On a tip from Jester.

As Big Government grows, economic freedom continues to decline:

Each year, the Fraser Institute releases a report entitled “Economic Freedom of the World,” a ranking of countries around the world by economic freedom. … The ranking is calculated using numerous factors, including size of government, respect for property rights, freedom to trade, monetary policy, and regulation.

“Economic freedom is about people being free to mold and shape their own lives,” in the words of James Gwartney, a coauthor of the report.

The United States slots in at 7th place, down one spot from last year. But the U.S.’s score dropped more significantly, down from 8.25 to 7.97 on the index’s 10-point scale. The reason why America lost only one spot in the rankings is because economic freedom around the world fell in 2020…

It would be nice to think that the Land of the Free would stand against this alarming trend. But the USA’s score is the lowest in 4 decades.

Atop the list are Singapore and Hong Kong, where freedom will soon be snuffed out by the ChiComs. Toward the bottom, we find Zimbabwe and Venezuela, two countries that appear to serve as models for Democrats.

Give Biden et al. a few more years and creeping socialism will push America out of the top 10.

On a tip from Mr. Freemarket.

On a tip from Jester.

John Paul II inspired millions by standing up to communism, a nakedly evil ideology that seeks to eradicate Christianity. Pope Francis has a different attitude:

“I love the Cuban people very much,” Francis said. “I also confess that I maintain a human relationship with Raúl Castro.” His reference to Raul Castro is like saying that although he loves the inmates in this prison, he gets along well with the warden responsible for their suffering. Adding to the confusion, the pope called Cuba “a symbol” and a country with “a great history.”

The most conspicuous feature of this “great history” is the communist revolution that reduced a prosperous country to one of the most miserable on earth.

The commentaries come a little over a year after the largest anti-government protests the country had seen in decades, asking for freedom from communism. The protests were so intense that many thought the end of the regime might be in sight. However, the communist regime brutally suppressed the peaceful demonstrations. Many protesters were subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture and draconian prison sentences. The Vatican and the West let that anniversary pass without commentary.

Western leaders are sympathetic to the Castro Regime, as they are in the process of inflicting similar systems in their own countries in the name of the climate. Francis apparently identifies with this Liberal World Order, if not with communist dictator Raul Castro himself.

Indeed, Cuba is a symbol. On the one hand, it symbolizes the continuation of communist tyranny, misery and brutality. For the West, Cuba is a painful symbol of its indifference and hypocrisy. Those who yet resist in Cuba are a symbol of Christian courage and long-suffering anticipating the day when they will be free to write the “great history” that awaits them.

Francis is a symbol too, personifying moonbattery and decline.

On a tip from Blackjack.

On a tip from Jester.

Independent transportation is crucial to liberty. That’s why progressives adore public transportation. It is why only Inner Party members will have private cars when the Liberal World Order has finished imposing utopia:

The World Economic Forum is calling for a global transition … away from private ownership of vehicles and other “idle equipment” in order to make a “clean energy revolution” possible.

It would be easy to laugh at the arrogant Dr Evil lookalike Klaus Schwab, except that his sinister WEF increasingly appears to be in the driver’s seat. Consider ostensible world leaders like Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, and Mark Rutte. Which do they seem more responsive to, the needs of their people or the demands of Klaus Schwab?

Even the WEF acknowledges that left-wing “clean energy” fantasies will require more of certain metals than the planet has to offer. This is especially problematic because the WEF disapproves of mining. The solution: you can’t have your own car anymore.

Metals like cobalt, lithium and nickel are used not only in climate cult foolishness like electric cars and wind turbines, but also in phones and computers. So we will have to go without those too.

The [WEF] argues that private ownership of vehicles and electronic devices is wasteful and inefficient.

You will own nothing and you will be happy. Oligarchical collectivists actually mean this. How they plan to force us to be happy is unclear. Maybe Pfizer is working on pharmaceutical lobotomies that can be mandated or put in the drinking water.

On tips from Blackjack, Wiggins, Stormfax, and Mr. Freemarket.