Taking on Patrimonialism
Incompetence and Corruption are the Keys
I confess, Patrimonialism was a new term of art for me, even if the concept is quite familiar. Here’s one definition:
Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which the ruler governs on the basis of personal loyalties which are derived from patron-client relations, personal allegiances, kin ties and combinations thereof. Patrimonialism is closely related to corruption, opportunism and machine politics.
If you think of a traditional monarchy, or The Godfather, you are on the right track.
I was listening to The Bulwark podcast the other day, as I regularly do (and highly recommend), and host Tim Miller had a very interesting interview with Jonathan Rauch in which they discussed how Trump is moving us from a rational-legal bureaucracy (what Trump decries as the Deep State), to patrimonialism.
This is evinced in how Trump and Musk have moved to dismantle the bureaucratic state: ignoring rules, laws, and courts, and firing people who were competent in those agencies only to replace them with hacks. This is how you end up with Hegseth at DoD, Bondi at DoJ, and Patel at the FBI (of course the list goes on and on beyond those three). The core competence that these hacks have in common is absolute loyalty to their Dear Leader.
Rauch made the point that the two greatest weaknesses of patrimonialism are Incompetence and Corruption, but that it is corruption to which we should be paying the most attention.
Incompetence
The gross incompetence of this Administration has been on full view since day One (much of this thanks to Musk and DOGE): firing people blindly, only to realize that they do something really important (like safeguarding our nuclear arsenal) and having to scramble to hire them back. Or shutting down regional Social Security offices only to backtrack and re-open them after massive public backlash. Or imposing teriffs everywhere (including on an island occupied only by penguins) only to roll them back. Or hiring a Defense Secretary who chats about military strikes as they are about to happen to people without a security clearance on a personal cell phone.
If it seems like there isn’t a cohesive strategy here, that’s because there isn’t. This is the gang who can’t shoot straight, or as a wonderful protest sign proclaimed: “I’ve seen better Cabinets at IKEA!”
So the incompetence is easy to see — it is right there in front of us every day. But Trump followers chalk that all up to the “fake news” lying about the wonderful things Trump, et al., are doing.
Corruption
That is why it is more important, particularly with Trump, to focus on the corruption. And while Trump and grift have always gone together (think, Trump University, Trump Steaks, Trump Airline, Trump Casinos… you get the picture), perhaps nowhere is his rampant corruption more on display than with his adventures in crypto.
Just before his innauguration, Trump launched a so-called meme coin, tagged: $TRUMP.
What is a meme coin, you ask? Well here’s one definition:
Meme coins, often referred to as meme tokens, are a subset of digital assets that use blockchain technology and derive their value largely from internet culture, memes and social media hype rather than from an underlying utility or asset. The originators of meme coins can make fees when their coins are bought and sold.
So meme coins have no inherent value; rather, they are a way for the purchaser to show their support for the meme represented — in this case, Trump. But that last sentence is key: the originators of the coin make actual money everytime a meme coin is bought or sold, and in this case, the originator is Trump and his corrupt buddies.
But because in Trump 2.0 the grift is louder and prouder, we now get this:
President Donald J. Trump is Known as the “Crypto President!” At this Intimate Private Dinner, Hear First-Hand President Trump Talk about the Future of Crypto.
Trump — aka, the Crypto President! — is offering an exclusive dinner to the top 220 people who purchase — and hold — his meme coin between April 23 and May 12. (Care to guess what happens on May 13?) As the ad copy goes on to say, “The more $TRUMP you hold — and the longer you hold it — the higher Your Ranking will be.”1
But that’s not all! The top 25 $TRUMP holders will “enjoy a Private VIP Reception with President Trump and Separately by us [sic] to a Special VIP TOUR.”2
Mind you, this isn’t political fundraising for a Trump super PAC. This is money going directly to him and his cronies with the lure of receiving the “most exclusive invitation in the World” to gain access to Trump. In the days following the announcement, the meme coin’s price has increased by more than 50%, according to data from CoinMarketCap, as reported by Cointelegraph.
Trump’s announcement prompted a call for Trump’s impeachment from Senator Jon Ossoff, and a letter from Senators Schiff and Warren to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE):
This new scheme is demonstrative of President Trump’s continued and concerning efforts to use his own name and likeness as President, as well as those of his family and the presidential office, for personal financial gain. Furthermore, President Trump’s announcement promises exclusive access to the presidency in exchange for significant investment in one of the President’s business ventures. In promising such access, this proposition may implicate several federal ethics laws and constitutional prohibitions, including the federal bribery statute and emoluments clauses of the U.S. Constitution. It also raises the troubling prospect that foreign actors are using the meme coin as a vector to buy influence with President Trump and his associates without needing to disclose their identities publicly.
No kidding.
A starker pay to play scheme is impossible to imagine, short of bringing envelopes of cash to the White House.3
Following Rauch’s guidance, I intend to keep a close watch on the corruption side of things, and I encourage you to do the same.
In community, forward!
Notes:
The Bulward Podcast: Jonathan Rauch: Focus On the Corruption
Trump Dinner (meme coin website)
US Senator calls for Trump impeachment, cites memecoin dinner (Cointelegraph.com)
Schiff and Warren letter to the Office of Government Ethics
What is with their Insanely Inconsistent Capitalization SCHEME?
Rachel Maddow reported that initially the offer was for a tour of the White House itself, but they subsequently scrubbed that from the website.
That was Vice President Spiro Agnew’s jam.
Excellent article, Jim, on a highly disturbing (one of many, to be sure) current presidential practice. DT does seem to be a bottomless pit when it comes to touting his own name/brand, and in this current process he is degrading the office he holds by capitalizing on the naïveté of his MAGA followers desirous of sitting at his table and possibly touching the hem of his mega expensive jacket. No time for any of us to avert our gaze or let these actions become normative. Onward indeed!