How would a presidency of Lyndon Larouche look like?

[PirateKingOmega]

For economics, he would institute highly protectionist economic policies, high tariffs and trade deals being rewritten to be highly rewritten in America's favor. Additionally his "reindustrialization" plan combined with the previously mentioned protectionism might be able to prevent the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs a bit longer. I don't think his grand plan of megastructures like building a Bering strait bridge would go anywhere. All around I wouldn't be able to say if his protectionism would help or hinder the American economy because its not really my forte.

For diplomacy, his all around bizarreness combined with isolationism would probably drive away allies, it doesn't help he more or less wanted to play nuclear chicken with the Soviets and Chinese. One of his ideas was to begin mass mobilizations for a potential war, which I'm guessing would result in congress doing whatever they could to ensure nuclear weapons and the military require their approval before being used. In fact I think its likely for an amendment to the constitution being proposed to just transfer military powers from the presidency to congress. Of course one thing that should be noted is his Anglophobia, I have read conflicting accounts on whether he actually hated the British or if he used the British as a dog whistle for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Regardless he would use his powers to either isolate the UK or to just repeatedly insult them without actually doing something too extreme like requesting nuclear weapons back or kicking them out of NATO. Additionally he would probably end up doing what he could to favor the Palestinians over the Israelites because, as I somewhat mentioned earlier, he either believed Israel was controlling the monarchy to push drugs or Israel was a British puppet.

For AIDs things would be hellish. He pretty much proposed the most extreme option possible when asked about AIDS. All efforts to calm public fears would be immediately ruined and pointless quarantines would be enforced. Additionally, this would likely result in reduced rights for the LGBTQ and potentially causes an extended crisis purely due to fears.

For the environment he would kickstart climate change denialism due to it conflicting with his idea of mass industrialization. He would pretty much do whatever he could to gut regulations. Though we would get a pretty decent nuclear power sector much greater than OTL thanks to his fascination with fusion power, I don't think we would actually have fusion plants but we sure would get a lot of fission plants in the process.

For arts, purely because of his wife's influence we would probably get a greater funding for things like classical music, doubt his octave pitch readjustment thing would ever go through.

 

[Gukpard]

Additionally his "reindustrialization" plan combined with the previously mentioned protectionism might be able to prevent the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs a bit longer.

This will prevent millions of lifes from being ruined, so no problem

What about unethical experiments, cointelpro, and xenophobia?

 

[PirateKingOmega]

What about unethical experiments, cointelpro, and xenophobia?

This is somewhat difficult to answer. For starters he was always somewhat paranoid and convinced himself, and also by some opportunists who wanted to sell him fake information, that the CIA and FBI were tracking him. As such its possible he might purposely reveal such information in order to achieve a victory against his supposed enemy. As for xenophobia, LaRouche had a hostile view towards aspects of Latin American cultures. He, at one point, wrote an entire book denouncing Puerto Ricans for "Machismo" believing that it devalued women. It wouldn't be too radical to suggest he would take harsh measures towards Hispanic migrants.

 

[CalBear]

 

[SirHalifax]

View attachment 642917

*dies of laughter*

 

[Gukpard]

View attachment 642917

I don't get it, what is the joke?

This is somewhat difficult to answer. For starters he was always somewhat paranoid and convinced himself, and also by some opportunists who wanted to sell him fake information, that the CIA and FBI were tracking him. As such its possible he might purposely reveal such information in order to achieve a victory against his supposed enemy. As for xenophobia, LaRouche had a hostile view towards aspects of Latin American cultures. He, at one point, wrote an entire book denouncing Puerto Ricans for "Machismo" believing that it devalued women. It wouldn't be too radical to suggest he would take harsh measures towards Hispanic migrants.

Your point about conspiracy theories makes me wonder how big would be the damage that he would do to the common perception of truth, I imagine that there would be a earlier rise to fact checking because of that
He might give official support for the LaRouchist moviment worldwide and contact conspiracy theorists in other countries, wow

 

[CalBear]

I don't get it, what is the joke?


Your point about conspiracy theories makes me wonder how big would be the damage that he would do to the common perception of truth, I imagine that there would be a earlier rise to fact checking because of that
He might give official support for the LaRouchist moviment worldwide and contact conspiracy theorists in other countries, wow

A dumpster fire is a very common term used to describe an absolute disaster (sort of a more modern version of the term "train wreck"). In the image you have a dumpster fire in a a container that is being carried away by a flood, raising the already total disaster by an order of magnitude.

 

[LordPez]

This will prevent millions of lifes from being ruined, so no problem

What about unethical experiments, cointelpro, and xenophobia?

Larouche was the kind of guy that believed in the most radical interpretation of those programs (i.e. the CIA is actively continuing those programs like MK Ultra and COINTELPRO into the modern day with omnipresent reach and power), but also wanted to co-opt and replicate them under his own aegis instead of dismantle them.

 

[overoceans]

He, at one point, wrote an entire book denouncing Puerto Ricans for "Machismo" believing that it devalued women.

"So, Pot, any comments on the color qualities of the Kettle?"

Seriously, the whole psychology of the LaRouche movement is just sublimated male resentment and paranoia, Exhibit A being the aforementioned homophobia and AIDS-obsession.

 

[Sam R.]

"So, with a PoD in 1900, the US get Lyndon in power on the mid 1970s, how would his government be like?"

The obvious answer is that he would not have the slightest chance of coming to power unless he was very different from the Lyndon Larouche of OTL.

Obviously Larouche would be more likely to come to power if fighting the [horrific slurs] of Albanian Hoxhaism and the [horrifying slurs] of Argentine Posadism. Faced with communist threats from Albania and Trotskyist threats from Argentina; on top of the operations of the House of Windsor; who else could America turn to but Larouche a man who defines the category of degenerated evil batshit Trotskyism that never became fully neoliberal. Yes that’s one hell of a qualifier, as any student of degenerated Trotskyism will know it’s essential.

 

[Polish Eagle]

Of course one thing that should be noted is his Anglophobia, I have read conflicting accounts on whether he actually hated the British or if he used the British as a dog whistle for anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Regardless he would use his powers to either isolate the UK or to just repeatedly insult them without actually doing something too extreme like requesting nuclear weapons back or kicking them out of NATO. Additionally he would probably end up doing what he could to favor the Palestinians over the Israelites because, as I somewhat mentioned earlier, he either believed Israel was controlling the monarchy to push drugs or Israel was a British puppet.

I'm inclined to say he was sincere in his Anglophobia. From what I read, he got radicalized against them while serving as a medic in India during WWII. That would do it, alright.

 

[YYJ]

Foreign policy is the big question mark--how would a President LaRouche respond to 9/11?

A Larouche presidency is one of the only situations I can imagine where the attacks would actually be perpetrated as the 9/11 Truthers say: by the US Government, because reasons.

 

[overoceans]

@CalBear

Is it permissible to discuss political positions taken by the LaRouche movement at the present time, or would that be current politics?

The positions I'm thinking of don't directly involve any contemporary political leaders, and only broadly contemporary politics.

 

[Ijon Tichy]

Thank whichever G-d you believe in (or the Owl of Minerva, if that's more your bag) that this never happened! LaRouche was seriously bad news, like if Jim Jones had had an entree to the Reagan White House. . .

Anyway, here's an amusing anecdote (which I did not write, all credit goes to the link at the end):


As to its alleged ties with LaRouche, this is one of the funniest parts of the history. I was there for all of that. I remember going with Gino, Mary, Polly and several others to a talk by the LaRouchies at Columbia University around 1975. This was when LaRouche (aka "Lyn Marcus") was in his "Women as Vampire" phase (his wife had run off with another member to England -- that was the basis for years and years of political psychobabble from LaRouche), and everything was being blamed on "the Mother" for sucking the energy and politics out of kids.

The LaRouchies used this as a way to bypass sticky arguments.

Anyway, we were in a first-floor classroom jammed with 50 or 60 people, the EFWA (Eastern Farmworkers Association) organizers including me standing in the back, and Gino, in his black leather jacket, says to the speaker from US Labor Party (LaRouche): "Punk, you don't say anything about what you're going to actually DO to make the revolution."

The guy prattles about something, Gino cuts him off with some witty reparte, and the guy shoots back: "You're only saying that because you, like all of us, had an unnatural attachment to your mother."

Gino, a master at cutting through academic bullshit, rips his own jacket off as he climbs over people to get to the front, hissing, "Dat's my mudder your tawkin' about!" and flattens the guy. And the room full of Larouchies and potential recruits goes flying out the windows (first floor). I never saw a room clear out so fast, as Gino, Mary, Polly and I laughed and laughed.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/304593.shtml

 

[overoceans]

^ I hesitate to give that a formal Like, because I don't endorse violence as a suitable reply to insults. Not entirely an unenjoyable anecdote, anyway.

 

[CalBear]

@CalBear

Is it permissible to discuss political positions taken by the LaRouche movement at the present time, or would that be current politics?

The positions I'm thinking of don't directly involve any contemporary political leaders, and only broadly contemporary politics.

Best not to. Once you get into specifics on policy its always best to go to Chat. Someone will inevitably start comparisons to current politicians policies and The Lock happens or someone picks up an action.

 

[Gukpard]

A Larouche presidency is one of the only situations I can imagine where the attacks would actually be perpetrated as the 9/11 Truthers say: by the US Government, because reasons.

I wonder how his geopolitics would look like, he seemed to know about it since he's the one behind the star wars program

 

[Gukpard]

So, about Brazil,

LaRouche was an ally of the brazilian politician Enéas, who was the far right underdog on the 1990s

Enéas would quote LaRouche conspiracy theories publishied on the EIR magazine all the time, such as claiming that George Soros was the largest narcotrafficker in the world, so maybe LaRouche can help him to get elected, or blow his chances since LaRouche gonna be a dumpsterfire

 

[PNWKing]

I don't think "Sour grapes on the Battle on the Plains of Abraham" is a winnable electoral strategy.

 

[overoceans]

I don't think "Sour grapes on the Battle on the Plains of Abraham" is a winnable electoral strategy.

Are you refering to the conquest of Quebec? And if so, was that something LaRouche talked about in the USA?

I woulda thought that for an American audience, LaRouche would be more likely to moan about, say, the War Of 1812, which involved the USA vs. Great Britain, and was arguably a defeat for the US.