The Fundamental Disconnect of “Unity” and the Progressive Left

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Francis Menton, aka the Manhattan Contrarian, is most certainly not advocating violence or rioting. Instead, Mr. Menton is encouraging “all legal means of opposition to Joe Biden’s principal inaugural theme of a call for unity.”

On Inauguration Day, Joe Biden presented some 17 Executive Orders to implement various parts of the progressive Left’s program. The fundamental disconnect with the progressive program is in its attempt to achieve “perfect fairness and justice through force and coercion,” argues Mr. Menton.

… those who disagree or stand in the way are to be pushed aside or defeated or crushed. Suppose you disagree with almost all of this program (like me), or even just some of it. There is no “unity” on offer to you. What is on offer is that you must surrender and accept your defeat.

The Progressive Program vs. the Libertarian’s

In the libertarian vision of limited government and a freedom-based economic order, there is no need for the government to suppress disparate goals and livelihoods of different people. In such a vision, it makes complete sense to talk about “unity” in adherence to our constitutional order, while we also can go our own ways in our individual lives.

Two of Biden’s Initial Crop of Executive Orders

• The Keystone XL Pipeline: Currently under construction, the Keystone Pipeline is to be blocked. Some thousands of people either currently working on it or about to be hired to complete it, now lose those jobs. This is part of the progressive program to lower world temperature by, say, a hypothetical and unprovable 0.001 deg C by 2100. The thousands thrown out of work are given no say in their fate; they simply have less political clout in current progressive circles than the environmental zealots. Is that “unity”?

• Paris Climate Accords: The U.S. is to rejoin to Paris climate accords, with a commitment therefore to reduce CO2 emissions by around 15% over the next five years. Devoted environmentalists are being installed throughout the bureaucracy — particularly EPA and the Department of Energy — to restrict access of Americans to energy to achieve the goal. The whole idea is to drive up the cost of energy and impoverish the people. If you think this is a bad idea, you have no say. If you want continued access to cheap, reliable energy, you also have no say. The environmental activists have more clout than you right now. Is that “unity”?

Before Biden, notes Roger Kimball in Spectator.US, America had attained energy independence and, in fact, had become an exporter of energy.

This not only turbocharged our economy, it also put us beyond the blackmail (that’s plain English for ‘influence’) of petro-kleptocracies like Iran and some oil-rich Arab states. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the implications of Biden’s green dream to (begin) rippling through the US economy.

But there’s more, continues the Manhattan Contrarian, who decries everything Joe Biden and his policies represent.

Other policy initiatives that Biden has advocated during the campaign include things like much higher government spending; vast increases in the sorts of programs that have failed for decades — and will continue to fail — to reduce poverty or improve housing or education or health or inequality; and greatly increased taxes. All of these are to be imposed by government force and coercion. If you oppose, you will be made to go along by force.

The sphere of freedom in which you can conduct your own life without government interference and coercion is to shrink and shrink and shrink some more.