I used to lean very socialist... until I actually worked in a few organizations in and around government. There is so much wastefulness it isn't funny. And all government operations seem to incentivize this waste. I lean much more libertarian now... I mean I'm pragmatic about it, but I feel that maximizing personal freedom and liberty and minimizing bureaucracy are far better approaches overall.

I do feel that allowing the level of foreign production and limiting the amount of preparedness we have had are big issues. It's a matter of national security as far as I am concerned. To me, it should be an FDA requirement for dual sourcing and at least 50% domestic production for the US market for prescribed medications and devices. Similar constraints should probably be true of most products sold in the US.

To me some of the biggest sources of waste are in terms of the subsidy programs that should be reigned in as well as military spending and foreign operations spending. I do feel infrastructure spending should probably be re-prioritized higher. All in all, we could probably cut half of the government's budget without too much effort... it would suck for some areas, but in general lead to a healthier outcome for the government holistically.

Making assumptions about motive is really poor form. Most people are mostly good, and generally have the best of intentions.

As to businesses being unable to stockpile resources or operational capital, there are MANY companies that are over-provisioned and have plenty of operational capital set aside. I'm sorry for your poor experience in the space. I have a friend that is in a similar position, and seeing similar frustrations in terms of security.

I find that most politicians are leaning into an ideology, that they may or may not believe in, for the purpose of expanding power. They whip up both support and dissent in the rank and file citizens and are dividing everyone into tribes (such as your assumptions of xenophobia, etc as motivation). I don't fit cleanly into either the D or R side, though I find the spread on the D side so wide that most D's don't fit into their own frames well at all.

As to big business, too many generations of MBAs running companies without those of domain knowledge and experience to counter them. They are driven in a way to optimize that are a poor fit for the humanity that should be included. Much like politicians, they often don't even believe in what they are doing and are more concerned with power, influence and monetary gain.

I'm definitely against corporate protectionism, as many libertarians are... there is a difference between capitalism and corporatism. Corporate rights are wholly granted by the government and there should be less of them, not more. The limited liability should definitely be an offset to certain restrictions, that doesn't mean choking companies in red tape, so much as limiting their collective rights. A company should not have a freedom of speech right... individuals have freedom of speech... and an organization of people can as well. For a company, that "right" should be limited in the same way their collective liability is limited. Companies should also be allowed to die.

Right now, there are a lot of things that are not going well, and I think we'll be feeling the repercussions for a generation to come, much like the 1918 flu and the following market crash about a decade later. US banking policies would be better aligned closer to Canada's banking regulations imho. The number of people panicking in so many ways, in addition to the "orange man bad" assertions are a bit overkill and don't make anything better. I don't like about 30% of Trump's policy choices. I think that on a personal level, he's a pompous asshole. That said, sometimes you need an asshole in charge, you need a certain amount of friction for working systems.

You also need communication and compromise and many of the Democrats are as or more guilty of unwillingness to participate in good will as the Republicans. The stonewalling over the support proposals for example are childish and only demonstrated by a 1400 page proposal including things that, like the green new deal, have no place in the stated legislation's purpose.