Is a Golden Age Near?

 

It was not long ago I was lamenting the absence of leaders. We had them back in the 1980s: Thatcher, Reagan, JPII, Pierre Trudeau, Gorbachev, Mitterand, Steve Jobs. These were people of stature. But since the 80s, we seemed to have been led by midgets with no sense of direction. Worse, they seemed untrustworthy and often illegitimate. Sunak? Biden? Pope Francis? Justin Trudeau? Macron? Tim Cook? Never mind ideology; these were empty suits off the rack. It was as though our civilization had lost all energy.

Then came Trump 2.0. It is worth being grateful for the fact that we are again in a time of giants. Trump is revolutionizing American politics. Never mind ideology, again—this is true leadership. He does not follow polls or received wisdom or the system: he leads. His administration is composed of other original thinkers, charismatic and principled leaders: JD Vance, Marco Rubio, RFK Jr. Tom Holman, Kristi Noem, Tulsi Gabbard, Doug Burgum, Pete Hegseth. It is all quite exciting.

At the same time, in the private sector, we have seen the rise of Elon Musk. He too is an original thinker, like Steve Jobs but more so, accomplishing one impossible thing after another. His latest prediction is that the US will enter a period of double digit economic growth within the next year and a half. Holy cow.

I long lamented the loss of the old media—or rather, the credibility of the old media. Back in the eighties, The Economist was trustworthy—you could count on a reasoned take on the world. I used to trust CBC Radio. Both collapsed into kneejerk leftism decades ago. Yet now, we seem to have trustworthy voices emerging in new media. There is turmoil, but The Daily Wire seems to set a responsible standard for commentary. Joe Rogan seems intelligent and honest.

Are leaders emerging in other countries as well as the US? Farage looks promising in the UK—he is certainly a leader. Italy has Meloni, and Japan now has Takaichi. Those are three important countries. Local “Trumps” are winning elections in Latin America.

We may be on the verge of good times—times as good as or better than the eighties, when the East Bloc collapsed, the Berlin Wall came down, the world was suddenly unipolar, the economy was expanding, and personal computers were suddenly appearing on desks everywhere.