Vivek Ramaswamy and the "Anti-Establishment" 2024 Election
What Does Ramaswamy's Soar In Support Say About the Future of U.S. Politics?
With a recent Kaplan Strategies survey showing GOP primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as tied for second place with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, there is speculation (including from Vivek himself) that he will soon “eclipse DeSantis” and become the second most popular pick for president within the Republican Party. As Ramaswamy has also surpassed DeSantis on the PredictIt betting market and recently sued the Department of Justice in response to the latest Trump indictment, it’s apparent that his campaign will continue gaining traction.
I originally covered Ramaswamy in an episode of my podcast titled “The 2024 Lineup: Trump, RFK Jr., Vivek VS the Deep State?” Here I pointed out the “Woke, Inc.” author’s plan to shut down the FBI, Department of Education, and IRS, only to “rebuild where necessary.” Upon revisiting his website, though, it appears that he’s removed the IRS from this list and replaced it with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
To clarify, the decision of whether or not to abolish the IRS is not determined by a Trump, Vivek, or DeSantis presidency (this is explained both in the aforementioned podcast episode and later in this article). The reason for looking at Ramaswamy’s plan is not even to determine what he will do. It’s to analyze what agencies the State wants to increase support in abolition for, how the State benefits in doing so, and how said abolitions would be facilitated (yes, you likely read all of that correctly).
The answers to these questions are evidenced in Ramaswamy’s “SHUT IT DOWN” page, which presents clear plans for dismantling certain agencies.
For example, his section on the FBI (shown below) highlights the “redundancy & waste” of this bureau to the State and suggests that transferring its current responsibilities to other departments would be more effective. And it’s true that it would be more effective as this reduction in costs is efficient for the State. It’s also inevitable: this plan or one similar to it will be adopted as unsustainable levels of money printing and difficulty in acquiring vital amounts of tax revenue lead the U.S. government to seek alternatives such as cutting costs.
What I find to perhaps be one of the biggest pieces of disinformation here, however, comes when Ramaswamy points out the sins of this particular agency, with its “political weaponization” being the main one he points out. An example of this would be the FBI searching Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago. But the problem with this perspective is that it assumes agencies like the FBI and CIA are “rogue,” even though they were established by the State and operate within the same incentive structure. If they were rogue, they would have been reigned in by the U.S. government the moment their conduct threatened state interests.
Again, this proposal or any changes in Ramaswamy’s platform don’t alter what he himself would do as an agent of the State. The incentives and levels of leverage inherent to all functioning states make it so that actors who enter the ranks of government, while acting in their perceived self-interest, are only making decisions that will uphold the State.
In highlighting this, it should become clear that any “anti-establishment” campaign will not change the degree to which the government “holds itself accountable.” These “anti-establishment” candidates, as they’re likely to be seen by supporters, are simply those who claim to be against the State’s current display of ideology: Bidenomics, progressivism, wokeism, and even Marxism according to Trump. They provide those who are politically disaffected with a feeling of being heard, primarily to reduce the pressure that would otherwise turn to rebellion.
As for the partyarchs, the “Libertarian” Party activists who claim to want libertarian ends, it should be acknowledged that all political campaigns, of any party or ideology, actually help the State. Propagandizing people to believe that politics is legitimate—including through the idea that voting does anything—is a lifelong process aided by the notion that representation (i.e. competing interests running the State) exists.
Vivek Ramaswamy: The Next Vice President?
Aside from somehow becoming the 2024 presidential nominee for the GOP if it’s deemed beneficial to replace Trump, Vivek may very well become Trump’s running mate. Though there has been speculation that DeSantis would fill this spot, his antagonistic approach has already turned Trump supporters against him to the point of viewing him as an “establishment” neocon. Considering that someone like DeSantis now lacks compatibility with Trump’s “threat to the system” appeal, Ramaswamy could possibly serve as the “MAGA warrior” who still has broad appeal for those who switched to supporting Trump and/or the GOP due to the State attributing policy decisions to Biden and “the Democrats.”
Here is an example of how Vivek remains agreeable to the aforementioned MAGA audience:
The End of the State
For those who have had their aspirations and hopes crushed by the reality of politics, I offer here what is the true hope for achieving a free society.
The reason that several prominent candidates are promising to increase government accountability is that the State needs to maintain support for its existence. Austrian school economist and proponent of agorism Samuel Edward Konkin III deemed this as the excuse that the government is necessary to protect people from the government. As this justification erodes, however, the ultimate excuse will be for politicians to assert that they need to be elected to “run the government and… dismantle it for you.” At this point, the State would claim it’s necessary to maintain order during this “transition” process and thus troops and secret police will use violence against those they deem as criminals.
Nevertheless, all states eventually collapse.
For a case against all of the 2024 candidates, watch the Civil Offense podcast episodes “The 2024 Lineup: Trump, RFK Jr., Vivek VS the Deep State?” and “Libertarians React to Ron DeSantis's 2024 Campaign”!