announced his intention, at the suggestion of Elon Musk, to create his own efficiency commission if he reaches office. It will also be made up of private-sector figures, with the primary goal of tackling inflation and eradicating anything that contributes to government inefficiency.

The truth is that the Grace Commission, led by businessman and Reagan’s friend Peter Grace, wasn’t quite a success story. In 1984, the Grace Commission presented its report to the government, with about 2,478 recommendations that would supposedly save $424 billion of “waste” over three years. Reagan’s report later claimed that Congress agreed with 1,600 of the recommendations, though there was hesitation over Grace’s savings calculations and the actual budget savings.

Reagan’s idea failed because, even though politicians agreed with many measures, most were never implemented — another lovely metaphor for the vicious inefficiency of government and its ripple effects, including the idiotic bureaucracy of Congress. Then you’ll ask me why I sometimes think a good dictatorship is better than a bad democracy. Let’s continue:

Trump and Musk now have a golden opportunity to turn this failure around. The idea is brilliant, and, regardless of idiotic prejudices, it brings public administration closer to the type of private-sector talent that would never enter politics or manage public funds. This is the kind of people who simply make money and do things well in their companies. The mere fact that they might spend some of their time trying to make the government more efficient is wonderful news for all sensible people. If, as in Grace’s case, the commission members are competent individuals regardless of their political leanings, even better.

The task of executing the recommendations to slim down the government, make it more efficient, reduce inflation, and clean up the economy will ultimately lie in Trump’s hands, this time for real. If he succeeds, Reagan’s spirit will smile proudly, wherever he is.

Translated by Joel Dalmau.

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