With the ascension of Joe Biden to the throne, err, Presidency, Democrats have begun to lord it over their opponents. Speaking out of both sides of their mouths, we alternately hear calls for healing and unity along with calls for “deprogramming” and “re-education.” Many Democrats on social media are calling for those they disagree with to be sent to re-education camps to learn the errors of their ways and to embrace the logical inconsistencies that are modern day leftism. Could we see such camps pop up in our lifetimes?
Recall that just one year ago it was inconceivable that the US would ever lock down in the way that China did to combat the coronavirus. We were a free society, or so we thought. Yet just a few months later, state governments around the country gave in to fear and hysteria and began to channel their inner Hitlers.
Even today, states like New York, Pennsylvania, and California continue to embrace these totalitarian policies, enforcing mask mandates, quarantines, stay at home orders, and travel restrictions. And while many Americans openly or not so openly flout these restrictions, most people have by and large accepted them as the new normal. What would have resulted in tarring and feathering of elected officials by the generation that founded this country is now accepted with barely a shrug by most Americans today, so soft and content have we become.
While the thought that re-education camps could ever be set up in this country seems preposterous today, you can never underestimate the vast propaganda power the mainstream media can wield. Millions of Americans are calling the takeover of the Capitol an insurrection or a coup attempt, all because they read about it like that in the media. And now that they’ve been able to denigrate and dehumanize those with whom they disagree, it will be all the easier for them to support re-education camps.
Don’t underestimate the banality of evil, and don’t be surprised when your liberal neighbors rat you out and get you sent to the camps. If you thought the Soviet gulags and Pol Pot’s re-education camps were a thing of the past never to be repeated, you fail to understand that leftists don’t learn from history, unless it’s to repeat the mistakes of past communist regimes.
As much as many conservatives would like to just withdraw from society and be left alone, society isn’t going to leave us alone. The government and its leftist supporters want to control every aspect of our lives, and it won’t leave even a smidgen of our lives to ourselves. Now is the time to oppose talk of re-education camps forcefully, and to make those calling for camps aware that they’re going to regret supporting such a move. Otherwise, if we continue to sit on our heels and pretend that this is all a bunch of talk with no action behind it, we may find ourselves surprised when re-education camps finally get established.
