Much of the banter surrounding the rise of China’s electric vehicle (E.V.) industry and the implication for the global economy is misleadingly alarmist. When our government gets involved in such narratives, it calls into question the sincerity of its insistence that E.V.s are essential to an existential battle against climate change. If China’s foray succeeds, the world gets cleaner cars and non-Chinese automakers are obliged to improve their own products.
A common concern among government officials is that while China faces strong headwinds, the country still might have what it takes to firm up its position and maintain dominance as an E.V. producer and exporter. Such worries aren’t confined to U.S. officials. Governments around the world are melding to cut China out of the E.V. market.
I find it bizarre. We are constantly reminded of the importance of investing in green technology as the world faces a pressing need to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. By dispensing gargantuan subsidies to support both U.S. electric car production and purchases, the Biden administration clearly wants American voters to believe that it’s taking climate change seriously and that more E.V.s are part of the answer.
We should rejoice in China’s increased focus on electric cars, which reflects the global shift toward cleaner and more sustainable transportation.
Arnold Kling writes with great wisdom about today’s decline of liberalism. A slice:
The New Right does not appear to desire a return to liberalism. To the extent that intellectuals on the New Right articulate a vision, it comes across to me as pre-Enlightment illiberalism. For example, some on the New Right would tear down the barrier between church and state.
But I think that [Brink] Lindsey is wrong to dismiss the significance of extreme progressive ideology. I think that a liberal society is vulnerable to a loss of status of liberal elites. Nobody is perfect, but I think that many of our institutions were better before the Midwits took over, and DEI replaced competence as a status booster.
True liberalism is not a natural belief system. The natural belief system is “freedom for me, but not for thee.” People easily succumb to Fear Of Others’ Liberty (FOOL). In America, the high status of our Founding Fathers, who held liberal beliefs, helped us to stave off the FOOLs.
Juliette Sellgren talks with Jeremy Lott about, among other things, Adam Smith and comics.
“Are humans inherently selfish?”
Criticism aplenty has been directed at Harris, but none of it has been about her sex or race. Far from resenting Harris’s accession as the first Black, Asian, and female vice president of the United States, countless Americans happily and enthusiastically celebrated it. Her selection as Biden’s running mate in 2020 received flattering front-page, above-the-fold treatment in newspapers everywhere. Senate Republicans, even those who supported Donald Trump for reelection, didn’t hesitate to congratulate her on her victory.
Steven Greenhut warns government officials not to again make the same covid mistakes. Two slices:
For instance, the federal National Institute for Mental Health found, tragically, that youth suicide rates rose significantly during the pandemic. Those rates also rose for adults, although by a lesser degree. Human beings are social creatures and locking us in our homes certainly takes its toll on our mental health.
…..
Then there’s the toll on our freedoms. Just as the 9/11 terrorist attacks permanently changed our airline travel, the vast executive powers grabbed by governors have permanently eroded our property rights. At any time, and with little oversight, Gov. Gavin Newsom can become a czar and shut down your business or forbid the eviction of non-paying tenants. Our system of checks and balances is just one bad pandemic outbreak away from suspension. And all for healthcare results that, at best, up for debate.
No wonder so many Americans still have PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and assume the worst following every report of a COVID spike.
Margery Smelkinson tweets: (HT Jay Bhattacharya)
.@MCPS [Montgomery County Public Schools] claims they’ve always had mask mandates for flu.
This is laughably false. There were absolutely NO masks in schools before COVID. And everyone knows this.
They are so desperate to justify their decision to bring masks back, they are lying to do so.
