I am not writing about chili. My subject is China’s influence on our society and the unsettled issues of climate change and its effect in New Mexico.
What concerns me most on these issues is what is happening to our kids and the things they are learning from social media platforms like TikTok. When I went to school, I learned about civics, the American Revolution, the founding of our nation, the Civil War, the World Wars and how we survived it all, including the Great Depression. All of this was a time for Americans to unite and defeat forces which could destroy this nation, and we did.
Today, our kids are learning about our differences and how they divide us politically, culturally and socially. The concept of divide and conquer is tried and proven throughout history.
There is no question China’s President Xi Jinping wants China to become the world’s leading nation, displacing the US. To do this, they are utilizing numerous tools, mostly at the direction of Xi, who has formerly been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Committee.
To indoctrinate our youth and those in other countries, China uses the CCP backed TikTok which is an addictive, user-submitted video platform, mostly for kids and young adults. Content ranges from benign comic videos to pornography enticements to gender ideology and education and about how we are destroying our planet by producing greenhouse gasses, through the use of fossil fuels. TikTok is not just here, it is in 150 countries and 75 languages, propagandizing young minds with what Xi and the divide and conquer power-agents want us to believe.
Is it a danger? Our government believes it collects user information and profiles on what users view. It is prohibited on devices owned by federal government agencies, with exceptions for law enforcement and national security. Despite the government ban, the Biden campaign disseminates campaign material via TikTok. Several states have passed laws banning it, but have met free speech legal hurdles. The Supreme Court Justices doubt if the High Court can have a legal avenue of influence over all social media, citing the free speech First Amendment. As our kids have unfettered access to TikTok, it appears to be up to parents to say, No to TikTok!
History ignored
Deng Xiaoping was Chairman of China from 1978 to 1989 and moved China from a Maoist controlled to a reformed, free-market, prosperous social democracy. Under Deng, China grew a robust, middleclass, with a well-to-do economy. Ignoring Deng’s success, Chairman Xi is restoring controls on business and making himself a total dictator, returning to the likeness of Mao. If Xi cared for his people, he would have continued the successful reforms of Deng, but he wants history erased and proponents of Deng have begun disappearing.
Here in New Mexico, the green new deal is foremost on our governor’s progressive agenda. She evidently wants a prominent place in that movement, beyond her governorship.
Climate change is real, but the reasons are yet unproven to be human caused or human cured. Flaunting about how she has taken the green lead, our governor, with the help of her progressive political minions is more likely to destroy our economy by forcing unrealistic EV mandates, imposing draconian regulations on businesses and the car and energy industries, including oil and gas. She ignores the 92,000 New Mexicans employed in the oil and gas industry which provides $6 billion annually in wages and generated 13.9 billion in cash reserves to New Mexico, this past year.
While bragging about leading in green initiatives, the burdens she has placed on private businesses have caused many to leave the state. Our struggling economy has caused college graduates to seek higher-paying jobs, in more prosperous areas of the country. If her EV mandate were to be successful, there would be an extreme shortage of unfunded charging stations and our economy would be at a standstill. The automobile industry in New Mexico would wither as buyers go to other states to buy gasoline powered cars.
Governor Grisham seems to live in an alternate world. Her desire to be the leader of the green movement evidently does not allow her to credit the industry which produces the major portion of state revenue. While she takes a victory lap on behalf of her green initiatives, she finds her state leading in last place in many categories.
Governor Grisham may be following in the footsteps of President Xi, by ignoring history and the real engine of progress – the private sector which has made our country a great world power. Xi wants to ignore Deng and how he lessened controls on business causing China’s economy to explode. Xi wants to rule by control.
By ignoring our greatest industrial success as the nations number two producer, Governor Grisham is making the same mistake as President Xi. Oil and gas production in New Mexico is something to be celebrated, not ignored or overregulated.
Elections are coming up and it is time for all of us to evaluate the candidates, based on who they promise to serve. Some run for the people and some run for the power. We are all in this together, despite what differences we may have. Americans have united in the past to overcome both internal and external challenges. Here in New Mexico, we need to rightly credit our assets and truthfully address our shortcomings. We need to elect people who will unite us, not divide us.