“Al Gore and fellow Democrats - in league with environmentalist wacko’s - want Americans to change their lifestyles. That is the unvarnished truth.”
Why?
The socialists do not want people to have a high standard of living and they know that a socialist economy cannot provide most people with a high standard of living anyway. Fifty years ago the communists claimed that a socialist economy can out-produce a capitalist economy. By 1970 this was proven to be false so the collectivists invented the justification that we need a centrally planned economy conserve our natural resources. The old left claimed that a planned economy would give the peasants electricity. The new left claims that the production of electricity is an “excess” of capitalism and we need a centrally planned economy that will force the proles to use a lot less electricity. The old left claimed that a planned economy would give the farmers new tractors for their collective farms and food would be bountiful. The new left claims that there are too many tractors and farms and there are too many people and we need a strong government to restrict how much food is produced.
There is a certain mentality that resents independent, individual prerogative.
It isn’t so much what you do that they resent, its that you did it without their permission. You didn’t ask, you didn’t get a permit, you didn’t let them see how your actions fit into the master plan.
You didn’t give them a veto.
How many miles do you drive? What kind of car do you own? Do you need that kind of car, do you need to drive that many miles? It isn’t what you do that bugs them, its that you do it without asking. Anyone.
There are precious few areas left where you can act without permission. Want to build a house? Want to build a tool shed in your back yard? Want to work on your car in your driveway?
If you can’t do anything of any importance without permission from someone, are you free?
Not really. Like the finger that was amputated years back, you still feel it itch from time to time, but there’s nothing left to scratch.