“Bow down or… be burnt down”

Given the prominence of China in today's politics, economics, science and having their man sitting behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office, it's appropriate to hearken back to Mao's Cultural Revolution.

Totalitarian regimes share a few characteristics, one being a willingness to resort to violence against their own people, and another being the upending of objective truth, either as a foundation for law, or even as a concept.

In authoritarian regimes, truth is not that which can be demonstrated, identified through study or the scientific method, but rather, truth is what the regime says it is. Period.

This is how absurd beliefs such as those once held in the Soviet Union regarding crime gain traction. Remember, in all forms of Leftist collectivism, everything is political, because everything is subject to the framework of Oppressor and Oppressed.

A foundational tenet of the former Soviet Union’s social policy was the idea that crime cannot exist in a Socialist Utopia, so anything that looks like crime must be something else. Such breaches of the state’s peace were most likely an aberrative behavior inspired by exposure to Western thinking. It is that error of thought that would be punished, not the non-existent crime.

Same end result - there was an arrest and subsequent punishment, but all in a fashion that reinforces the supremacy of the state, and reaffirms their "truth."

When the definition of truth is the sole province of the government, conflicts between the people and their government are inevitable, as not everyone will accept lies as reality.

Mao solved this problem with "Struggle Sessions," a twisted form of public humiliation, where those determined to be victims of wrong thinking were paraded through the streets, abused and tortured by their neighbors, even members of their own families, as family members were forced to show greater loyalty to the state than their own flesh and blood.

The goal was more insidious than simply violent punishment; it was designed to end with the "struggler" confessing their sins, admitting their crimes and begging the state and their fellow citizens for forgiveness. Millions were subjected to Struggle Sessions, with a good portion not surviving the reeducation experience.

Think back to last summer. Recall the rioting of BLM and Antifa activists; the outrageous demands and the wanton destruction of property and violence toward those who voiced disagreement.

Also remember the numerous occasions where white people knelt down before black protestors, (and media cameras!) offering their apologies for the sin of whiteness.

Even police officers took a knee.

Fast forward to the weeks immediately following the election, where the state declared their truth - "there is no fraud, there is no evidence" and their statistically-impossible victory is unassailably legitimate.

Remember as well, the consequences for anyone who challenged that assertion. Remember the "Struggle Sessions" to which these skeptics were subjected, with very real damage to their careers and finances. The many lawsuits filed against them, seeking their destruction, are still winding their way through the courts.

"Admit your error, apologize to your betters and the pain will stop," is the message sent by these harassing lawsuits, just as it was to the kneeling, guilt-ridden white folks last summer. "Bow down or be burnt down."

China Joe is bringing much more than a heart of larceny and a predilection for the aroma of youthful hair to the Presidency...he's ushering in our own form of Struggle Sessions, and his allies in the media (and both Parties) are making them appear socially acceptable.

That's the Left's "Truth." What's yours?