In a world that seems increasingly chaotic -- one in which we are bombarded, daily, with shocking headlines -- it's all too easy to dismiss bad news as nothing more than unfortunate but isolated events. This is a grievous error. The events we are watching are not isolated; they are connected. There are reasons and methods behind everything that's happening, and we must understand that if we are to prevail against them.
These are just a few of the patterns it is imperative that Americans recognize:
No. 1: The rule of law is under attack.
Take illegal immigration. Nearly 6 million people have poured across our borders illegally since President Joe Biden took office. The Federation for American Immigration Reform calculates the annual cost of illegal immigration to American taxpayers at more than $180 billion. This is deliberate; the current administration sees open borders as a surreptitious method of Marxist wealth redistribution.
In blue state cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York and Chicago, laws protecting private property, public safety and public health are routinely flouted; the consequences are felt only by law-abiding citizens. The homeless, the mentally ill and the addicted sleep in the streets, urinate and defecate on the sidewalks. Retail theft is no longer prosecuted, so bands of thieves walk into stores and steal with impunity. Small businesses are forced to close or move. Even large corporations like Walgreens, Walmart, Target, Macy's, BestBuy and REI are packing up and leaving, citing theft and crime that is undeterred and unpunished. In 2020, under then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot's tenure, mobs of vandals did millions of dollars in damage and theft to the upscale stores on Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Chicago has a new mayor, Brandon Johnson, but the same problems -- just last weekend, gangs of teenagers ran riot through downtown for two days, setting cars on fire, damag!
ing store windows and shooting weapons. Mayor-elect Johnson claims teens in the Windy City just lack "safe spaces" to congregate and have fun.
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No. 2: Children and families are under attack.
Our schools -- public and private -- are teaching children promiscuity and gender confusion, using sexually explicit and even pornographic materials. Schools and school districts across the country have policies encouraging teachers and administrators to "transition" a child to a different gender without disclosing it to the child's parents. And the transgender craze has moved to legislatures. The state of Washington just passed legislation granting "runaway" minors sheltered status, enabling them to receive abortions or transgender medical intervention -- in other words, chemical castration, surgical mutilation or sterilization -- without their parents' knowledge or consent.
No. 3: Modern civilization is under attack.
In the United States, "climate change" ideologues are pushing for the elimination of gas-powered vehicles. California has prohibited the sale of new gas-powered cars after 2035 -- even though the state's electrical grid cannot handle the current demand. Also glossed over is the fact that the electricity that powers electric cars must come from other sources like coal and natural gas, and that the lithium needed for EV batteries is often mined using child labor and in conditions deeply detrimental to the environment.
It isn't just fuel. It's appliances and food. New York has passed a law banning the use of gas stoves or any other appliances using natural gas or other fossil fuels in all new buildings. The Biden administration is issuing more restrictive regulations targeting stoves, refrigerators, ovens, washing machines and air conditioning. New York City's mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would be "cracking down" on meat and dairy production and consumption in the name of "reducing carbon emissions." And yet at the same time, "experts" are claiming that the production of rice -- a staple food that half the planet depends upon for sustenance -- is "twice as bad for climate change as previously thought." Nor can 8 billion people eat fish; we already have the problem of "overfishing."So, what are people supposed to eat, exactly? The United Nations and the World Economic Forum have the answer -- insects.
This is a global phenomenon. Germany just closed down its last operational nuclear power plant, despite warnings from experts that reliance upon so-called "renewable" energy sources like wind and solar are unreliable, and that costs for consumers will skyrocket. As PowerLine Blog's John Hinderaker has written about extensively, the Netherlands and Canada are among the countries seeking to outright ban nitrogen-based fertilizers in the name of "climate change," despite the alarming lesson of Sri Lanka's complete agricultural collapse when it attempted the same thing. (Massive protests by Dutch farmers resulted in a major victory for the Farmer-Citizen Movement party opposing the proposed nitrogen ban in last month's parliamentary elections.)
Parents undermined and children indoctrinated; businesses crippled by theft; entire industries destroyed; agriculture and food production severely curtailed; cities rendered unlivable by crime and homelessness; transportation curtailed; heat and electricity restricted; speech censored and religious practices persecuted.
All of it is already happening somewhere, and those in power are eagerly pushing to make these policies reality everywhere.
The principles that undergird the United States of America -- indeed, what we think of as "Western civilization" generally, inherited from dozens of cultures over thousands of years -- are being systematically dismantled. This destruction is purposeful.
The time to fight is now. And the fight must be everywhere -- our schools, school boards and school districts; our city leadership, our prosecutors' offices, our state legislatures, governors, congressional representatives and senators. We must fight in every election. We must refuse to support corporations, media and entertainment conglomerates that attack our values. We must fight for standards in education and against the sexualization of our children. We must fight against those who preach victimhood and hatred in colleges and universities. We must fight for our civil liberties and for the lives of all -- the unborn, the disabled, the ill, the vulnerable, the ostracized, the elderly and the dying. We must fight for the truth and the power to speak it, including real science, real academic inquiry and real debate.
We must fight for our freedom and our country.
We must fight with everything we have. Or we will lose everything we have.
To find out more about Laura Hollis and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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