Rob Jenkins, Real Clear Policy, 10/23
In the mid-20th century, the economist Friedrich von Hayek warned that the rise of centrally-planned economies—whether in the form of socialism/communism or fascism, which he argued have common roots—was leading us all (back) down “the road to serfdom.”
The term “serfdom,” of course, alludes to the feudal system that, in one form or another, dominated human civilization for thousands of years. The common people, the “serfs,” did most of the work that kept society functioning, then handed over much of the fruits of their labors to a strong central government, usually represented by a “nobleman” (i.e., a member of the elite class) in return for relative peace and security.
That system was eventually displaced by the rise of liberal democracy during the Age of Enlightenment—an experiment that has now lasted 300 years and brought to the West, and other parts of the world where it has been embraced, a freedom and prosperity never before seen in human history.
But does this fairly recent development mean, as President George W. Bush opined in a speech before the US Chamber of Commerce in 2003, that “liberty is the design of nature…the direction of history?”? Is it true that, in the popular phrase, “every heart yearns to be free?”
I used to believe that. Now, I’m not so sure.
We can certainly point to countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, where the United States and its allies have attempted to “liberate” the people, only to have them return to centuries-old power struggles and warlord tribalism—essentially, a form of serfdom—as soon as the Western powers pull out. Do those people really yearn for freedom, for democracy? Why don’t they have it, then?
But the problem actually strikes much closer to home. I’m convinced that a large and growing minority of people in this country, especially among young people, don’t really want freedom—certainly not for others, but ultimately not even for themselves. Witness the recent Buckley Institute poll in which 51 percent of college students supported campus speech codes, while 45 percent agreed that violence was justified to prevent people from expressing “hate speech.”
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Well yes, things have looked bleak in this so-called post-modern time but there are signs that the silly “wokeness” is ending, such as at New Zealand and Australia which have voted conservative and the USA as well. Wokeness is being recognized for the huge deception that it is – the gaslighting which falsifies the truth, putting everything and everyone in a negative light. It is succeeding less and less at fooling people.
The young have been the biggest fools of all. Let’s hope they wise up and realize they’ve been used as “useful idiots”.