The State of the Union
Main Discussion Topics
Objectivists Defending Tariffs
Michael opens by addressing a post from an Objectivist writer arguing in defense of tariffs, citing Hayek in support of a position that Ayn Rand herself would have rejected. The argument made is that while tariffs are economically suboptimal, they serve values beyond mere wealth maximization, and that imposing free trade theory on "real people in the real world" leads to disaster.
Michael dismantles this framing directly: "Tariffs are fundamentally an initiation of force. They are a tax. The government, which is supposed to protect us from force, is initiating force. That's the main argument. That's why they're wrong."
He also takes aim at a secondary Objectivist commenter who argued that maximizing economic growth is a "collectivist goal" and that individual rights theory can be used to rationalize protectionist policy. Michael's response: "I could rationalize anything with that line of reasoning. Full stop."
His deeper frustration is with what this represents: people who have read the same philosophical literature arriving at conclusions that contradict its foundations, and then accusing their critics of being rationalists detached from the real world when it is in fact they who are abandoning principle.
Trump's State of the Union - Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Before dissecting the speech, Michael reads from the Mayo Clinic's clinical description of narcissistic personality disorder, covering symptoms including an unreasonably inflated sense of self-importance, a need for excessive admiration, belief in one's own superiority without commensurate achievement, preoccupation with fantasies of success and power, inability to tolerate criticism, rage at perceived slights, and an expectation of special treatment.
Michael's point is not merely rhetorical. He argues that understanding this psychological profile is essential to understanding Trump's behavior, the loyalty he commands, and the near-total disregard for factual accuracy that defines his public statements. The State of the Union, in Michael's view, was a showcase of every one of these symptoms.
Madison's Report of 1800 and the Rights of Aliens
The rhetorical centerpiece of the State of the Union, as Michael sees it, was Trump's declaration that the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not "illegals." Michael goes directly to the founding documents to contest this.
From the Declaration of Independence: the purpose of government is to secure rights. There is no distinction between citizen and alien in that formulation.
Michael then reads from James Madison's Report of 1800, in which Madison argues directly that aliens who abide by the laws are entitled to the Constitution's protection and advantages. Madison writes that if aliens had no rights under the Constitution, they could be "capitally punished without a jury or the other incidents to a fair trial," a principle that, he notes, has been rejected throughout every part of the United States.
Michael also points out that in the same report, Madison argues that the federal government does not have authority over immigration at all, which would mean the category of "federally illegal immigrant" is itself constitutionally dubious.
Michael submitted the question to both Grok and ChatGPT: what is the first duty of the American government? Both answered that it is to secure rights, not to protect citizens above others. He notes that this is consistent with Locke and Thomas Paine's Enlightenment framework, which shaped the founders' thinking.
Fact-Checking the State of the Union
Michael works through several of Trump's major economic and policy claims, drawing on reporting from Reason Magazine and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
On inflation: Trump claimed that Biden delivered "the worst inflation in the history of our country." Michael points out that inflation hit 8% under Biden but was higher for three consecutive years from 1979 to 1981, and again in 1974 and 1975. He also notes that Trump's own first-term policies were inflationary: he pressured the Fed to keep interest rates low, deficit spent heavily, supported early lockdowns that caused supply shortages, pressured Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil production to raise prices, and imposed tariffs. His current second-term policies continue in the same direction.
On investment: Trump claimed $18 trillion in foreign investment commitments in 12 months. Reason Magazine had already debunked this multiple times. Even the White House's own website only claimed $9.7 trillion, roughly half of Trump's figure.
On inflation in the current term: the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 2.7% annual inflation for 2025. The Federal Reserve's target is 2%. Trump claimed there was "no inflation."
On GDP growth: Trump claimed "the biggest turnaround in history." The economy grew at 2.8% in Biden's final year and 2.2% in Trump's first term. By the government's own numbers, the economy is growing more slowly under Trump than it did under Biden.
On fentanyl: Trump claimed a 56% reduction in fentanyl crossing the border. Michael draws on Jacob Sullum of Reason Magazine to explain why this claim is impossible to verify: illicit traffickers do not report their shipments, and a reduction in confiscations may reflect changes in smuggling routes rather than a reduction in supply. He also notes that confiscations fell under Biden as well, without anyone attributing that to policy success.
On the murder rate: Michael gives Trump credit here. The all-time drop in the murder rate is accurate, but the trend began under Biden, and Michael assigns neither president meaningful credit or blame for it.
The Iran Question and the Problem of Trust
Trump claimed to have ended eight wars, including wars involving Israel and Iran, while simultaneously suggesting the United States may need to go to war with Iran over its nuclear and missile programs.
Michael is not a pacifist and acknowledges that war with Iran may genuinely be necessary. His objection is epistemic: why would anyone trust Trump's intelligence assessments about Iran's capabilities when he lies "as easily as he breathes"? He uses George W. Bush as a comparison, arguing that Bush was a basically honest man who still got Iraq catastrophically wrong, with hundreds of thousands dead, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and ISIS as consequences. Trump is not a basically honest man, and yet some are prepared to take his word as justification for another war.
Demagoguery and Primary vs. Secondary Processing
Michael explains the psychological distinction between primary and secondary processing. Primary processing is automatic, emotional, and bypassed by appeals to feeling, certainty, and tribalism. Secondary processing is rational, deliberate, and requires slowing down. Demagogues exploit primary processing by speaking with absolute confidence, expressing certainty about things they cannot possibly know, and telling people what they want to hear.
He identifies Trump, Tucker Carlson, Dave Smith, and Candace Owens as examples of communicators who operate primarily through this mechanism. The danger, he notes, is that even people who understand the dynamic intellectually are not immune to it. He gives the example of a friend who correctly predicted Obama would win in 2008 by identifying Obama's demagogic appeal to primary processing, and who later became one of Obama's most strident defenders for exactly the same reason.
His conclusion: in the current environment, dominated by dishonest influencers, propagandists, and a president with no relationship to the truth, the only answer is to keep appealing to the rational faculty of people, not to demonize them, but to engage the part of them that understands that a thing cannot be and not be at the same time.
Persephone on Tariffs and Small Businesses
Persephone shares her outside perspective as a non-American who has followed the tariff debate closely through social media. She observes that Trump's tariffs are actively harming the very entrepreneurs and small business owners who most embody the values capitalism is supposed to reward. People who have risked their own capital to start businesses, who are trying to improve their circumstances through legitimate means, are watching their costs spike and their businesses close. To her, this is the practical consequence of what Michael has been arguing in philosophical terms.
Is It Broken Beyond Repair?
Persephone puts the question directly: does Michael think things are irrevocably broken? She describes the political landscape as a choice between an "absolute clown show" in the White House on one side and a Democratic opposition that is pushing socialism on the other.
Michael does not give a clean answer. He acknowledges the depth of the problem: a country where roughly 40% of the population supports a president who lies constantly and openly, where a significant portion of the other side embraces economic ideas just as divorced from reality, and where honest principled voices are drowned out by the loudest and most confident performers.
But his answer is ultimately to keep going.
Notable Quotes
Michael on tariffs: "Tariffs are fundamentally an initiation of force. They are a tax. The government, which is supposed to protect us from force, is initiating force. That's the main argument. That's why they're wrong."
Michael on Trump's dishonesty: "The guy lies as easy as he breathes, and that's not an exaggeration. Truth is no consideration in his mind, none."
Michael on the Declaration of Independence vs. Trump's first-duty claim: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights... You'll notice there's no distinction between alien and citizen. Nothing."
Michael on James Madison: "If aliens had no rights under the Constitution, they might not only be banished, but even capitally punished without a jury or the other incidents to a fair trial."
Michael on Trump and Iran: "When somebody that was basically, I think, telling the truth just got it wrong, now we have a guy who doesn't give a fuck about the truth. Why would we trust him when he's telling us these things about war?"
Michael on demagoguery: "They speak very confidently, with certainty, with raised voices. They express absolute certainty about things of which they can't possibly be certain. They very rarely say 'I don't know.' And because of their level of certainty and because they're often telling people what they want to hear, the primary processing makes them very convincing."
Michael on continuing to fight: "We should pick up our intellectual rifles and get in the fight. Get in the battle. That's what we need to do."
Persephone on tariffs hurting entrepreneurs: "These are people who are trying to better their circumstances, not by crime or anything. They're trying to start their own businesses. And Trump just came in and went... I think that's horrible."
Referenced Sources and Interviews
James Madison's Report of 1800
Mayo Clinic description of narcissistic personality disorder
Reason Magazine reporting on Trump's economic claims (Jacob Sullum and others)
The Declaration of Independence
Michael's interview with Jim Valliant on The Rational Egoist: "The Virtue of Independence"
Michael's Everyday Ethics show, 2:30 PM Eastern Time
Key Themes
Principles vs. rationalization: when people who have read the right books arrive at the wrong conclusions
Demagoguery, primary processing, and the psychology of mass persuasion
The gap between Trump's State of the Union claims and verifiable facts
Constitutional protection of rights for citizens and aliens alike
Why a habitual liar cannot be trusted to make the case for war
Tariffs as a form of government-initiated force, not pragmatic economic policy
The case for continuing to engage despite the scale of the problem
Capitalist Thought of the Day
"Capitalism, freedom, and individual rights are definitely worth fighting for. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. If liberty were an easy thing to attain, we would have had it long ago. It's something that's going to be difficult. There are many, many obstacles in the way, but it's something so eminently worth fighting for that we ought to continue to do so till we take our last breaths.
As Frederic Bastiat said when he wrote his great book, The Law, I know things seem dire now and it looks like there's no chance, but things often turn on a dime. Cultural shifts, cultural trends can jump and change so fast it makes our proverbial collective head spin. So we ought not to lay down and give up. We ought not to cede the world to those who would seek to destroy it, to those who would seek to lie about things, to make up events, or to profit off the stupidity and gullibility of others.
We ought to keep fighting, and we can. Doesn't mean we will, but we can win. We just need to keep going, keep fighting, keep trying, keep doing our best. And then when all is said and done, nobody can say of us that we gave it up." - Michael