The Trump Agenda

Donald Trump has released his agenda for a second term. It is worth looking at, since Trump, unlike other politicians, really tries to keep his promises.

He promises a vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of 2020, and a “return to normal” in 2021. This sounds plausible. Following fast on Russia’s “Sputnik V,” India has now announced they expect to have a vaccine available in 70 days—in early November. Competing companies are now talking about how much they will charge for their vaccine. Things do seem to be converging on the year-end.

In the meantime, for whatever reason, the actual rate of death from COVID has plummeted, even in places where infections have been rising. Dr. John Campbell suggests this may be up to social distancing, face masks, and so forth. Or it may be because we are actually approaching herd immunity of some sort, or it may be that the virus is mutating into something less dangerous. The fact is, viruses tend to die away regularly, without our understanding why.

Trump comes down strongly for law and order. The Democrats have chosen to make this a campaign issue; I think it works heavily in Trump’s favour. Amid cries to “defund the police,” Trump says “defend the police.” “Fully fund and hire more police and law enforcement officers.” “Increase criminal penalties for assaults on law enforcement officers.” I am astounded that anyone ever thought defunding the police in the face of widespread rioting was a good idea. But as the rioting goes on and on, surely most people are getting fed up.

The Democrats have also, I think, been foolish enough to cede the pacifist position to Trump. They did this by freezing out and disowning Tulsi Gabbard on her strongly pacifist platform during the primaries. Now they cannot pretend to be the peace party. Trump wisely exploits this. After decades of war, Americans are weary. “Stop endless wars and bring our troops home.”

But the strongest part of the platform is education: a pledge to “provide school choice for every child in America,” and to “teach American exceptionalism.” This would at a stroke vastly improve America’s future. I hope, if America does this, that the pressure for Canadian politicians to do as much would be irresistible.

It is hard, it is true, to see how the federal government will actually be able to do this. Education is a state and local responsibility. The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, however, attempted to impose national standards by tying federal funding to compliance; the same might be tried here.

This may also help Trump's re-election chances by shaking black voters away from the Democrats. This seems to be his strategy. Scott Adams is no doubt right to say that the public schools are the cause of all anti-black racism in the US, and of black disadvantage. Because schools are funded locally, schools in poor areas get fewer resources, making it harder for poor students to get ahead. These poor students are disproportionately black. With a voucher system, students would no longer be obliged to go to the bad local school.

Aside from that, competition and consumer choice is bound to improve performance for everyone. And a soviet-style school system is not good for passing on democratic values.

To avoid sectarianism, in an increasingly diverse society, the public schools end up teaching no values at all, other than the values inherent in a socialized system: Marxist values. The results are predictably disastrous. We have been seeing them lately in the streets.

School choice would allow parents to select instead a school that teaches the values they believe in.

It is a good and, on the whole, a realistic agenda.