Two recent news stories from abroad illustrate just how close Americans came to descending into the same terminal decline as their international peers.
The first was in Nova Scotia, Canada, where the provincial government has prohibited people from entering any forest because of a prolonged drought increasing the risk of a forest fire. Given that Nova Scotia is essentially one big forest (nearly 75 percent of the whole province), this law amounts to an indefinite lockdown for its residents. One bold Canadian, Jeff Evely, tested the new law and received a fine of CAD$25,000 — far worse than the 200 hours of community service sentenced to an actual arsonist in another Canadian province two months ago.
Even if one accepts the rationale that restricting access to wooded areas lessens the chance of a wildfire, the real cause of this problem is a lack of logic. Most wildfires are caused by a combination of idiotic progressive policies that prevent the clearing away of kindling and brush or the removing of homeless vagrants who usually start these fires. Closing the forests is needlessly punitive and ineffective.
But no one will say this outright, or they will most likely be debanked, censored, or arrested, much like the truckers who protested the Covid-19 lockdowns.
England’s Gangs
At the same time, the seaside resort town of Bournemouth, England, is the latest victim to fall prey to migrant gangs. The situation has become so bad that some local residents have come together to create a “Safeguard Force” which would patrol the streets and alert police when they spotted criminal behavior.
This would be admirable if it were not so pathetic. None of the Safeguard Force “vigilantes” are allowed to carry arms or physically intervene when they witness a crime, but must appeal to local law enforcement, who have since proven unwilling to do anything about migrant criminals.
And just like in Canada, people in Bournemouth and the rest of the U.K. must stay quiet about the destruction of their country or face the wrath of their government. This can be seen in the story of Lucy Connolly, a British woman who dared to express her anger against violent migrants. She had to endure months in jail (longer than most of the criminals she was calling out) for a social media post and will be forever defamed as a dangerous racist.
Anarcho-Tyranny
Plenty of similar examples exist. As Western nations in the 20th century adopted various forms of socialism in the wake of mass industrialization, Western nations in the 21st century are now adopting various forms of anarcho-tyranny in the wake of mass globalization. In order to increase their power and weaken the populace, today’s leftist leaders selectively enforce the laws to punish responsible citizens and enable violent criminals to run amok.
As writer Samuel Mangold-Lenett explained in The Federalist last year, “Anarcho-tyranny is meant to keep you docile, scared, confused, defenseless, and poor. People become so concerned with the basics of life that they are unable to resist radical ideology, anti-human policies, and the bat-crap-insane economic decisions forced down their throats.”
Although Mangold-Lenett was writing about California and other blue states in America, his observation is even more applicable to Canada and the U.K., where citizens are forced to comply with senseless lockdowns, endure rampant crime from outsiders, and remain silent about all of it. Moreover, despite having every reason to vote the bums out, Canadian and British voters inexplicably voted for men who promised even more of this dysfunction. If there is any doubt that censorship is effective, the baffling elections of Mark Carney in Canada and Keir Starmer in England should settle the matter.
Unfortunately, it’s probably too late to save these countries from the tyrants now running them. Rather, President Donald Trump may want to consider offering asylum for the persecuted conservatives in these countries as he did for white farmers fleeing South Africa. Short of taking over these countries, Americans cannot reverse what is currently happening.
How to Defend Ourselves
What they can do is learn from them. Specifically, these countries demonstrate that the greatest defenses against anarcho-tyranny are the rights to free speech and bearing arms. Besides exposing Americans to alternative ideas not filtered through elites, free speech allows citizens to call out would-be tyrants and ensure that their fellow Americans know enough not to vote for them. Without free speech both online and offline, conservative populism would be squelched well before it led to electoral victories and policy reforms.
Just as important is the right to defend oneself. No, American gun-owners aren’t going to use their guns to fight against fighter jets sent out by the Biden administration, but they will use them against the violent criminals that Biden welcomed into the country. When law enforcement refuses to protect citizens from looters and rape gangs, the citizens in most U.S. states have the right (and duty) to deter lawlessness.
Which is why leftist politicians despise these two rights above everything else, and why Democrat-run cities and states are the most similar to countries such as Canada and the U.K. Their agenda is one of anarcho-tyranny, and it only works when most of the population is rendered impotent and ignorant through disarmament and censorship. Fortunately, people can leave these states (and they do), but only because there are governors and a president who avoid the anarcho-tyrannical impulse and protect constitutional liberties.
Thus, as the rest of the developed world collapses in a post-liberal Dark Age, Americans have to continue carrying the torch of civilization. It can feel like a heavy and thankless burden at times, but it’s not nearly as heavy and thankless as the burden of political and cultural oppression in the rest of the Western world.
