Socialism: Government ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership

Trump wants to install socialism. He already has taken the first steps.

The following article appeared in Newsweek online.

Trump admin wants to own patents of new inventions; Story by Theo Burman

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has said that his department has been in contact with top universities to create “deals” that would give the government patents for their research and inventions.

Lutnick informed President Donald Trump, along with the Cabinet and the press, that the government would receive the patents in return for the “tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars” spent on grants each year.

Why It Matters

The statement came shortly after Trump announced a deal with Intel that would give the federal government a 10 percent stake in the computer chip-producing company.

It marks another government intervention into private business practices, which is a shift from typical conservative economic orthodoxy, and could frustrate some of the government’s free-market proponents in the Republican Party.

The word for this is “socialism.” Not yet true communism, but the Trump method is to stick his nose into the tent, then wriggle in further and further.

The military intervention in Los Angeles is but one of many examples. Then came Washington, DC, soon to be followed by Chicago and other Democratic cities.

If the government can invest in Intel and take Harvard’s profitable patents under the pretext of “taxpayer-funded,” what will be next?

(No federal spending is “taxpayer funded.” All federal spending is funded by government money creation. The sole purposes of federal taxes are to control the economy and to assure demand for the U.S. dollar.

Unlike state and local taxes, federal tax dollars fund nothing. They are destroyed upon receipt.)

When officials say “taxpayer dollars” are being used for CHIPS Act grants (or for buying equity stakes), it’s political deception. In reality:

• The U.S. government is Monetarily Sovereign. It creates dollars at will by crediting bank accounts — it does not need to collect taxes.
• Taxes don’t fund federal spending. They remove dollars from the private sector, but the federal government can’t run out of dollars any more than a sports scorekeeper can run out of points.
• Equity stakes or subsidies aren’t “paid for” by taxpayers. They’re keystroke operations at the Treasury/Fed level. The “taxpayer” framing is rhetorical, usually to make spending sound accountable.

So, if the government takes a 10% stake in Intel, it’s not with dollars taken from your paycheck. It’s because policymakers chose to use their sovereign power of money creation to exchange newly created dollars for stock.

The question isn’t “who’s paying for it?” (Answer: no one), but rather why the government is choosing equity stakes over grants, and what leverage or influence it hopes to buy with that keystroke-created money.

What To Know In the briefing on Tuesday, Lutnick informed the president and his colleagues in Cabinet that he was already in contact with Harvard over the implementation of the deals.

“We have given tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars to universities for them to do research, and they invent things, and you know who owns those patents? The universities,” he said, causing Trump to nod his head and smile.

That is the purpose of the federal government: To deficit spend for the benefit of the private sector. The federal government, being Monetarily Sovereign, neither needs nor uses tax dollars. Every dollar it spends is newly created, ad hoc.

Even if the government collected $0 taxes, that would not affect the government’s ability to spend. The government could stop taxing tomorrow, then spend a trillion dollars, and do it all by pressing computer keys.

“So we are going to make a deal with them all, which is: if we give them the money, don’t you think it’s fair that the United States of America, and the taxpayers who funded it, get a piece of that?”

Ah, yes: “Fairness.” Always at the top of Trump’s mind. In fact, fairness has nothing to do with it. The federal government is supposed to support the economy. That is the sole purpose of the government.

It’s ironic that Trump always refers to the government as “the deep state,” except when he’s pulling the strings. Then it’s “fairness.”

The briefing followed a Tuesday interview on CNBC, in which Lutnick defended the Trump administration’s approach to ownership. When asked by host Andrew Ross Sorkin about Boeing and Palantir, the secretary said that companies like these made large profits from the government already, so it made sense that the government should own a slice of them.

It only makes sense to someone who does not understand federal financing. The government has infinite dollars. The private sector does not. So why would it be “fair” for the infinitely rich government to take dollars from the private sector? That makes no sense.

Worse, every dollar in profits taken by the federal government is a dollar that comes out of the private sector, i.e. the economy.

“I mean, Lockheed Martin makes 97 percent of their revenue from the U.S. government. They are basically an arm of the U.S. government,” Lutnick said.

“There’s a lot of talking that needs to be had about how do we finance our munitions, acquisitions?…Now you have the right people in the jobs and Donald Trump at the head thinking about what is the right way to do it.

I’ll tell you the way it has been done has been a giveaway.”

Yes, that is exactly what we need: A guy who has bankrupt three gambling casinos — one of them twice. Isn’t that the last person we want running Lockheed Martin? It’s not easy to bankrupt a gambling casino, but this guy has done it four times!

• Trump Taj Mahal: Opened in 1990, it filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and again in 2004.
• Trump Plaza: Opened in 1984, it filed for bankruptcy in 1992.
• Trump Castle: Opened in 1985, it filed for bankruptcy in 1992.

And let’s not even discuss Trump airlines, Trump steaks, Trump perfume, Trump water, GoTrump.com, Trump Mortgage, Trump vodka, Trump Magazine, the criminal Trump University, the fake Trump Foundation and all the other Trump failures.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai previously told Newsweek in reference to the Intel deal: “The previous administration pushed legislation to dole out billions in grants that prioritized DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] over taxpayer return to some of the largest semiconductor companies in the world.

Utter, nonsense.

1. No company prioritizes DEI over profits. That is just Trumpist scare-mongering.
2. Intel was not formed to create taxpayer return (i.e., paying taxes). It was formed and run  to create shareholder returns, although it seemingly fell short. The “taxpayer return” line simply is a fake excuse for taking over a private company.
3. Taxpayers will not receive anything from federal ownership of Intel stock. Please advise if ever a check from the government marked “Lockheed Martin profits” arrives in your mailbox.
4. Only a convicted criminal and proven bigot like Trump could make DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) a bad thing. DEI promotes fair treatment of all people, including groups who have historically been subject to discrimination based on identity or disability.

A. Diversity refers to variety within a workforce regarding characteristics such as race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, class, veteran status, or religion. (i.e., not employing only those of one race or one gender.)

B. Equity means decision-making authority to all groups, including those that have historically been disadvantaged. (i.e., allowing any races and genders to be executives and directors’ members.)

C. Inclusion refers to allowing all employees to know their voices will be heard. (i.e., taking seriously complaints and suggestions from all employees, regardless of race or gender.)

DEI does not mean giving unfair advantage to any group. Just the opposite. I means having the courage and honesty to tell the truth about American history, warts and all, and not turning a blind eye toward unfairness.

Every nation on earth has dark places in its history. To deny these is to repeat them. America does not need to hide the bad apples in our barrel. Rather, to expose them as examples of what not to do, demonstrates our strength and courage.

“We have done some things we are not proud of. They are wrong. We have learned. We shall not do them again.” That is the motto of a truly great nation.

Fundamentally, DEI is what Americans believe, whether or not we have been programed by the extremists. Everyone should be treated equally. We do it in our democracy, where each person’s vote counts the same.

DEI is the democratic way, though Trump has turned it into a threat to white Christians. Ironically, DEI is the basis for Jesus’s teachings, the very thing white Christians claim to believe in.

“Now the Trump administration is ensuring that taxpayers are able to reap the upside of the federal government’s investments into safeguarding our national and economic security—all while simultaneously pushing supply-side reforms like deregulation and The One Big Beautiful Bill’s tax cuts to let the free market restore America as the world’s most dynamic economy.”

Taxpayers reap nothing from government investments. Americans receive the benefits of all businesses, but not from government profits.

Now, comes the shift from DEI to “safeguarding security” (not accomplished by government ownership). “deregulation (the opposite of government control),” “tax cuts” (but only for the rich), and “free market” (the opposite of government ownership), and dynamic economy (government ownership takes dollars out of the economy).

There are certain things the government should own, but collecting profits is not one of them. The government never seek return on its investments. The economy benefits when the federal government loses money on its investments, because the lost dollars are gained by the private sector.

Remember: Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports. The more the government spends, the greater is GDP. When the government takes profits from the private sector, that reduces GDP.

Summary

Government ownership of industry never should be done to provide the government with profits. Any profits taken by the government reduce GDP. They do not reduce federal taxes, which are levied to control the economy and to assure demand for the dollar–not to fund federal spending.

Instead, federal ownership is warranted only where providing important services would be unprofitable for the private sector.

The government never should invest for profit. Federal losses actually benefit the economy by adding dollars to the economy.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell

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A Government’s Sole Purpose is to Improve and Protect The People’s Lives.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY