Defending the West: Power Without Principle
Chapter 9 - Power Without Principle
“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
James 3:16 (NIV)
Power is never neutral. In every society, it either defends principles or seeks control. When moral restraint gives way to raw ambition, politics stop being about stewardship of the country and become a battle to seize the nation’s laws, economy, and culture to serve a political instead of a moral purpose.
The clearest recent example of organized political evil on a large scale is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP has no interest in coexistence with the Western idea of liberty; it seeks to replace it. Its goal is dominance, not balance, achieved through economic pressure, theft and imitation of technology, cultural influence, and a comprehensive geopolitical strategy aimed at sidelining the United States as the world’s leading power. Ordinary Chinese citizens already live under widespread surveillance and control, and China’s outreach abroad aims to spread this same model through trade, diplomacy, and digital networks.
The threat from the Chinese Communist Party to the United States goes beyond military competition; it is a coordinated, long-term, multi-faceted strategy aimed at undermining Western independence without direct conflict. Inspired by Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Beijing pursues its goals through indirect and asymmetric tactics.
Economically, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative expands its influence across Asia, Africa, and parts of Europe by funding ports, rail lines, and energy projects that connect recipient countries to Beijing through debt and reliance. When countries are unable to pay, Chinese firms gain long-term control over strategic assets, establishing a Chinese presence along key trade routes. Meanwhile, China dominates global rare-earth mineral processing and holds significant leverage over supply chains essential for American defense systems, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. This interconnectedness creates structural vulnerabilities that the CCP can exploit during a crisis or conflict.
The CCP advances its position both technologically and institutionally through systematic theft of intellectual property and cyber-espionage. American research, industrial designs, and defense-related innovations have all been stolen to support Chinese state-affiliated enterprises. Confucius Institutes and similar partnerships operate within Western universities as tools of soft power, shaping academic engagement on sensitive topics toward Beijing and discouraging criticism of the regime.
Beyond economics and technology, the CCP employs asymmetric tools to weaken social cohesion. Information operations, digital influence campaigns, and strategic use of social media aim to deepen divisions within Western countries. Beijing also benefits from the global reach of online platforms it controls or influences, shaping stories about Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Western governance. Precursor chemicals used in illegal drug production flow from China into North America through Mexican and South American drug cartels, destabilizing US communities without risking direct conflict.
Domestically, the CCP controls the Chinese populace through widespread digital surveillance, censorship, suppression of dissent, and the institutionalization of one-party rule. It portrays centralized authority as a positive trait and obedience to the Party as a civic duty. Globally, it exports surveillance technology, infrastructure financing, and governance models that normalize its authoritarian approach. The struggle, therefore, is not just about territory or commerce; it’s a systemic rivalry. One side supports open institutions, individual freedoms, and the rule of law. The other relies on strict state control, backed by economic dependence, technological superiority, and ideological influence.
While the CCP advances its agenda with ruthless clarity, internal political shifts within the United States weaken resistance to its attacks. Progressive ideology, rooted in socialist and openly Marxist theory, now influences, if not directs, Democratic Party policy and shapes much of its governing agenda. Public officials such as New York City’s recently elected Mayor Yusef Mamdani openly promote aggressive rent control, city-subsidized housing, municipal ownership of energy and transit systems, and large-scale wealth redistribution through progressive taxation and expanded public employment. Other politicians who share these goals are winning elections nationwide, in both federal and state races.
At the federal level, progressive bureaucrats and politicians who support these causes use the language of fairness to justify increased intervention in nearly every aspect of life. Diversity mandates and equity quotas extend federal influence into hiring decisions. An expanding definition of harassment enforces speech codes in workplaces and schools. “Climate justice” rules limit energy production; new negotiating powers let Washington set healthcare prices within federal programs; and DEI compliance standards tied to funding allow bureaucrats to reshape classroom curricula. Each of these policies claims to promote fairness but actually results in greater government control over everyday life.
This expansion isn’t just theoretical — it demonstrates how policies are shaped today. Federal agencies now issue regulations far beyond what Congress has approved, turning rulemaking into a form of lawmaking. Executive orders, once reserved for emergencies, are now frequently used by presidents to bypass congressional gridlock. Examples include student-loan “forgiveness” through administrative reinterpretation of existing laws, restrictions on energy production via environmental mandates, and intentional non-enforcement of immigration laws at the border that strain local communities. All of these reflect the same mindset: that control is valuable, and delay is a barrier when advancing progressive social agendas.
Each order is presented as a moral obligation, but the actual result is an executive branch acting like a permanent legislature. Those who question its authority are called intolerant; anyone who challenges this deviation from constitutional order is told they hinder progress. For citizens, this leads to rule by directives—millions of pages of regulations that few will ever read, except those who benefit from them.
America’s fiscal policy increasingly shows a widening gap between what politicians say and what they actually do. The national debt has surged to levels once thought unimaginable, yet both major parties continue to approve spending they publicly oppose. In Washington, large omnibus bills lump hundreds of unrelated programs into a single “must-pass” vote, protecting politicians from accountability.
Fiscal debate has turned into political theater—ceiling limits are raised, suspended, and broken again in cycles that deceive no one. Lawmakers who campaigned on fiscal restraint quietly approve more borrowing that keeps the system functioning. The numbers are so large they seem abstract—until the impact appears as higher prices, shrinking savings, and interest payments that drain public funds once allocated for roads, defense, and social programs.
Within the Republican Party, politicians labeled as RINOs—Republicans In Name Only—speak like reformers and fiscal hawks but often support the same budgets they condemn on television. Reform bills stall while hearings replace real debate and change. Oversight becomes theater—a performance of opposition that leaves the core machinery of government untouched. The rhetoric of small government masks a quiet acceptance of ever-expanding government, as long as power remains shared among insiders from both parties.
Each side claims to defend ordinary citizens against elites but treats political power as an entitlement once they have it. Bureaucratic growth feeds on itself: power creates bureaucracy, bureaucracy expands influence, and influence sustains the power. Voters are offered partisan drama, yet the outcomes never change—larger budgets, broader surveillance, deeper debt, and a government that reaches further into private life each year. What seems to be a democratic choice is really a rotation of interests that shields the political class from consequences while maintaining the illusion of freedom.
The financial aspect of that illusion is the merging of business and government. Many of America’s biggest corporations succeed not through competition but through public contracts, regulatory favors, and subsidies that sustain their dominance. In return, they contribute money to campaigns, lobbying efforts, and media outlets that support their politicians, ensuring these deals continue. Over time, the line between public duty and private profit blurs. Laws are crafted with corporate interests in mind, and corporate power is used to push political agendas. The result is a single system where money fuels authority and authority protects money. A small business trying to secure a federal contract now gets lost in compliance demands that only a large corporation can handle, losing the bid not because of inferior products but because it cannot manipulate the system or meet its requirements.
Power without principles never backs down on its own. It pushes forward until it is met with a conviction strong enough to stop it. While America’s ruling factions argue and exchange slogans, the Chinese Communist Party builds ships, mines rare earths, and develops the technology that will shape the global future. Our internal conflicts over equity, bureaucracy, and political vanity weaken our ability to resist their attacks.
A divided republic cannot defend liberty at home or abroad. Our goal should not be to outspend or out-arm China, but to restore the moral unity and discipline that once made our freedom so strong. If we fail to regain that clarity, the battle between civilizations will be decided not by our invasion—but by our exhaustion, which is exactly what the CCP intends.
Copyright © 2026 by Michael Lines. All rights reserved.
The outline of the book Defending the West is available, along with purchase options, at this link.