Goodbye, Mr. Biden

As I am writing this article, Biden has stepped aside from his reelection campaign, and baring some kind of last-minute chicanery, Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely nominee. Whereas the optics will change from frail, older White man whose facilities have long since departed, to a younger (59) black-Indian female, the election dynamics will not change. Effectively, it is Trump versus the Establishment – or more accurately, the current Establishment in power (Harris) versus the Establishment out of power (Trump). The policies will not change much, regardless of the election outcome. If Trump wins, there may be more competence and consistency at the border, lower gas prices, and some targeting of inflation. But the system is still in charge, even when the establishment changes power positions. The will of the people is all for the sake of optics to keep the system humming. After all, happy lemmings continue to prop up the system through compliance (taxes, volunteer military service, etc.).

It is important to remember that the system is “The Deep State,” but it is not that “deep.” It is hardly in the shadows. It is the governing ecosystem found within the halls of the various bureaucratic offices of Washington, D.C. It has become an organism all its own. The people do not run the United States through their vote. Rather, the system continues to operate and ignores the will of the people. This reality is reflected in our political choices.

The face of a political race is critical because it is often part of the system’s messaging and social programming. Rather than the Left and Right represented by two older White males, the contrast is drawn more distinctly. “Old America” – seeking to return to greatness – is represented rhetorically by Donald Trump, a White male septuagenarian. “New” America – seeking a radical Marxist Dawn – is represented by a younger, black female, Kamala Harris. The distinctions tell you a lot about the system’s goals. If Trump is allowed to win, it will be a nod toward an elevation of capacity over social justice. Trump, for all his faults, is strong on the economy, the border, and traditional national security (i.e., a posture of strength that dissuades global threats). Harris is ridiculously incompetent – as evidenced by the border (although, I believe that was willful, not incompetence). If the system allows Harris to defeat Trump, it is telling the world that DEI is more important than competent White leaders. In effect, we will have entered a post-White world, as the old White man is defeated on the international stage by the young(er) black woman.

To his credit (or lack thereof), Trump seems to have learned this lesson. Yes, Trump still peddles the anti-deep state rhetoric. It is red meat for his base. The fact that he chose a Silicon Valley darling in J.D. Vance, however, betrays a new Trump that understands the system cannot be beaten – it can only be co-opted. The only way to win is to embrace the system and attempt to add some legacy of your own to the power dynamics that control the system. In essence, find establishment players to work the system to your benefit. That is hard to do.

The old establishment – structured around Wall Street and Hollywood – is at odds with the new establishment – structured around high technology. Neither Harris nor Trump’s policies necessarily square with the presumed goals of their establishment masters. Harris is not a friend to Wall Street, but Wall Street benefits off of traditional Democrat policies. Trump is not a friend to high technology – as evidenced by his battles with social media. That stated, Trump’s vice-presidential nominee is well versed in the new tech world and more importantly, the cyber-monetary systems that are making them extremely powerful. The system knows the old establishment better than it knows or understands the new, emerging establishment. Typically, one thing will happen; either the system will seek to break the emerging threat of a new establishment by doubling down on its support of the old establishment (currently back in power) and therefore killing the new establishment in its infancy or the system will seek to co-opt the new establishment to make it one of its own. In fact, it started to do this, as evidenced by the several years around COVID-19 and the 2020 election, whereby the system shut down free speech throughout the social media landscape (the exception being Gab). This was the system showing the new establishment who is boss. What the system was not capable of appreciating was the fact that the new establishment – independently wealthy and dominating the mechanisms of communications – no longer feels like playing second fiddle to legacy establishment types. They seek to reform the system by making it an outgrowth of their own principles. Some may say that Elon Musk is/was the leader in this movement, but I do not believe that is the case. I think it is bigger than Musk, as evidenced by another super wealthy cyber billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg was the first to launch a shot at the system in 2024. Facebook reopened its platform to Trump before the debate, ostensibly to allow all candidates to have a voice. Musk did this earlier, but Musk never had a squabble with Trump as Zuckerberg did. Was this a change of heart for Zuckerberg? Not at all. I believe it was a matter of an opportunistic Zuckerberg smelling the political winds shifting and learning from his Silicon Valley peers that they plan to launch their own coup. Zuckerberg’s calculation was probably one in which he sought to join the others or get chewed up by powerful people who know how the cyberworld works. He would rather be inside the new establishment and play a role in forming a new system, than find himself outside of it.

Regardless, the spokesperson for the new establishment will not be Trump. He will keep the lemmings leaping. It will be J.D. Vance, who will use his office (if elected) to set the groundwork for a new establishment and by extension, a modified system. This is where all of this comes back to the system itself. It is still all powerful. It is going nowhere. Who guides the system will be one of the system’s own choosing. It chose to get rid of Biden. It chose to steal the 2020 election. It will choose its path – new or old – this November. No matter what happens, the system will remain the system, and that beast is too large to kill without an act of God (which I believe is coming). Since we do not know which way the system will go, the best we can do is wait and prepare ourselves and our families for a dystopian future that comes from systems that eventually devour themselves by virtue of hubris and miscalculation.

The system will eventually fail, but until then, the system is the system – and it just said, “Goodbye, Mr. Biden.” You cannot beat the system until it beats itself, first – which it always eventually does.