When America was “great” between 1890 and 1932, there was an active, overtly criminal culture, particularly in large cities. The most famous criminal icon in this era was Al Capone of Chicago. Capone and his associates were able to control neighborhoods in many ways, including violence and intimidation. However, over time, many gangsters were able to use less violent means. They could buy or control businesses in the construction, garbage collection, illicit liquor distribution, and transportation industries. They curried favor within their neighborhoods by sponsoring community events and blending them into criminal activities. They covertly bribed police, judges, and politicians to continue their operations without interference.
The oxygen for this legalized criminality was provided by the lack of governmental oversight and the disregard of the 18th Amendment, which forbade the manufacture, sale, and distribution of alcohol. The 18th Amendment was like passing a law against chewing gum in public. Many Americans became “criminals” by finding ways to ignore the law and accept lawlessness. When a major law becomes meaningless, law and order break down. Similarly, with culture and society, when many Americans no longer believe in civility, truth, science, and caring for others, the culture and society break down.
Concurrent with the rise of the mafia, the dominant characters of a less overtly violent nature were the tariff President William McKinley and Robber Barons like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and J.P. Morgan. They “legally” set the stage for the early economic boom and the final bust of the Great Depression. The era’s permissive laws and law enforcement enabled the most aggressive industrialists and financiers to acquire monopolies and control significant portions of the nation’s economy. A progressive movement grew out of the great excesses of these men to eliminate unfair monopolies and establish laws to reduce the burdens on the 99% who were at the mercy of the 1%.
Although some of the Robber Barons’ union-busting activities involved violence, they were primarily conducted by genteel gentlemen. They legally swindled their partners, competitors, and customers. The legal system was either incapable of reining in their excesses or subverted by bribery and fear.
The Outlines of 21st Century Crime
Today, the most egregious behavior by these types of individuals is labelled white-collar crime. However, if a governmental entity pays no heed to the crime and approves the action, it must be “legal.” It is similar to the early Mafia, which bribed politicians, police, and judges, resulting in “legalized crime.” Today, if the president, legislature, and judiciary approve a law that allows Elon Musk to legally copy the personal information of every resident of the USA from the Social Security system, is it a crime? What happened to our right to privacy?
The 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates for the rise of the modern Robber Barons, allowing corporations to participate in electioneering communications. With the ability to plow unlimited corporate funds into any targeted election, the Citizens United decision placed powerful, persuasive media weapons in the hands of any corporation to assassinate any politician in America. For example, Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX donated $277 million to the 2024 Trump campaign. Additionally, Musk targeted $20 million for one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He donated to the candidate favored by Donald Trump and gave away $1 million checks to voters who signed his petitions.
The Attack on Science and the Pursuit of Knowledge
Another key factor in the demise of American society is a concerted attack on truth and scientific thinking by the modern Robber Barons. These attacks have occurred in the past, not only in America but elsewhere. The Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong either exterminated scholars and scientists or made them work on collective farms. Before the Holocaust the Nazis persecuted Jewish intellectuals and branded their work in the sciences as “Jewish science.”
The communication media are also used to frame what people hear and think. Hitler used the new radio medium to communicate directly to his adoring followers. Newspapers, television, and the internet are other ways to control the flow and content of “knowledge.” When a dictator or a few billionaires control most news channels, the content degrades into propaganda. The result is the demise of civility and truth itself. The biggest fears for Trump and his Barons are intellectual curiosity, a healthy scientific community, and informed Americans.
If we focus on science, we ask, “Why is science the target of MAGA?” Isn’t the wealth of many of MAGA’s Barons based on science and technology?
Billionaires understand the science behind their products. Tobacco companies knew that their products caused cancer, and fossil fuel corporations knew their products caused climate change. The Sackler family knew that people were dying because of the overprescription of their OxyContin drug. American gun manufacturers know how dangerous some of their weapons are. Some social media companies know how and why many people are hurt by their websites, yet their financial goals are not achieved without some “collateral” damage.
So, what do our Barons do when science and oversight become problematic? They flood the communication channels to sow doubt on the troublesome scientists and critics. When that does not work, they will cripple the science by having one or more of the three bought-and-paid-for branches of government eliminate funding for research on fossil fuels, drugs, gun deaths, and the harm from social media. Elon Musk has promised a safe autonomous car for over a decade, and his engineers have known that Tesla’s technology was unsafe. So, what does Musk do? With the powers vested in his DOGE entity by the President, Musk fired over 30 staff members assigned to assess autonomous cars.
Trump and his Barons also use autocratic control to attack the pursuit of knowledge. If a Baron does not like regulation over his domain, he gets Trump to install a compliant, unqualified patsy (usually a talking head from Fox News) as the regulator. This tactic is so clearly evident that it needs no further discussion.
Attacks on science come from other quarters. Trump and his Barons also use their friends in the Christian Nationalist fold to debunk science, both generally and in specific areas. The underlying goal for Trump, the Barons, and Christian Nationalists is to replace the challenging pursuit of knowledge with the slavish allegiance to an easier-to-acquire doctrine.
The Consequences of 21st Century Crime
What are the consequences of MAGA’s 21st-century crime? The wars on trade and immigration might not be the only lasting stains on Trump’s legacy. His attacks on knowledge and science will also make the climate crisis worse, gun deaths will increase, technological innovation will come to a standstill, medical innovation will slow, money will be wasted on premature trips to Mars, many of the brightest foreign students will avoid the USA, and higher education, as a whole, will be degraded as federal funds are withheld.
The war on truth and science by an autocrat and his Baron Bros creates a perfect storm with disastrous consequences.