There’s an old Vulcan proverb - sorry, couldn’t help myself - “Only Nixon could go to China.”
The proverb, American in reality, stems from the thawing of the relationship between America and Communist China during the early 1970s. More specifically, it refers to President Richard Nixon’s visit to China in February 1972.
While the Communist Chinese had been on the allied side during World War II, their ideology had guaranteed that they would fall under the influence of the Soviet Union once the Cold War began in the late 1940s.
However, relations between the two great powers soon began to deteriorate. When Stalin died in 1953, Mao Zedong rejected Soviet dominance over world communism. As the years passed, relations continued to sour, leading to Moscow pulling all economic and technical advisors out of China in 1960 and eventually to border clashes between the two countries in 1969.
Nixon saw this as an opportunity to put pressure on Moscow, to drive a bigger wedge between the two nations. It began with China and the US table tennis teams exchanging visits, and this “Ping-pong diplomacy” led to Nixon visiting China in February 1972.
Nixon had a well-established reputation as an anti-Communist “hawk.” He served on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), sponsored legislation requiring Communist Party members to register with the federal government, and was a staunch supporter of Taiwan. In short, his anti-communist credentials were impeccable. Consequently, his conservative critics were unable to accuse him of being soft on communism.
In short: “Only Nixon could go to China.”
Today that term is thought to have a broader meaning. It is taken to mean that only a hardliner can enact a policy that goes against a party’s traditional ideology.
Personally, I think the proverb is dead, and I think Trump, or more specifically, MAGA killed it.
The Kingdom of the Blind
I spent much of 2024 arguing that Trump was the better candidate than Harris. Like many people, I had misgivings, but having seen how dishonest the Biden administration was and fearing Harris would move the Democrats further to the left, I felt Trump was the better choice. Counterfactuals are by their very nature guesses, so it is not impossible that I was right and Harris would have been worse.
That said, Trump has been a disaster. This is not to say that he hasn’t done things I agree with. Securing the border is one example. I try to, as they say, “call balls and strikes” when it comes to policies and consequently have criticized Trump when I disagreed with him. As you can imagine, this has not made me popular with the more, how shall I put it, fanatical members of MAGA.
However, as time has passed, my belief that my credentials as a Trump supporter would mean that “only Nixon could go to China” would protect me when I criticized Trump’s policies and actions.
I was wrong.
More often than not, criticism of Trump is met with accusations that I have TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome. If I think treating China with kid gloves while engaging in trade wars with allies is bad diplomacy and will result in inflation, then I have TDS.
If I think the only thing a war with Iran will accomplish is higher energy prices and the depletion of vital American military supplies, I have TDS.
If I think the President of the United States should show some class and not engage in online trolling like a 12-year-old boy, I have TDS.
If I remind people that the federal government strong-arming companies into doing what it says is what the Biden administration did during COVID, I have TDS.
If I point out that Trump’s strong-arming of companies is reminiscent of what the Biden administration did during COVID, I have TDS.
If I point out that the federal government taking ownership stakes in private companies sounds a lot like communism, I have TDS.
MAGA has gone from wanting a politician to “shake things up” to being a cult which requires absolute loyalty to the leader. Any mental gymnastics necessary to justify a decision is acceptable no matter how absurd, and any criticism of the great leader is heresy.
Those of us with any knowledge of economics or history must feel a little like Cassandra; we know where these actions are leading, but no one believes us.
This leads to the second proverb that MAGA has killed: “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” This is meant to imply that a person with only a little skill or knowledge can easily lead or have an advantage over people who have none. But that does not apply when you are facing a cult. Knowledge, truth, and rational thought are irrelevant to cultists.
Had Nixon lived today, 20 years of anti-communism would not have shielded him from accusations that he was a communist sympathizer if not an outright communist. In today’s world, all that matters is the eternal now, and all that criticism of ‘the great leader’ will get you is shouted down.
In America today, the embodiment of the Kingdom of the Blind, the one-eyed man isn’t a king; he’s a heretic.
About the Author
Phil is a freelance writer, Canadian Navy veteran, and classical liberal. He has lived and worked in both Canada and the United States and currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he writes on politics, individual rights, free speech, and whatever else catches his fancy.
📰 Hoist the Black Flag — politics, rights, and free speech
😄 Schrödinger’s Chicken — because sometimes you just need to laugh
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