Dakota Beacon

By Woke, Inc.

Ramaswamy’s first book, “Woke, Inc.” exposed ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), EI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Multi-stakeholder Capitalism, Woke Capitalism, the Vatican’s “Council for Inclusive Capitalism”, Woke Consumerism, Conscious Capitalism, Anti-Racism, Intersectionality and other Marxist influenced attacks on historically successful shareholder capitalism. He also exposed BLM (Black Lives Matter) and its goals, including “disrupting the nuclear family structure”. And he exposed how the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and its managers thwart the “Right to Try” legislation that the public believes is being implemented, preferring instead to employ its own “Expanded Access” internal FDA program.

Friedman Criticized

Ramaswamy criticizes Milton Friedman, claiming that the fundamental features of the corporation – limited shareholder liability and the mandate to maximize shareholder value – can create “titanic corporate monsters” with uncontrollable power outside the marketplace. This attempt to diminish one of history’s greatest defenders of free markets reveals the remnants of Ramaswamy’s elitist education at Harvard and Yale. The responsibility to restrain large corporations from the exercise of powers separate from those inherent to the marketplace rests entirely with Congress, as checked by the Executive Branch and the Judicial Branch. Free markets can create large corporations but do not and should not have the power to destroy or split up such corporations, unless due to market forces alone (i.e., a former employee starts up a successful competing corporation).

Paine Forgotten

Ramaswamy also confuses society with government, claiming that society never intended the abuse of shareholder limited liability… when it was actually government, not society, that set forth the rules of incorporation. Most politicians confuse society with government because they either have not read or do not remember the content of the first page of “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. Government created the “titanic corporate monsters” and it is government that must correct the mistake, not necessarily the marketplace. Anti-trust laws are an example of government correcting the abuses of the marketplace but other laws have been enacted to restrict activities of corporations separate from the marketplace; often with unanticipated and unintended consequences. Do we remember a case of corporate divergence from shareholder interests that was not corrected by consumers, if not by shareholders themselves?

Stakeholder Capitalism is Not about Serving Stakeholders

Ramaswamy correctly points out that stakeholder capitalism is about serving the managerial class itself, about serving “elites”. “Morally wrong” to kill animals for food Ramaswamy states “I’m a vegetarian, for religious reasons and moral ones. I think it is generally wrong to kill animals for culinary pleasure.” In this sense, Ramaswamy is a product of his upbringing as well as perhaps his Ivy League education, and might be overlooked if his views on guns were mainstream American; they are not. Nor are his views of American patriots who shed their blood for our freedom.

Capitalists to blame for “culture wars”?

Quoting Ramaswamy: “History is littered with examples of young soldiers who fire someone else’s gun from their shoulders. Today, capitalists are the gunsmiths of our culture war.” This quote appears to be a reference to “conscription” or what we called “the draft” before creating our all-volunteer armed forces; it also appears to disparage “gunsmiths” as a synonym for U.S. arms manufacturers; which makes me wonder… does Ramaswamy support the Second Amendment to our Constitution?

Late Senator Joseph McCarthy Demonized

As has been done by Glenn Beck and several other misinformed conservatives, Ramaswamy demonizes the late Senator by accusing him of “using the threat of starvation and homelessness to silence fellow citizens”. This displays Ramaswamy’s ignorance of the corrected record of Senator McCarthy resulting from the analysis of the Venona Intercepts (released in July, 1995) that confirmed the fact that the subjects of McCarthy’s concern were card-carrying members of Communist Party USA with the stated aim of overthrowing our democratic republic. In fact, Communist Party USA had 75,000 members in the year I was born, 1947. McCarthy saved our nation from the first major wave of Marxism in the late 1940s and 1950s. Barry Goldwater addressed the so-called extremism of Joe McCarthy with his statement “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

United States referred to as a “democracy” rather than a “representative democracy” The word most used and promoted by Democrats to describe the political system they desire for the United States is, ironically, “democracy”, not the term “representative democracy” or “democratic republic” preferred by the founders. The biggest reason for this is likely that the term more closely resembles the word “democrat”. Many Democrats would also like to elect our president by direct popular vote instead of the electoral college. The outcomes would not likely change though, because candidates would develop different campaigning tactics that would favor the states with the greatest populations and ignore the lowest populated states. The founders knew that a pure “democracy” is one sided rule by the majority with few rights for the minority and soundly rejected the concept. Apparently, most Democrats are enamored by one party rule and dream to be that ruling party.

Ramaswamy’s Ivy League education/indoctrination is likely why he uses “democracy” over” democratic republic”.

Universal Conscription

Ramaswamy has an elitist “government solution” for American youth’s yearning for a cause; Mandatory Universal Civic Service. First, A new government program is antithetical to America’s debt problem. Secondly, “disadvantaged youth” bank summer employment proceeds and would not be “assisted through volunteerism” like the sons and daughters of America’s elites. Ramaswamy believes “the existence of “summer break” as an institution is probably one of the greatest systemic inequalities in our educational system.” My question:

What is unequal about allowing three months for potential low-income college students to save up enough to supplement their scholarships?

Nation of Victims

Ramaswamy’s second book contains much less of his Ivy League indoctrination than his first. It is valuable for understanding the role that “victimhood” plays as a valuable tool of Marxists in spreading national discontent and, they hope, ultimate upheaval leading to the death of our country as we have known it over the last three-quarter century.

Ramaswamy’s “Robin Hood” Complex

But then he goes off the rails. Following an effective critique of a wealth tax, he shares arguments of inheritance tax experts that claim about a 60 percent inheritance tax is optimum to prevent wealth inequality. He then proposes that the proceeds of a high inheritance tax go toward higher education subsidies. First, what about the real need in America and elsewhere for more young people to enter the trades? Secondly, would an influx of new federal government funding do anything to improve “competition” in higher education and thus reduce costs? No, the real solutions in higher education involve exactly the opposite, elimination of the department of education and withdrawal of federal funds that subsidize the children of America’s education elites. We can do nothing about a private university matriculating the son or daughter of an alumnus over an obviously gifted but poor applicant; but we can stop government from making matters worse by fattening the wallets of Marxist professors and politicians while the same Marxists attempt to destroy our future, the children of America.

Summary

Vivek Ramaswamy is an example of a slick Ivy League book peddler who is attempting to become president by mixing common sense Conservatism with Marxist ideas in order to garner votes from both sides of the political aisle. He is exactly what America does not need, a potential “Compromiser-In-Chief” who has benefitted from America’s opportunity but learned little of its desire to live free, not just receive “free stuff” from a thieving government. If we wanted thieves in charge of our government, we’d move to Europe.