“The saddest thing about all this is that liberals of not-too-yore were at the fore of rejecting the anti-liberty views of the conservative Right. Blue laws such as the “no movies on Sunday” referenced at the head of this article were born of religious dogma, no matter an individual’s belief or non-belief re a particular rule set. Same for many other liberties, including speech and bodily autonomy (as in, the government has no business telling me what I may or may not eat, drink, smoke, or otherwise put into my body). It’s as if the Right’s loosening of our corset strings invited the Left to tighten them again.“
At least the Blue laws were local and nominally accountable to local voters. And that's the real rub here. We're no longer "free" to decide if we want to burden ourselves (or not) with progressive (or conservative) orthodoxy. We can't move or vote it out - because progressive orthodoxy is imposed on the whole country. Their way and no alternative. So California's competitive advantage may be sacrificed on the altar of ESG - but then, so is Texas, and Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The Modern Hotel California....
This same mindset is part and parcel of partisan politics. As I recently wrote, we only have the illusion of choice when it comes to elections. Two corporations, the DNC and RNC, through money and manipulation, decide who gets to be on the ballot, and then each pitches the other's candidate as the evil above all evils that must be defeated at all cost. Is that really a choice? Of course not - but people will fight tooth and nail to give even the ineligible the "right" to take part in the faux selection process.
As you put it, this is a problem of national proportion, and it is in large part due to the federal government growing far beyond the bounds the Constitution defines.
“The saddest thing about all this is that liberals of not-too-yore were at the fore of rejecting the anti-liberty views of the conservative Right. Blue laws such as the “no movies on Sunday” referenced at the head of this article were born of religious dogma, no matter an individual’s belief or non-belief re a particular rule set. Same for many other liberties, including speech and bodily autonomy (as in, the government has no business telling me what I may or may not eat, drink, smoke, or otherwise put into my body). It’s as if the Right’s loosening of our corset strings invited the Left to tighten them again.“
At least the Blue laws were local and nominally accountable to local voters. And that's the real rub here. We're no longer "free" to decide if we want to burden ourselves (or not) with progressive (or conservative) orthodoxy. We can't move or vote it out - because progressive orthodoxy is imposed on the whole country. Their way and no alternative. So California's competitive advantage may be sacrificed on the altar of ESG - but then, so is Texas, and Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The Modern Hotel California....
Another clear case for libertarianism v. conservatism and certainly wokism.
This same mindset is part and parcel of partisan politics. As I recently wrote, we only have the illusion of choice when it comes to elections. Two corporations, the DNC and RNC, through money and manipulation, decide who gets to be on the ballot, and then each pitches the other's candidate as the evil above all evils that must be defeated at all cost. Is that really a choice? Of course not - but people will fight tooth and nail to give even the ineligible the "right" to take part in the faux selection process.
As you put it, this is a problem of national proportion, and it is in large part due to the federal government growing far beyond the bounds the Constitution defines.