Cong. Brecheen, State Sen. Burns oppose hydroelectric plant with Chinese ties in SE Oklahoma

Congressman Josh Brecheen and State Sen. George Burns are both out with press releases detailing their opposition to a proposed hydroelectric power plant on the Kiamichi River in southeast Oklahoma that would provide power for Texas consumers, with Brecheen noting ties to a Chinese Communist Party-linked individual in the project. Read on for their comments:

Congressman Brecheen Opposes Chinese Communist Party-Linked Hydroelectric Power Plant Project: “We Will Do Everything in Our Power to Prevent this Harmful Project from Moving Forward”

Washington, D.C. (August 14th) – Congressman Josh Brecheen opposes the Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation’s (SEOPC) attempts to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Kiamichi River in LeFlore and Pushmataha Counties.

SEOPC has ties to a Chinese Communist Party-linked individual and the project would require the eminent domaining of 35,000 acres of Oklahoma land, including many homes, farms, and ranches in the surrounding area that have been owned by Oklahoma families for generations. All the power produced would then be sold in Texas, not Oklahoma.

Lankford demands Biden Admin investigate Chinese Communist Party influence in K-12 schools

Communist China has always tried to play the long game, putting a lot of resources into infiltrating Western governments, corporations, society, and culture. One way in which they've attempted to do this is by funding initiatives in all levels of education (K-12 and college). Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) is joining a number of colleagues in calling for the Biden administration to investigate the millions of dollars spent by the Chinese Communist Party in American classrooms.

Sen. Dahm files bills to improve student learning

Sen. Dahm files bills to improve student learning

OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 4th) – Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, has filed legislation to improve student learning in the state of Oklahoma.

“As students return to school this month, now is a perfect time to ensure they will learn factual information rather than modern wokeness,” Dahm said. “These curriculum updates will provide students with an understanding of our philosophical underpinnings, teach them to reason, and allow them to think critically in the classroom.”

When "smart" isn't smart: Texas power companies overriding home thermostats

We live in a "smart" age. Smartphones, smart TVs, smart appliances, smart thermostats, smart lights, smart this and smart that.

But when is "smart" not smart?

Homeowners in Texas are discovering that their use of "smart" is infringing on the control they have in their most personal domain - that of their own house.

Sen. Dahm files bill to teach Oklahoma students about atrocities of communism

Sen. Dahm files legislation to ensure Oklahoma students are taught about the atrocities of communism

OKLAHOMA CITY –Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, has filed legislation to make sure Oklahoma students are taught about the suppression of speech, poverty, starvation, migration, and systemic lethal violence against civilians that has occurred under communist regimes worldwide. 

Dahm said that since 2017, the president has issued an annual proclamation declaring November 7 as Victims of Communism Day.  The mandatory lesson would be taught on or around that date.

“It’s been more than 100 years since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, and Lenin’s formation of the first communist government,” Dahm said.  “Since that time, communist regimes throughout the world have murdered more than 100 million people and subjected countless more to unthinkable atrocities. We must ensure our citizens understand the brutality of these regimes and the real danger they pose to our freedoms and lives.”

Senate Bill 1102 would require Oklahoma social studies courses to include at least 45 minutes of instruction on Victims of Communism Day, beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.

1889 Institute: Two Stories on why Socialism Fails

Strange But True: Socialism Fails

By Byron Schlomach

What follows is a true story – actually, two true stories, or the same story that occurred in two different places in very different times and circumstances. Read on to find out where.

They had been discussing amongst themselves for months, concerned with poverty, hunger, and lack of progress in growing crops, so important to feeding themselves and building a thriving community. They should have succeeded. They all worked together – clearing, tilling, sowing, weeding, and reaping – everyone in the same fields at the same time. Anyone weak in one skill should have had it made up by others working beside them, so that all should benefit from each other’s labor.

They had a common purpose, which was to prosper and live peaceably. Mostly, they liked and took care of each other. Everybody got an equal share of the yearly harvest. But something was amiss. Harvests were more meager than the farmers knew they should be.

So they finally discussed the problem and what to do about it. It was not a problem of bad soil, or a lack of knowledge, or lack of skill. Instead, they realized none of them truly worked as hard as they were capable. Why? Because they got the same share of the yearly output regardless of their personal effort, all attempted to let others do the work. Nobody was working to their full capabilities because nobody was rewarded extra for doing so, and nobody lost more than others for avoiding work.

The solution was amazingly simple. They divided the fields and worked their own plots individually, keeping the gains for themselves. The next year, the harvest was bountiful, not because of great weather or new, special seeds, but because everyone worked harder. And since most had produced more than they could eat, everybody had more because of trade.

This story has likely played out many times in many settings for ages, but two come to mind. The Pilgrims practiced socialism for two or three years, nearly starving themselves to death. Some 355 years later and half a planet away, farmers in a Chinese village, Xiaogang, defied Communist decree with the same results as when the Pilgrims abandoned socialism. The two stories are the same in every important detail except that the Chinese farmed separately in secret and mutually agreed to raise the children of any that might be arrested.

These two examples of socialism’s failure teach us that all humans respond to incentives and are self-interested. Thus, giving everyone equal shares as a way to guarantee security actually results in poverty and insecurity. As William Bradford, the Pilgrim governor put it, rather than socialism, “God in His wisdom saw that another plan of life was fitter for them.”

Byron Schlomach, 1889 Institute Director. Contact: bschlomach@1889institute.org.

Small: LeBron's Hong Kong comments would fit in at OK universities

LeBron’s comments might not stand out at OK college campus

By Jonathan Small

Many people have been understandably appalled that NBA superstar LeBron James recently defended, indirectly, the Chinese government’s persecution of protestors in Hong Kong. What should equally bother Oklahomans is that there’s reason to wonder if college students in this state are being indoctrinated in such a way that they will see nothing objectionable with James’ comments.

Here’s a quick recap.  James recently criticized Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for a tweet in which Morey supported Hong Kong protestors. James said Americans have freedom of speech, but “there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and you’re only thinking about yourself.” James said he believed Morey “wasn’t educated on the situation at hand.” Later, James tweeted, “My team and this league just went through a difficult week.  I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others.  And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen.  Could have waited a week to send it.”

James’ reticence on this issue is a bit surprising because he’s been vocal on many other political issues. When discussing how Donald Trump was elected president, James said, “I don’t think a lot of people was educated,” echoing his complaint that Morey is not educated. James has also called the president a “bum.”

I don’t agree with James’ views, but support the free speech rights that allow him to make such comments. But it’s still jarring to see him switch gears from vocal criticism of U.S. politics to endorsing silence when it comes to the oppression of people by a communist government overseas.

Could it be that James is the one who is not educated enough to understand reality—that the persecution imposed by the Chinese government is far greater than what anyone faces in the United States?

If so, James may have plenty of company even on Oklahoma college campuses. Consider the fact that the University of Oklahoma is home to a Confucius Institute with ties to the Chinese government.  The goal of the institute sounds nonthreatening—to promote Chinese language and culture in foreign countries—but the Hanban, the agency of the Chinese Ministry of Education, funds Confucius Institutes. The CIA has even warned the Chinese Communist Party “provides ‘strings-attached’ funding to academic institutions and think tanks to deter research that casts it in a negative light.”

Does the “understanding” of Chinese culture fostered by such programs at U.S. universities include helping students understand the very real and very severe oppression of people under the rule of the Chinese government? Somehow, I think not.

The good news is that public response to James’ comments has been overwhelmingly negative, which shows most citizens understand the reality of Chinese oppression. The bad news is there may come a time when we can’t say the same about many of our recent college graduates.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.

McCarville Too Much for Red China

The McCarville Report is, apparently, too much for the Chinese government. Oklahoma City politico Pat McFerron reports that the conservative blog is blocked by government internet censors.

He wrote to Mike McCarville, "Thought you might like to know that apparently your site is blocked by the Chinese government. I've been in Beijing and am now in Shanghai, and yours is the only website I regularly visit that have I have not been able to access. You should wear this as a badge of honor!"