So have you heard of this relatively new liberal/globalist concept known as “15-minute cities?” It’s been showing up increasingly in liberal enclaves, particularly among the climate alarmist crowd. The idea is a restructuring of society, particularly in cities and larger towns, so that everyone will be able to work, shop, and take care of their normal affairs without having to travel more than a brief, “15-minute” walk or bike ride to get where they need to go. While that may sound convenient on the surface, it’s important to know the real underlying reason for the effort. They want to do this so nobody will have cars. And if you want to travel further than that, you’ll need to take public transportation. There is a push on in the UK right now and conservatives (along with most sane people) are having none of it. But you can rest assured it will be pushed increasingly in the United States going forward. (New Statesman)
Is there a global conspiracy to confine people to “15-minute cities”? At the recent UK local elections, MPs and councillors heard this message from voters. The commitment of a growing number of cities such as Bristol, Ipswich, London, Birmingham and Oxford to limit car usage in particular districts and neighbourhoods has been seized upon by the paranoid as further evidence of a “Great Reset” directed by the economic elites of Davos that uses climate change as an excuse for social regimentation. In parliament the Conservative MP Nick Fletcher denounced the 15-minute city as an “international socialist concept”.
It may not be international socialism, but the concept has been embraced by many on the centre-left, including the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, comprised of nearly a hundred city governments around the world: “In a ‘15-minute city’, everyone is able to meet most, if not all, of their needs within a short walk or bike ride from their home.”
This idea is being packaged as part of the climate change agenda. If you can make it unaffordable for people to own cars, there will ostensibly be fewer emissions. And since mass transit is currently so dangerous, particularly in places like New York City, most people likely will just stay where they are. And mass transit will be more unreliable once it’s entirely electrified.
Any rational person can already see how completely unworkable such a plan is. Even if you’re only looking at the raw logistics, this would require the forced relocation or breakup of all sorts of stores. And as the linked article points out, the vast majority of Americans work for larger companies with at least 500 employees. You simply aren’t going to have enough housing for all of the workers to be within walking or bicycling distance of the employer. Also, most people have family and friends who live various distances away. Will the government demand that they all move in order to be in compliance?
Day-to-day life would also become unworkable. Nobody is going to pick up their weekly groceries on a bicycle. And do you think they will want to spend half of their day pushing their groceries across town in a cart like a homeless person? Even if you attempted it, your odds of being mugged and robbed just went up exponentially. As far as getting to work goes, public transit is simply not tenable for many, particularly lower-income workers. The linked report points to one study showing that poorer workers with access to a car were twice as likely to get a job and four times as likely to remain employed.
But deep under the covers, this is part of a larger socialist agenda. While most of them still fear to say it out loud, a lot of people in governments around the world actually liked the COVID lockdowns. The message is clear. Stay home. Remain in your pods and eat your bugs. Don’t travel long distances and go join up with others to protest the government’s terrible policies. People who are isolated are far easier to control and don’t get dangerous ideas in their heads about fighting back.
This concept represents a level of social engineering and total government control that nobody should be willing to tolerate. But it appears to be the dream of many globalists and socialists. They want an entire world full of people who are afraid to speak out and do as they’re told. That may be their dream, but it’s not the American dream. Do not tolerate this and call out deviants who begin suggesting it. This isn’t about ending carbon emissions. It’s about ending freedom.
