The prophecy of George Orwell.
The word “Orwellian” is an adjective that describes a societal condition that English author George Orwell regarded as antithetical to the ideals of a free and open society. His famous 1949 novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, centers on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation. It was Nineteen Eighty-Four that put the pejorative term “Big Brother” into the cultural lexicon.
American entrepreneur Gordon Bowker, one of the co-founders of Starbucks, perfectly defines Orwellianism:
Orwellianism isn’t just about big government. It’s about authoritarianism coupled with lies.”
Bowker’s definition is aptly applied to the Biden administration. The latest example comes from the Environmental Protection Agency. This week, the EPA released a slew of strict automotive exhaust regulations intended to aggressively push adoption of electric vehicles via the mechanism of regulating internal combustion vehicles out of existence. The stated goal is for EVs to comprise 70 percent of new vehicle sales by 2030 – just six years from now.
This EPA regulatory zeal is driven by a Biden administration fixation on climate, a fixation that borders on being a fetish.
We haven’t the space for a dispositive discussion on the reasons that an ill-considered headlong mass conversion to EVs is a bad idea. The full list is too long.
But the short list includes the fact that EVs are too expensive for most people to buy (particularly in the absence of the individual federal tax credits that have propelled EV sales so far); the fact that the mining of rare earth minerals necessary for making EV batteries does enormous environmental damage; and the fact that the U.S. power grid as it sits doesn’t come close to having the capacity to charge millions of electric vehicles.
Oh, and there’s one more reason. Consumers don’t want them. Just ask Hertz Rent-a Car CEO Stephen Scherr, who this week was pushed out of his job for having bet too heavily on EVs to the tune of billions of dollars in losses.
But it’s not really about EVs anyway.
What it’s really about is who gets to decide how you live your life. Here’s a hint. The Biden administration doesn’t think it’s you. And they won’t stop with cars.
They’re on to cows. Flatulent cows pass gas that the enviros tell us is destroying the climate. Don’t be shocked when the USDA regulates beef into scarcity driven by unaffordability.
If your car is relatively new, it’s already trackable. When you start getting punitively taxed on your excessive mileage, remember that I warned you.
Did you install one of those smart thermostats that you can control with your phone? Great. If you can control it, so can your government-regulated electric utility. Big Brother will decide for you if your house is cool enough.
Your car. Your house. What you eat. What else?
Control over your life by an Orwellian bureaucracy acting beyond the reach of the ballot box is limited only by the imagination. And if nothing else, leftists have vivid imaginations.
George Orwell was more than a novelist. He was a prophet.
How about a Digital Currency being planned for us by the Fed and the Biden Regime? Ask the Canadian truckers about frozen bank accounts when they were protesting their Leftist government in 20 below zero temperatures. No pun intended.
It is all about “democracy,” don’t you know, when the Left pukes their version of the Big Lie. This is their term for legitimate mob rule with them saving the country from the “radical” Christian Nationalists (domestic terrorists)!
I was a residential painter and saw the “helpful” tech built into new homes. Baby monitors, smart appliances, intercom, WiFi connectivity, etc. Cars are the same. Several years ago a show called “Person of Interest” was centered on the many video cameras that may detect “odd” behavior in or around someone, deeming them a “Person of Interest” to those capable of monitoring the cameras. Big brother IS watching. And today, video surfaced of hundreds of aliens storming over razor wire and bashing against the wall on the Texas border! INVADING OUR COUNTRY, JOE!!! Greg Abbott is not only exercising his rights, but his DUTIES, to protect the state he was elected to serve. Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it. Look back at the very reasons America was founded to begin with. Several aspects of English government were good, several were not. The ability of the people to protect themselves from the tyranny of imperialism was paramount, as was the ability of the government to protect the country. The ability to bear arms was a prerequisite for both. If you can’t or won’t defend yourself you will not survive very long.
Mr. Durham, I agree 100% what you said. My husband and I used to lay flooring, so we saw exactly what you have over the years. All the things that are supposed to “save” us time better spent doing pleasurable things are actually watching what we do in our “off” times. The left has all these “pleasure” saving devices, as they call them, watching every move we make. We have all kinds of cameras now to watch out for us to keep us safe and I am not saying they are actually bad because those cameras have saved lots of people and saved lives. Think that is the thing, they get us to let our guard down because they are leading us to believe they are keeping us safe. We are not depending on ourselves to do that as we once did. So we are put in a false sense of security…we have let our guard down because of the “security” we are lead to believe these devices put out there for us.
We no longer have the ability to protect ourselves because we have been lead to believe it is being done FOR US. We have already seen for ourselves with this border crisis. The governments JOB(one of them)is to PROTECT it’s CITIZENS from people coming in OUR country unvetted!
Let me ask a very important question here…these illegals coming in from all over the world are not just people wanting a better life. These are ones who have been released from prisons and mental institutions. They have killed no telling how many innocent victims with nothing done to them. My question is this: The party of the left are who have structured this calamity. THEY are who released ones caught committing crimes, so my question is this …Just how does the left KNOW with certainty this is not going to back fire and they become the next victim? I do not believe all the security devices in the world can keep them safe, no matter what they have surrounding them or how many people are hired to keep them “safe”. These measures are NOT fool proof. If what happened to pelosi, someone breaking in( if this is the real story) just how are someone of their so called caliber going to really be safe?
Just something to think about…
It should be clear to all Americans that this Marxist promoted, INVASION of our country, is ON PURPOSE to DESTROY the American way of life and its traditions, Constitution, and RULE of LAW. Look at Europe and the devastation of their societies by the OPEN BORDERS that they have tolerated by their Marxist leadership. It is all part of the Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” in order to overwhelm our Constitutional Republic that was uniquely founded by our forefathers on Biblical principles and a moral society (“if we can keep it”).
Today the House of Representatives passed a 1.2 trillion dollar funding bill to boost the WOKE and WEAPONIZED POLICIES of the radical Marxist Democrat (Biden) and the Globalist RINO Republican agenda that does not “honor or respect” the Conservative base that opposes this travesty which forms the actually majority of the LEGAL VOTERS in this country given recent polling data.
The federal spending is now one trillion every 100 days. The intended collapse of the country by the Marxists is not only based on “legalized” Criminal behavior but depends on National bankruptcy as well. Every Republican that voted for this Marxist TRASH should be voted out of office because they have reneged on their campaign promises to represent their constituency and oppose this radical Democrat agenda that is falsely framed to “SAVE Democracy”.
“1984”, “Animal Farm”, and “Fahrenheit 451” should be required reading in both American Literature and Civics in all High Schools across America; but alas it is a should and not a must. This all comes down to one question and one quote way back on September 17, 1787 after the Constitutional Convention passed our current form of government.
“A republic, if you can keep it.” –Benjamin Franklin’s response to Elizabeth Willing Powel’s question: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
Everyone needs to read up on Ben Franklin’s speech on the last day of this Convention as well. He certainly was prophetic in his parting comments on the erosion of the people’s Republic at some point down the road. All I can say is history certainly repeats itself in some form or another. As Paul posted prophetically in his last post, “Buckle Up!”.
I recently rented an EV SUV from Hertz just to try it. It was OK except when the charge was low and I had to find a charging station. Fortunately there were THREE at a nearby Walmart. By the time it took me to charge an extra 60 miles I could have filled up a gas vehicle four or five times and been on my way. If consumers want electric vehicles and the inconvenience that goes with them let them decide, don’t force it on the rest of us.
One thing that we should all understand is that the Marxist Revolutionaries at the top of the power pyramid DO NOT CARE about their “brain washed” followers and their ignorant innocent victims when collateral damage is purposely inflicted on to them. Totalitarian Rule is the GOAL in order to RESET our society into accepting their demented and evil plans for “the greater good”, of course. Logical reasoning doesn’t matter. Yes, it is demonic and they are willing to suffer consequences themselves if necessary. After all, they are Warriors that HATE America as founded.
NO FAKE TECHNOLOGY should be made available to the American public that MUST HAVE government funding to survive by way of our taxes and catastrophic indebtedness that destroys the currency and limits freedom of unrestricted travel at lowest possible cost. This is part of the plan to force us into government poverty by any means necessary. Remember, the Marxists have an unlimited number of MANUFACTURED ballots available to steal in ANY election of their choice!
We have just witnessed 1.2 trillion being added to the national debt being approved by the sympathetic, pathetic, and spineless Congress to FUND the advancement of the Marxist Democrat goals to terrorize patriotic and conservative Americans while they still have their stolen power at hand. The inherent criminal nature of OPEN borders fosters their goal of imported terrorism into America by foreign proxies without having to lift a finger themselves!
I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s likely “public service” was not a lifelong job for the framers of the Constitution. It took awhile for us to restrict the president to limited time in office. I feel like limited years in government would also limit the power politicians can build up. Tweaks in election laws result in dynasties that inevitably turn evil regardless of beliefs. Inherited rule was a big factor in crafting our constitution and creating the democracy the Democrats say they are trying to defend! Joe Biden has spent his entire adult life in government. His list of accomplishments is well-known. Term limits, indeed.
Good point, Darrell! Given Mr. Biden’s “public service”, sorry, I mean “self service”, is there such a word as discomplishments? It is strange that the President is restricted to two terms yet Congress has no limits whatsoever. Congress has become a closed society of multiple “thiefdoms”, for the most part, where each one has a legislative credit card worth billions of dollars from which they can buy votes with “special” favors given to their “fans” while we have to PAY for it through taxes and a diminished value of the dollar as the National debt soars with NO way to stop it!
Someone should develop a universal competency/literacy test that each Congressman could VOLUNTEER to take so that the voters could judge their fitness for office. If the test is NOT taken, it would tell us a lot about the candidate. Additionally, since each member of Congress is OUR paid employee with OUR credit card, a full and complete financial audit should be conducted of their financial affairs just like an audit of a publicly traded corporation. When they hold a credit card worth billions for which WE become the DEBTOR, can we let them go without an audit that would prove their honesty?
Very eye opening article that I am sending to all my friends outside of Texas…even the ones on the left.
It’s funny how you think EPA regulations are bad, i.e. regulations on things that we know historically have caused harm – think of LA smog, air pollution, etc. – but you say absolutely nothing about laws enacted to determine what you can and cannot read, to determine whom you can and cannot live with, what you can or cannot say.
It’s like you missed the point of what Orwell said.
At the risk of having too much to say on this subject, it is hopeless to argue with those who accept the JUNK SCIENCE and the DECLARATION of “Domestic Terrorist” by the Marxists who want to use their Unconstitutional Power to SENSOR and JAIL ordinary Patriotic Americans that didn’t drink the “cool-aid” and “brain washing” offered by the Leftists that HATE America’s founding based on Judaeo-Christian (individual) Rights from God Almighty.
These Leftists have been allowed to penetrate almost every institution and corporation in this country for the last 65+ years with little or no effective opposition by Loyal Americans who have been complacent. Now, we Patriots are awake to the Globalist, Marxist, WOKE propaganda and are determined to DEFEND our basic Freedoms that are under assault by our own government that was captured by these Marxists that care NOT about the Constitution. They will use ANY method to establish their Communist Utopia by using unfettered technology to gain tyrannical control over the country.
America has the strictest environmental laws on the planet. I have been to Africa; my mother n law has been to every continent; worked in Asia and Africa. We both can testify with 110% accuracy that our regulations are ridiculous at best. Until the burning of trash, trees for charcoal, heat, cooking, and forest fires for agriculture (third world countries utilize fire to do their forest clearing for them!!!!) Global Warming is alive and well. Your focus is misdirected, and you should do your homework better. America is doing it over the top. We are the leaders in helping the environment with extreme (and ignorant) measures.