There is something to be said for being close to everything. My first long stint in Japan, even though I was in a small-ish city down in Shiga Prefecture, everything was close by. My hotel was a five-minute walk from the train station, a 10-minute walk from the grocery store, and a 10-minute walk every Sunday to the Happy Fun Laundry. There were many wonderful bars and small restaurants within a 10-15 minute walk. It was handy, and I appreciated it, and I appreciated the lack of need for the expense of a rental car.
But I did that of my own choice. I wouldn't live like that permanently, although many Japanese people are happy to do so, as are many Americans right here in our major cities today. Fine; more power to them, as long as it's their choice. Not me; I love my rural Alaska home and wouldn't trade it for anything.
In the United Kingdom, though, right now, the Labour Party is looking at the whole 15-minute city idea, and telling the British people - to paraphrase Shakespeare - that if requiring fails, they will compel. And the America left, make no mistake, is watching.
Labour has approved a rollout of “Stalinist” 15-minute cities across the UK, The Telegraph can reveal.
Ministers have said that they will allow councils to use driver licence databases to impose fines on drivers who fall foul of “traffic filters”, which restrict driving in certain areas.
The controls on motorists, which are to be implemented for the first time in Oxford city centre later this year, have been described as “perverse” by motor groups.
The 15-minute city is based on the idea that a person can access amenities within a quarter of an hour by walking or cycling. In some cases, this could result in traffic restrictions being brought in for drivers.
So, Big Brother is there, in the nation that was once America, Original Recipe, telling Brits what and when they can move about. There's an apocryphal story about old Arthur Wellsley, the Duke of Wellington, in which he apparently argued vigorously against passenger railways in Britain, claiming it would "promote unrest by allowing the lower classes to move too freely about." These Labour politicians have a good dose of Wellington's arrogant elitism, without any of his good points - like being able to whip Napoleon Bonaparte like the red-headed stepchild of a rented mule.
Oxford is the test case.
The most high-profile example of such a plan is in Oxford, where the council put forward proposals to divide the city into six “15-minute neighbourhoods”.
Under the scheme, drivers would need a residents’ permit that allows 100 days of free travel per year through six traffic filters during operating hours.
Meanwhile, a separate permit allows 25 days of free travel per year through six congestion charge locations during charging hours, and after this, drivers face fines if they travel without the relevant permission.
Did you get that? The council - I think that's pretty much the British equivalent of a local government, because they can't just be reasonable and say "municipal" or "county" like Americans do - will allow residents 100 days of free travel. So, you have one day out of three, actually a bit less than that, where local politicians will allow you to travel about. They will permit you to move about. And if you decide to travel outside your allotted limits, they will hit you in the checkbook - or chequebook, as may be.
Greg Smith, shadow transport minister, said: “This is the blueprint for a national rollout. Labour has given the green light for draconian councils like Oxfordshire to police how people live, move and drive, using cameras and fines backed by DVLA data.
Big Brother is alive and well in the once-Great Britain.
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Other nations in the Commonwealth are taking notice, including one with as much wide-open space as Australia.
The UK government has said it will let councils use official databases of drivers licences in order to fine people driving outside their “permitted area”.
Oxford has divided up its city into six areas and is set to start fining people later this year. The head of the Alliance of British Drivers said it was “A page out of the East German playbook.”
If this gets off the ground in the UK, we know it’ll end up here.
Australians would be wise to prepare the ground for mass protests. The Blob will take as much as they can get until the people scream, so if you’re going to have to protest sooner or later, better to just say “No” now.
How many degrees cooler will our world be with 15 minute cities?
There you are: How many degrees cooler will the world be once we are all forced into 15-minute rabbit warrens?
This whole scheme, being done, no doubt, in the name of reducing carbon emissions, is anathema to the notion of individual liberty. It's an unforgivable intrusion on the freedom of everyone in every jurisdiction where it is attempted. It's unforgivable, and make no mistake, the American left, the climate scolds, and the legacy media (but I repeat myself again) are looking at what the British Labour Party wants to do, and is planning to do it here, at the first opportunity.It is as I have been saying: Want to know what the American left would do to us? Look to Europe. Want to stop them? Vote.
