“What is the American Essence?” will always be the overarching question presented by The Work-Standard in relation to the Americanization of Pure Socialism. Moreover, it is possible for the reader to reapply that same question to their own nation (“What is the National Essence?”) because America is a very diverse country with People’s Communities from the rest of the world. Given the right circumstances, any experiences learned by one People’s Community in the US can be reapplied to their own homeland. It all depends on whether the youth, the next generation, is cognizant of their ancestral origins and finds a balance between themselves as Americans and as the descendants of immigrants who arrived here at various points throughout US History.

Unlike Liberal Capitalism, that question itself is capable of being approached from so many different observations, providing ample opportunities to devise potential applications and give meaning to Pure Socialism. It should be recalled from the Introduction that Pure Socialism has yet to be defined. That was a deliberate decision on the Author’s part in order to demonstrate that Socialism was never meant to be a monolithic ideology where one definition prevails. As a term chosen to differentiate itself from the countless other Socialisms, Pure Socialism is best understood as a blank slate, a white sheet of computer paper, or what Immanuel Kant had once referred to as a “ding an sich” (a Thing-in-Itself). Pure Socialism remains in that condition until somebody decides to delve beyond its mere outward Label, discovering its Essence and molding Pure Socialism into an existing Socialism or else creating an entirely new Socialism from scratch. The implications alone necessitate a “Scientific/Artistic Socialism Distinction” to separate the Non-Marxist Socialisms from the Marxist Socialisms.    

To identify any Socialism and distinguish it from all others, determine whether somebody is trying to find the definition of Pure Socialism, contextualizing the ‘Value’ of its Label and Essence, fashioning its Gestalt (Form) to suit a particular Weltanschauung (Worldview). This methodology is more akin to an Artform of well-established Aesthetics and Styles, instead of a Science of well-tested Hypotheses and Theories, the latter being the real cause behind why most Americans often struggle to properly define their American Socialism, hence the question “What is the American Essence?”.

A recurring demonstration throughout The Work-Standard involves “Nietzscheanism,” a Socialism modeled after the Philosophy and Weltanschauung of Friedrich Nietzsche. Despite Nietzsche himself having expressed his own skepticism toward Socialism, that has not stopped Marxists and non-Marxists alike from conceptualizing a “Nietzschean Socialism.” Nietzscheanism can be split into two variants, “Prussian Socialism” and its two distinct subvariants, and “Nietzscheanism-Leninism.” The latter is an original creation of this Author based on another counterintuitive argument that “Vladimir Lenin was Nietzsche’s Zarathustra.” While not serving as the real focus of American Socialism, Nietzscheanism nonetheless provides a convenient template of demonstrating the transmutation process of Pure Socialism into Artistic Socialism.

In the American Essence, there are only two distinct American Ideas that serve as political testaments to the English-Prussian Dialectic. Those are the “Federalist American Union” and the “Empire of Liberty,” its historical adherents being two opposing parties among the American Founding Fathers, the “Federalist Party” and the “Democratic-Republican Party” respectively.

The Federalist Party (“Federalist American Union”)

Upon swapping Nietzscheanism for the American Essence, the Author has found two candidates for a distinct Artistic Socialism called “American Socialism,” as well as an “American Social-Democracy,” the latter of which has already been implemented through Progressivism. The first is “Hamiltonian Federalist Socialism” (the Socialism of a Federalist Faction led by Alexander Hamilton), the other “Madisonian Federalist Socialism” (the Socialism of another Federalist Faction led by James Madison). For those who do not know, Hamilton and Madison were two of America’s Founding Fathers, the key leaders of America’s first political party, the Federalist Party, and two of the three authors who wrote The Federalist Papers under the penname of “Publius.” The third author, John Jay, is more aligned with Hamiltonian Federalism than Madisonian Federalism for reasons that will be made apparent in later Entries related to US History.  

Based on The Federalist Papers as well as the Gestalt and Weltanschauung of the Federalist Party, there is a genuine rivalry between Hamiltonian Federalism and Madisonian Federalism, which can be corroborated by various obscure historical events in US History that go beyond how the US Constitution was ratified and later amended over the centuries. The point of contention is of course the “Great Divergence” within the Federalist Party. It is also expressed by the “Empire of Liberty” and “Federalist American Union.” If those two Federalisms are allowed to define Pure Socialism, the result is a Social-Democracy and an Artistic Socialism:

• Madisonian Federalist Socialism (“Madisonianism”), sometimes referred to as “Bill of Rights Socialism” by its adherents, identifies American Socialism with the Bill of Rights and the short-lived proposal by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to amend the Constitution to include an “Economic Bill of Rights.” The New Deal, the Great Society, and the more recent Green New Deal are its manifestations. Well-known historical and contemporary adherents include the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Communist Party, USA (CPUSA), two organizations whose members have officially espoused Madisonian Federalist Socialism. The unambiguous aims have always been the creation of an American Social-Democracy, the “social safety net” deterring any serious opposition to the American manifestation of Liberal Capitalism (“Neoliberalism”).
• Hamiltonian Federalist Socialism (“Hamiltonianism”) vehemently condemns the deliberate identification of American Socialism with the Bill of Rights, preferring instead to equivocate American Socialism with the Preamble. This is supported by Hamilton’s own criticisms of the Bill of Rights in Federalist Paper No. 84 and the outlining of important justifications for why the Federal Government must lead the Union in Federalist Paper No. 85 as a reiteration of arguments in Federalist Paper No. 1. The latter, also penned by Hamilton, is the source of Hamiltonian Federalist Socialism’s Idea of the Federalist American Union, a Union far greater than the sum of its own States. It is because of this that Hamiltonianism is also opposed to all notions of defining America as an Empire of Liberty. As of late, no political party officially advocates for Hamiltonianism due to the predominant influence of America’s second political party, the Democratic-Republican Party.

The Democratic-Republican Party (“Empire of Liberty”)

The organizational composition of the Democratic-Republican Party since the Civil War has been a “two-party system” with a “third party” that consistently emerges in the form of “bipartisanship.” Their Presidents and Congresses are responsible for an overwhelming majority of US foreign and domestic policies being pivoted toward the Empire of Liberty, despite the attempts of certain US Presidents and others to redirect America toward the Federalist American Union. Regardless of time and place, that Party remains split into three Factions:

• Democrats are the “Madisonian Faction” the legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s protégé James Madison. It is appropriate to deem the Democrats as the “Madisonians” due to their consistent advocacy of ‘greater economic equality’ and ‘representative governance’. This reflects the Gestalt and Weltanschauung of Madison as the Virginian slave plantation owner who also believed that every US household should have its own slaves. Madison was notorious for cracking like an egg by failing to practice fiscal discipline and being forced to make political decisions regarding the US National Debt and a willingness to raise Taxes on those who owned any slaves.
• Republicans are the “Monroean Faction,” legacy of Jefferson’s other protégé, James Monroe.  It is also appropriate to deem the Republicans as “Monroeans” due to their overwhelming support for the Market/Mixed Economy, empowering financial markets and privatized commercial firms as a means of attaining political power. This reflects the Gestalt and Weltanschauung of Monroe, who believed that the purpose of the Federal Government is to empower Liberal Capitalists like himself. He had harbored strong economic insecurities because he was constantly concerned about those who were in opposition to Slavery. 
• And the Bipartisans are the “Jeffersonian Faction,” representing Thomas Jefferson’s own legacy in the realm of US domestic and foreign policymaking. They serve as the ideological vanguard of Jeffersonianism as the Gestalt and Weltanschauung of Jefferson’s own ambitions from the Revolutionary War. Appealing to vague notions of “American Exceptionalism,” they overwhelmingly promote Neoliberalism to perpetuate the Empire of Liberty.

The best way to understand the Democratic-Republican Party is not with the Left-Right Political Spectrum, but with a more appropriate “Freedom-Security Dialectic.” The ideological positions of the Democratic-Republican Party since the Civil War have been a constant oscillation between the need for greater Security and the need for greater Freedom. The Madisonian Faction favors “political unfreedom and economic security,” the Monroean Faction preferring “political freedom and economic insecurity.” That is where the Jeffersonian Faction steps in to maintain Checks and Balances, striking a compromise between the other two Factions.

Today, the overall composition, orientation and direction of US politics remains Jeffersonian. It is senseless for anyone inside the Democratic-Republican Party to be advocating for any adulterated Hamiltonianism because the Jeffersonians will oppose such efforts at every opportunity. But that is not to say that there are no US Presidents, Senators and Representatives whose Gestalt and Weltanschauung could be deemed Hamiltonian. The 20^th century alone has witnessed two US Presidents who are not well-known for having embodied aspects of Hamiltonianism (and, ironically enough, Nietzscheanism-Leninism), Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. The former was the historical personification of Hamiltonianism, just as FDR serves as the historical personification of Jeffersonianism and Madisonianism by extension. The latter provided the historical justification for The Work-Standard and Hamiltonianism, the “Death of Bretton Woods.” While an investigative study of their Presidencies is beyond the focus of The Work-Standard, let it be known that both men are Hamiltonian by Instinct.

Who are the Real Anti-Federalists?

Is it possible for anyone, American or otherwise, to envisage an “Anti-Federalist Federalism” or a “Federalist Anti-Federalism?” Often neglected and ignored in US History textbooks and the curricula of most American classrooms and lecture halls, the Anti-Federalists and their The Anti-Federalist Papers are worthy of mention here in relation to the American Essence. It is true that the Anti-Federalists constituted themselves as an entirely different Gestalt and Weltanschauung, but they can also be beneficial for the purposes of Hamiltonianism. Certain Entries in The Work-Standard have Anti-Federalist undertones that pertain to the following topics: 

• America is neither a Republic nor a Monarchy, and yet the Jeffersonians, Madisonians and Monroeans have inadvertently turned America into a travesty of both. The Federalist American Union is a “Perpetual Union” that requires a specific model of democratic governance distinct from the current model under the Democratic-Republican Party.
• There needs to be a real balance in the powers wielded by the Federal Government and those wielded by the State Governments. There may be certain US policies which are more effective if done from the bottom-up by the State Governments as opposed to being dictated from the top-down by the Federal Government.
• Unaddressed, unrectified flaws in the US Electoral College and US Congress have not only raised genuine concerns over excessive presidential and congressional powers, they may even sow the seeds of future disasters that can otherwise be avoided or at least mitigated. Due to the manner in which the US has been organized, revolutionary ways of holding the Federal Government accountable by the State Governments remain forthcoming.
• The Bill of Rights may have done the complete opposite of “protecting” the freedoms and securities of the Individual. Between Madisonianism and the Democratic-Republican Party operating on a Freedom-Security Dialectic, it has instead “infringed” on certain freedoms and securities that will require proper solutions once the US adopts Hamiltonianism.
• How many Americans are aware of the fact that the US, legally speaking, is operating in a State of National Emergency since 1979? Or the fact that the 9/11 attacks have given rise to a “Surveillance Capitalism” that profits from the mass surveillance of digital communications and the personal information of innocent Americans? There is even the strong possibility that the Democratic-Republican Party may have broken the Constitution through reckless declarations of “National Emergencies” by Jeffersonian Presidents as US foreign policy(!), the most egregious being Executive Order 12170.
• Hamiltonianism must resolve important economic and financial questions related to the Productive Forces and the US National Debt, neither of which were given proper conclusions by Madisonianism in the best of circumstances. Additionally, key questions pertaining to “Federal Ownership,” “State Ownership,” “Federal Taxation,” “Native American Tribes,” “Religious Groups,” and so forth remain unaddressed. 

In closing, any Americanization of Pure Socialism inevitably leads to Hamiltonian Federalist Socialism. American Socialism will continue the legacy of American Federalism, condemn Madisonianism as the controlled opposition of the Madisonian Faction – the “Democrats,” and present an entirely different American Idea for the American Way of Life. The Federalist American Union is that Idea. Everything begins with a return to the American Essence and its English-Prussian Dialectic and the introduction of a revolutionary currency system.      

Categories: Compendium

Tags: Economics, Federalist Party, Finance, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Socialist Finance, Third Place, Work-Standard