If it seems like George Orwell’s dystopian work of fiction, 1984, is becoming more fact every day, it might be because it is.
From powers determined to live in a perpetual state of war, the explosion of “Newspeak,” and an ever-expanding surveillance culture, the haunting book reminds us there are some who will always believe “Big Brother” knows best.
Wrote Orwell:
Big Brother is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from his leadership and inspiration.
Recent examples of government’s heavy hand include the push to ban gas stoves and gasoline powered cars. Traditional light bulbs have become another casualty of energy and environmental zealots.
Legislators in Washington state are now looking to ban deep tread tires due to their so-called excessive “rolling-resistance.”
Translation: environmental interests in the Evergreen State want to ban the safest of safe tires because they’re not fuel efficient and slow cars down since they better grip the road.
Call us simpletons, but isn’t the latter the whole point?
“There are very few other transportation policies in the short-term that can reduce emissions by this magnitude,” said Senior Energy Policy Specialist Steven Hershkowitz.
While the state claims the proposed standards “may not” adversely affect safety, the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board asks a good question:
“If the new standards aren’t going to reduce safety and grippiness, why does the next section create an exemption for snow tires? The biggest difference between snow tires and regular tires is the depth and pattern of the tread.”
It’s a great point, and one that lies at the heart of most frustration and the danger with radical environmentalists who 1. propose to know better and 2. seem willing to sacrifice our safety to achieve phantom or phony measures that may or may not mean anything at all.
Like the “Big Brother” described in 1984, we’re to somehow buy the claim these officials know better and are putting our interests ahead of their goals. At best, that’s a specious assumption.
Here in Colorado, some legislators are more blatantly motivated and have proposed plans to launch a “Pet Animal Registration Enterprise” in the Department of Agriculture. This is all in the interest of raising taxes but instead labeling them fees. That’s because Colorado law requires all tax increases to be voted on by residents. There’s no such requirement for fees.
From House Bill 1163:
Pet animal means a dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, hamster, mouse, rat, gerbil, ferret, bird, fish, reptile, amphibian, invertebrate, or any other species of wild or domestic hybrid animal six months of age or older, that is sold, transferred, or retained for purpose of being kept as a household pet.
Failure to register and pay your fee for even a goldfish in the house would result in a $25 fine.
From telling us what kind of tires we can put on our cars to monitoring even the goldfish a child might win at a carnival, the overreach and meddling might of government is wearisome and worrisome.
Jesus instructed us to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17), but the apostle Paul also encouraged us to pray for our leaders so “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (1 Tim. 2:2).
Many of us interpret that to mean we should pray for our state and federal leaders, of course – but also pray that they might leave us alone. In other words, let us buy the stoves, cars and tires we want and feel best suit our family – and not tax our children’s goldfish or frogs.
Image from Shutterstock.
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