As one of the great Chico Marxist quotes of all time asks: “Who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?” Every day it seems that more of our political leaders are asking — maybe ordering — Americans to ignore the wrongs they plainly see, in favor of narratives that are built on false and self-destructive ideology.
As Americans try to cope with exponentially diminishing security, supplies, affordable energy, savings accounts, job prospects, career-creating and career-relevant education, and even many of their liberties, those who are in charge insist, “Nothing to see here; move along.” We’re supposed to trust the nanny-state.
Why would these politicians purposely ignore actual — and fixable — catastrophes that could negatively impact their own somewhat privileged lives and the welfare of their children if left unchecked? Biased minds are spot-welded to questionable ideology, anger, hate, hubris, and the inability to acknowledge that one is wrong.
Let’s look at four examples of quality of life-destroying issues that some who worship at the altar of political correctness had a hand in either creating or denying, or both.
The first is the energy supply crisis spreading around the world — as in, energy that makes human life sustainable.
While those pushing green and renewable energy solutions can deny it all they want, the truth is that fossil fuels remain the giver and protector of human life and civilization. Eliminating fossil fuels is tantamount to signing a death warrant for millions of people the world over.
Two voices, among many, have spoken out on this subject but, because of who they are, the green energy zealots — and their media and celebrity enablers — doubled down on their denial of any energy emergency that threatens others’ quality of life.
The first person who comes to mind was Donald Trump. Yes, alert the authorities: If Trump said it, no matter how accurate his warning as president may have been, many on the left will deny it, smear it and destroy it.
But, four years ago, during a speech at the United Nations, Trump warned that unreliable green and renewable energy sources would threaten the actual energy needs of Germany and Europe. The German delegation literally laughed in his face.
They’re not laughing anymore. With natural gas supplies from Russia essentially cut off because of the war in Ukraine, Europe is facing energy shortages and a potential crisis this coming winter.
The next notable person I recall speaking out on the issue was Elon Musk, who recently said that “civilization will crumble” unless we continue using oil and gas in the short term. Earlier this week, he tweeted: “Countries should be increasing nuclear power generation! It is insane from a national security standpoint & bad for the environment to shut them down.”
The green energy-pushing leftists can hate on Trump and Musk all they want, but that doesn’t make their warnings false. We can see for ourselves the energy crisis unfolding across Europe, which could reach our own shores. And then what?
Next, let’s consider the war zones that some of our cities have become. Not familiar with that story? I’m not surprised. Thousands of lives are being lost each year to urban violence. Why isn’t this a national emergency? Well, political correctness dictates that we can’t talk about those lost lives because many are the result of gang violence or turf wars between young men. Sometimes innocent children or women are caught in the crossfire.
Ironically — and quite brazenly, since some at the newspaper favored earlier calls to “defund the police,” which voters opted not to do — the Minneapolis Star Tribune recently published an editorial titled, “Curbing violent crime is an all-hands job.” An excerpt said: “Crime, particularly violent crime, is at near-record highs in larger cities in Minnesota, with emboldened criminals feeling freer than ever to wield even the deadliest weapons without regard for the law or human life.”
No kidding. That’s what happens when you demoralize the police, and some cities are experiencing difficulty replacing those who quit. That’s happening not just in Minneapolis but in cities elsewhere in the United States, and some cities have prosecutors who don’t want to prosecute certain crimes.
From the epidemic of violence, let’s switch to the epidemic of obesity in America. Oh, wait — we can’t talk about that, either. Political correctness dictates that to address such an issue would be “fat shaming.” And yet, obesity is an epidemic that is contributing to the loss of tens of thousands of lives each year.
We see it, we know the grief it causes, but we’re told not to “believe our lying eyes.” It is much more politically expedient for some to normalize obesity and allow people to suffer from chronic illnesses or even die instead of addressing a health crisis that continues to get worse.
And the topic of health brings us to the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of deaths worldwide were attributed to the virus, but we still don’t know definitively how SARS-CoV-2 originated in Wuhan, China. Shouldn’t our political leaders try to get to the bottom of this? And if they don’t care to find conclusive evidence, why not?
These four issues alone are harming people worldwide. And yet, many of those who control the government, media, academia, science, medicine and entertainment either refuse to acknowledge it, or worse, seek to punish anyone who dares to question their politically correct policies.
If we don’t address the catastrophes we are witnessing with our own eyes, we risk the collapse of the infrastructure and rule of law that sustains society. The clock is ticking and the alarm signaling a point of no return is about to shriek.
Douglas MacKinnon, a political and communications consultant, was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration.