All the fantasies of Trump-Bannon nationalism require a vastly

Hear the words of Rick Wilson, spoken with the sharpness of warning: “All the fantasies of Trump-Bannon nationalism require a vastly expanded state, with greater powers over the economy and society.” These words are no idle observation; they are a call to vigilance, for they reveal the paradox at the heart of many who cry for freedom. They speak of those who denounce the state with their lips, yet dream of enlarging it with their hands. They speak of visions clothed in the language of liberty, yet leading toward control and dominion.

For what are fantasies, if not illusions crafted to seduce the hearts of the weary and the discontented? The cry of nationalism often promises strength, unity, and renewal. Yet, as Wilson reminds us, such promises rarely come without a cost. To enforce one vision of nationhood, the state must grow teeth and claws; it must regulate, punish, and command. Thus, what begins as the dream of a people’s liberation too often becomes the mechanism of their restraint. History has written this lesson in blood and fire for all who would see.

Consider the tale of Napoleon, who rose amid the cries of liberty and equality that echoed from the French Revolution. The people longed for order after chaos, for strength after weakness. And so, he clothed himself in the mantle of national pride. Yet to preserve his vision, he built a vast machinery of war and law, expanding the reach of the state into every crevice of society. What had begun as a revolt against tyranny birthed an empire that devoured Europe. The fantasy of salvation through nationalism demanded ever more power, until freedom itself lay strangled.

So too in the twentieth century, when fascist leaders in Italy and Germany promised the renewal of their nations. They spoke to the wounded pride of their peoples, humiliated by war and poverty. But to enforce their nationalist fantasies, the state became a giant without restraint, controlling thought, labor, and even the private lives of families. The people found themselves not liberated, but bound tighter than ever, enslaved by the very powers that promised their deliverance. The echo of Wilson’s warning resounds here: beware those who preach smaller government while secretly desiring its limitless reach.

The wisdom of this quote is that the greatest danger often lies not in open tyranny, but in the fantasies that cloak tyranny in the language of patriotism. When a leader claims he alone embodies the nation, when he demands unquestioning loyalty in the name of strength, he builds not liberty, but a cage. The state expands, the economy bends to its will, and society is forced into uniform shape. It is a slow seduction, for people long for safety and pride, and in their longing, they may sacrifice the very freedoms they sought to preserve.

The lesson, then, is plain: test always the promises of nationalism, and weigh them not by their words, but by the powers they demand. Ask not, “Does this make me feel proud?” but rather, “What chains will this bind upon me, upon my neighbor, upon my children?” Remember that the health of a nation is not measured by the size of its state, but by the freedom of its people to speak, to labor, to dream without fear of control.

Therefore, O listener, let your actions be these: remain vigilant against the allure of fantasies that promise greatness at the price of liberty. When leaders speak of expanding power to protect you, look closely at what freedoms they ask you to surrender. Defend not only your own rights, but the rights of those unlike you, for tyranny often begins by consuming the outsider first. And above all, remember this truth: a nation’s strength lies not in its rulers, but in the courage of its citizens to resist the slow creep of domination disguised as salvation.