About
Content
Store
Forum

Rebirth of Reason
War
People
Archives
Objectivism

Commentary

"Cutting the Gordian Knot" - A Hypothetical Press Conference with Donald Trump
by Paul Hibbert



Thank you all for being here. Today, I wish to announce the creation of an enterprise, the socio-political and economic scope of which has never before been attempted. My fellow investors and I will create a corporation, registered in the United States entitled, "The Capitalist Covenantry of Freeland" (the CCF), the purpose of which is to create a new country and, as the name suggests, it will be based on capitalism, individual freedom and the absence of coercion. This will be accomplished by buying an existing, democratic country, or portion thereof. The preliminary phase of the enterprise will consist of identifying candidate countries, apprising the citizens of the pros and cons and if the proposals are well received the citizens could normally request a referendum on the sale. My fellow investors and I have committed $2 billion in seed money for this phase. Upon ratification of the referendum, the feasibility being confirmed and the overall plan being completed, we will be soliciting further investors for guarantees so that the funds can be available for the actual purchase and development of the territory.

First, let me tell you what the CCF will not be. It will not be a nation in the conventional sense; it will not have a government. It will not have a constitution, politicians or political parties. It will not have embassies, trade legations, passports, citizenship, foreign aid, membership in the United Nations, nor will it support Olympic teams. There will be no laws to protect individuals from themselves. There will be no social programs or welfare, no military and no draft. The administration will not support schools or hospitals. There will be no taxes of any kind and, most importantly — it will not be a democracy. The words, "incentive", "subsidy", "advocacy", "special interest groups" and so on will have no relevance in the administration of the CCF. There will be no imposed licensing requirements for professionals or businesses and there will be no building codes. There will be no mint or mandated currency or legal tender. There will be no national holidays or restrictions on when businesses may open their doors. There will be no minimum wage or anti-discrimination laws. There will be no customs duties or "most favored nations." There will be no common religion but residents will be free to build churches and worship as they wish. Marriage and sexual orientation will be no concern of the administration as there will be no special provisions for couples — everyone will be treated as an individual.

What the CCF will be is a geographical area, independent of any over-arching authority, administered by the equivalent of a corporation. The administration's self-interest is to maximize its profit, and in order to do so, it must be able to attract the greatest number of residents by providing a safe, free, non-coercive environment in which they may pursue their legitimate individual goals, whatever they may be. The administrators will provide a justice system and the basic infrastructure of roads, airport, seaport (if applicable), and whatever else is needed for other, subsidiary, entrepreneurial enterprises to complete the development. The means of maintaining social and commercial order and justice will be by contracts and covenants. Anyone may become a resident or a visitor by merely arriving in the territory. Residents will be able to trade freely among themselves or with individuals in nations. Unions will not find a hospitable environment in the CCF because individuals will be free to deal one-on-one with employers.

The justice system will be broadly based on existing Western jurisprudence, although there may need to be some major revisions. Because there will be no constitution, it cannot be the ultimate reference. Hate crimes may not be prosecuted because people will not be prosecuted for what they think — they will be prosecuted for what they do. Anti-discrimination laws are not appropriate in a pure capitalist system because it is not in the self-interest of capitalists to discriminate on the basis of race. The justice system is an area where a great deal of investigation must be done to be compatible with capitalism and non-coercion. For instance, a jury by one's peers may not be appropriate because it requires that residents be forced to be impaneled. An alternative could be that lawyers hired by the administration comprise a jury. In any case, residents will not be attracted to the CCF if it is not perceived to be fair or does not provide adequate protection. The justice system will comprise a police force (which may be contracted out), prosecuting attorneys hired by the administration, private attorneys and custodial facilities owned by the administration but which may be staffed by contractors. .

I'm sure you have many questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

QUESTIONER: What does the word, "covenantry" connote? You have evidently coined it.

TRUMP: Yes, this is meant to meld the words, "country" (a territory) and "covenant" to mean a territory, or geographical area that has its laws based on contracts and voluntary agreements. Because such an economic system, devoid of politics, has never existed before there probably are other words that will have to be invented to convey a more precise meaning.

QUESTIONER: It seems to me that you are just trying to structure this "territory" as an offshore tax haven for fat cat corporations to avoid their fair share of taxes in their home countries.

TRUMP: Nothing could be further from the truth. The CCF has appeal for all economic classes. It is an extraordinary opportunity for what is normally thought of as the lower-paying occupations such as waiters and so on. Certainly, it will attract highly trained entrepreneurs and other wealth producers but they cannot succeed without sales representatives, clerks, cooks, waiters, beauticians and every kind of support and service personnel. People who long for freedom and personal responsibility are not restricted to the rich. They will likely earn many times that which they would earn in their home countries.

QUESTIONER: The way you've described it, it seems like it would be similar to being a tourist in a foreign land. You are there voluntarily, accepting the rules and laws but without the onus of their social obligations.

TRUMP: Yes, that's partially true except that tourists in a foreign land cannot engage in business enterprises and earn a living. The CCF is conceived so that its residents can earn a living without any of the restrictions that would be imposed by every nation that I know of.

QUESTIONER: What about people who come upon misfortune through no fault of their own? Are they to be just left in the street to starve or to waste away in disease?

TRUMP: You have assumed that freedom-loving, capitalist people are heartless, compassionless, empty souls whose only goal in life is to compete for a limited pie without regard for anyone else. I believe that the opposite is true. In such a society, where governments don't mandate compassion, people will be far more generous and charitable. In ordinary nations citizens must be given incentives in the form of tax relief to be charitable and only those charities approved by the government qualify. Such governments just don't trust their citizens to be charitable without the incentives. In the CCF, charitable organizations can be formed and residents will be able choose among them, or give donations to whomever they wish, independent of tax considerations.

QUESTIONER: If there are no laws designed expressly to protect consumers, what will protect innocent people from being exploited?

TRUMP: Firstly, there will be very, very strict laws with regard to fraud, and this follows from the reliance on contracts and agreements. For every transaction there is a contract, even if it's only implied. In the CCF there is great opportunity for companies to enter the consumer advocacy area. An existing example in the United States is Consumer's Union where subscribers pay for product information. I foresee that this concept would be greatly expanded in the CCF. As well, I think that word of mouth will have great influence and a company's reputation would depend on that and on Internet chat rooms, as well.

QUESTIONER: In the same vein, what about professional licensing and building codes? How can consumers be protected from malpractice?

TRUMP: Doctors of like practices and ethics can band together to generate their own standards. If a doctor advertises that he complies with those advertised standards but fails to live up to them then he has violated the fraud laws and can be held accountable. Similarly, if a builder advertises that his structures comply with the San Francisco building code, for instance, and his buildings are found defective then he also can be found accountable. It is up to the consumer to check out the credentials of the vendor.


QUESTIONER: What about external threats, such as terrorism? There will be no army to resists foreign intrusion.

TRUMP: You are quite right — that will always be a problem, as it is with most all of the nations at present. With no history of exploitation or subjugation of other peoples I think that we would be less likely targets, but that's not assured. Depending on the conditions we would be inclined to cooperate with the international community in this respect. Capitalism and individualism are inimical to the ideals of most terrorists and we may be hated for this alone.

QUESTIONER: You titled this press conference, "Cutting the Gordian Knot". I'm not quite sure how this relates to what you have told us.

TRUMP: As you probably know, the legend is that Alexander the Great solved the puzzle of untying the Gordian knot by cutting it with one blow of his sword rather than using the expected methods that countless others before him had tried. All sorts of governments and social organizations have been tried throughout the ages but what is needed is a completely new paradigm — and I'm proposing a purely capitalist approach that addresses all the problems of the past, such as coercion, suppression of liberty and self-determination.

If there are any more questions that you or anyone else thinks of later I'd be pleased to answer them. We'll be setting up a web site and an on-line forum where all these issues can be discussed.

I hope you will all join me in this venture as I'm convinced we can make an obscene amount of money and at the same time further the cause of social progress.



Sanctions: 17Sanctions: 17Sanctions: 17 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article

Discuss this Article (19 messages)