As I’ve noted before, I live in Thailand, and a major reason is I can’t afford America right now. I recently received an email from my brother in Kerrville, Texas—not one of the more expensive places in the country—and he is moving from a two-bedroom apartment, which cost him $1200 a month, to a very bland, one-bedroom apartment for $900. I’m sure there are cheaper places in America, but not many. I can’t afford them, not to mention an automobile, insurance, food, etc. My rent/utilities in Thailand are about $300 monthly, and I live on less than $1,000. I’m semi-retired, have a very limited income, and so...I live in Thailand because that’s what I can currently afford. I’ll accept the blame. I didn’t save like I should have earlier in life. I’ve never been good with money. But I like Thailand anyway. But I also wish America were more affordable.
Joe Biden is not the only reason America is now so expensive, but he certainly hasn’t helped one bit. The American government is a major cause of prices rising—government regulations and spending are inflationary. When the government competes with the private sector for goods and services, prices will rise unless supply concomitantly increases, and that can’t happen with the high costs governments have imposed on businesses over the past several decades. Biden is just making it worse.
So—I live in Thailand.
All of this is well and good for the Democratic Party, because what they are trying to do is change America into a completely different country. We sometimes use the word “destroy” America, and in one sense that is true—they’re trying to destroy the limited government, virtuous republic our Founding Fathers intended America to be and what it was for much of our history. America has never been perfect, of course, but the Founders ideal was a limited government of godly, virtuous people who wouldn’t need much government. They knew that governments throughout history tended to become tyrannical. The Democratic Party is endeavoring to transform America into a Marxist, Leftist totalitarian system, the most clear model of which in today’s world is the People’s Republic of China.
Let me explain some things about China. I lived there for 10 years, so I know whereof I speak.
Honestly, cities in China are not bad places to live IF you are totally submissive to government authority. The people there do have the “freedom” to go out to eat, watch (government-approved) movies, go to malls, buy what they want, etc. They can even go to bed with whomever they wish. And permit me an excursion here into Chinese sexual mores.
China’s culture is still largely family-oriented and “conservative” in sexual matters. Homosexuality continues to be frowned upon, though it DOES exist. But homosexuals don’t walk the streets and fly rainbow flags, and the Chinese would be horrified by “drag shows” and pedophilia. Transgenderism is literally laughed at, as it should be everywhere. About a year and a half ago, I posted a note on a Chinese social media website of a Labour Party MP in England who said, “Some women are born with penises.” The response was hoots and laughs and guffaws: “I’ve never heard such nonsense.” The Chinese people can’t imagine that kind of decadent stupidity. So, there actually are some values in China that America would do well to emulate.
But the sad thing in China—and this is what the Democrats want to give America—is its totalitarianism. In one sense, the Chinese government doesn't care what their people do as long as they don't oppose the CCP. That is the one crime that is absolutely not tolerated in China. Now, the government obviously doesn’t allow murder, rape, and violent crimes (except by the CCP). But those crimes are far inferior to opposing the government. People can even go to church in China—as long as they attend a state church that's government-controlled. Thus, in China, the people have “freedom”—freedom to do what the government allows them to do.
That’s not freedom, folks. That’s slavery. But that’s what the Democratic Party wants to transform America into. Don’t oppose the government—that’s crime number one. Remember Hong Kong a few years ago? Donald Trump?
I still have many Chinese friends in China and some of them know what the CCP is. They hate it and would love to overthrow it. A friend there recently sent me a TikTok video of Donald Trump with the comment, “Chinese like him very much.” Some of them do—those who oppose the CCP. They love Trump because they know what he stands for—and against. But they have no political power or opportunity to exercise such.
The CCP is the model for the Democrats. The Dems don’t—won’t—care if you go to church or who you choose to sleep with. They’ll let you eat where you wish, go to movies, malls, etc. just as long as you submit to their totalitarian rule. They will allow you to have the freedoms that they want to give you. But any freedom the government gives, the government can take away. That's not natural rights freedom, that's tyranny. That’s what our Founders rebelled against. And that’s why the Democrats hate them so much.
The major battle going on in America right now is between people like you and me, who believe in God-given natural rights and freedoms, versus a Leftist, Marxist Democratic Party that no longer believes that. To them, your rights, your freedoms, come from the government—just like in China. And they will give, and take away, whatever freedoms THEY want you to have. Don’t oppose them, and you can do pretty much whatever you want.
That’s the current Democratic Party. We’re in a battle between natural rights freedom, and protection from government tyranny, versus government-granted freedoms that can be taken away at the whim of a tyrant.
Check out my substack mklewis929.substack.com for all kinds of material. There’s lots of good stuff on Leftism, the Founders, etc., along with Biblical studies, so sign up. Video podcast every week for paid subscribers. Follow me on Twitter: @thailandmkl. Read my western novels, Whitewater , River Bend, Return to River Bend, and Allie’s Dilemma all available on Amazon.