By Rob Meyne
- March 18, 2024
- 4-min read
If you haven’t read anything by Michael Shellenberger, check him out, and thank me later.
He is one of a very few honest and truly productive journalists around. He is by nature a leftist and award-winning environmentalist. He is anything but a traditional MAGA advocate. He’s never voted for Trump.
Yet, perhaps unlikely, he has become a hero to people who favor free speech and, thus, to many conservatives. It says a lot about the disreputable nature of journalism today that anyone who is objective and fair stands likely to be accused of being a Trump person.
Consider Alan Dershowitz, who is a lifelong liberal and Clinton voter. He is one of the most balanced, knowledgeable, and honest people anywhere in the legal profession (that may not be too high a bar, but still). He still stands up for equal and fair justice. As a result of pointing out the many ways in which Trump has been treated improperly, or just dramatically different than his political opponents, Dershowitz has been chided, criticized, abused, and no longer invited to the cool parties on Martha’s Vineyard. To his credit, Dershowitz laughs at them and says it is their loss.
There is no longer any doubt. If you dare to do anything against the “regime,” the self-appointed elite who want to run your lives, you are putting everything on the line. You will be trashed, threatened, and marginalized just for being objective.
Shellenberger is effective at debunking the climate hysteria. Fortunately, it seems like some of our leaders, companies, and organizations are waking up. We will see if it is too late.
Even if you think carbon emissions are ruining the world, there is no good argument for suddenly dropping fossil fuels and turning to things like wind and solar power that are not capable of meeting our needs, are more expensive, and less reliable.
Without carbon-based fuels, we could not sustain our world’s population, grow, and prosper. We do not currently have technologies that can instantly replace the essential sources on which we depend. The world improved dramatically in the past generation, and it is reflected in higher standards of living around the world. You know what made all that progress possible? Carbon-based fuels.
Plus, we’re already making progress. The EU’s carbon emissions peaked in the 1970s. America’s carbon emissions have declined for years and are now lower than a decade ago. Meanwhile, the two largest nations, China and India, are building coal-fired power plants and producing more CO2 all the time. Yet all you hear from the left is that we need to do OUR part. The focus is entirely on making America the villain.
Why? Because this isn’t really about climate. It is about control. The globalists who run our governments, policy organizations, and the mainstream media use climate as an excuse to restrict your freedom and build their own wealth. If you don’t understand this yet, just look at some photos of John Kerry on his private jet. Or of Barack Obama’s Massachusetts mansion, built in an area he claims will soon be underwater. You must reduce your carbon footprint, according to them, but they can’t be bothered.
The climate scare is being used to undermine western society, subvert our economies, and enrich the global elite. I know that sounds conspiratorial. But it is not a conspiracy, it is just the logical result of giving power to people who benefit from keeping others down.
Perhaps the most under-reported story of our lifetimes is that more than a billion people have been lifted out of poverty in the past two decades. The reason? More nations have successfully embraced freedom and capitalism, and nothing reduces poverty like capitalism.
Today’s leftists, and supposed “Democratic Socialists,” claim to care about you and me. They. Do. Not. They care about power. If they cared about us, they would be promoting the policies that have allowed so many to escape poverty. On the contrary, they fight daily against the things that have made us healthier, happier, and freer.
Shellenberger makes this observation: There are four key elements that have allowed economies to boom in the last half century. He calls them the “Pillars of civilization.” They are free speech, cheap energy, meritocracy, and law and order. Each of these is under attack.
The meritocracy is being replaced by policies that allocate rewards based on race. Reliable fossil fuels, nuclear plants, and natural gas are being phased out even though there are no sufficient ways to replace them today. Urban DAs and state legislators are making it harder to prosecute crimes and routinely reduce charges against felons, releasing them without bail. Most horrifying, free speech is under attack by the DOJ, FBI, and the administrative state.
Think about it for a minute. Name one of these pillars – essential elements of a free civilization – that is NOT threatened today by the nascent wokeism of the left. Name. One. I doubt you can.
It may seem a bit hyperbolic to say the left hates America, but not by much. IF the Biden team were openly devoted to undermining America, it is doubtful they could do a better job than they already are.
