Years ago, socialism was described as government control of the factors of production — land, labor, and capital.  Communism was government ownership, rather than simply control, of the means of production.  This contrasted with our system in the United States, which was based on private, not government, control and ownership of the means of production.

But do we still have that system of ownership free from government?  Think about the following three stories:

• Biden Administration Approves Rules Forcing Companies to hire Minority, LGBTQ Executives And Publicly Disclose Diversity
• Biden to announce a target for 50% electric vehicle sales as he unveils stricter emissions rules
• CDC Director Extends the Eviction Moratorium for 30 days

Forced Diversity Hiring.  If you have a company, and you need to hire someone, you need to get the best person possible.  Let's say you own an NBA team.  The object is to win a championship.  You have coaches and scouts and try to get the best five players you can.  Are you going to look at that team and start assigning quotas to fill?  Are you going to require at least one representative from each of the major sub-races — African, Caucasian, and Asian?  Are you going to make sure you have an atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, and a Christian on the team?  And for good measure, even though there is no difference between men and women now, other than a state of mind, at least one woman?

That sounds silly, doesn't it?  So forget about the philosophical arguments on whether the government should have the power to do this.  Think about how ridiculous the concept in general is.  Merit and performance should be the deciding factor, not what they look like, what kind of sexual activities they engage in, or what group they're in.

Electric Vehicle Target.  If you have a flat tire, would you want Joe Biden or Kamala Harris to fix it?  I question whether they'd even know how to drive a car, much less know how it works.  Yet some people are fully supportive of this administration telling not only car companies, but car-buyers what kind of car they are going to manufacture and drive.

The communist Chinese, per Tristan Justice in The Federalist, make 70 to 80 percent of the world's battery chemicals, battery anodes, and battery cells.  Are our masters going to promote the expansion of American mining to reduce that dependency?  Don't hold your breath on that one.  What a great way to give the Chicoms an "attaboy" for releasing a biological war agent on the world population.  Makes sense though.  I mean, how much have the Chicoms invested in the Biden family?  They should get some kind of return.

Again, forget the arguments about whether the government should do this.  The consequences have not been thought through.  Buying all these batteries will enrich our enemy.  There's also the environmental problem with what to do with the batteries once they wear out.  It's another idea that may sound good on the surface but falls on its face when you begin to consider more aspects of the idea.

Rental Property.  Now we have a third question.  If you are a property-owner renting out a house or apartment, what will you do if the government forces you to let someone live in that residence for free?  If you're rich, I guess you'll make it through.  If you're retired and renting the dwelling to supplement your income because you were not fortunate enough to have landed a government job for thirty years and have a nice pension, you may not fare so well.

On top of that, though, the CDC is the Centers for Disease Control.  It's supposed to be smart on diseases — not smart on the control part of their name.  Why should the CDC have anything to do with telling someone how much rent to charge?  (This question is separate from the fact that these people lack the constitutional authority to do so.)

Again, you have a case of people who are trying to run an industry they know nothing about.  It's funny what the CDC worries about, isn't it?  These people make their thoughts known when it comes to evictions, but the fact that thousands of people with the Chicom flu are coming across the southern border doesn't elicit a peep from them.  Makes you wonder.

There are so many things wrong here.  The federal government, unless we change the Constitution, does not have the authority to force companies to hire certain breeds or groups of people.  It does not have the authority to tell manufacturers and consumers what to make or what to buy.  And the Centers for Disease Control has no purview and certainly no authority to tell landlords and tenants how to contract.

The fact that these things are happening shows the long-running effects of a corruptocracy and an apathetic population.  But beyond the chronic law-breaking of the government, these ideas are all something that wouldn't be expected from even the village idiot once you stop and think about them.

Image: Chinese propaganda poster edited by Andrea Widburg, using public domain images.

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