So, if mandates really do more harm than good, why would politicians, government bureaucrats, NGO’s and corporations advocate for them? Well to answer that, we must apply the adage of “follow the money!”. Using our electric car example, let’s ask ourselves who benefits from the electric car mandate? To my mind the following possibilities come to mind:

GOVERNMENT: government clearly BENEFITS from the mandate because electric cars give government more control and power, and those two are the bread & butter of governments. If everyone is using an electric car, the government can turn the cars on and off. How quite simple, like Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi”, they can now become “Electric Nazi’s” oh sorry no charge for you. With the “flick of a switch” they can effortlessly enforce their rules on law-abiding citizens, like when you get to drive, how far you get to drive and how often, all in the guise of reducing traffic congestion, noise for the greater good. Oh, you needed to go to your aunt’s funeral, sorry but it's on a Sunday and you’re only allowed to drive on a Wednesday. And the best part of all, they can allocate the funds that they were going to use to build more roads to handle more traffic, towards other “pet projects” as they’ve solved the problem simply by reducing the traffic.

POLITICIANS: Of course, the politicians do DYNOMITE. Their kids get cushy board seats on auto companies and parts suppliers, don’t believe me, just look at Paul Pelosi Jr’s cushy gigs with two major lithium producers that are making toxic car batteries. Politicians get to invest in the stocks at the right time, in the “right” automakers that will get preferred treatment under the freshly minted endless reams of new regulations that soon will be spewed upon the subjects of California, by unelected, unaccountable California state agencies. Don’t laugh even though California is the epicenter for all forms of insanity these days, it’s not long before leaders elsewhere drink the “Kool-Aid.”

AUTO MAKERS: Now on the surface you would think that car makers must be the losers in this equation, not so my naïve friends, car makers also BENEFIT from the mandate, because they get to unload their brand-new products on to EVERYBODY, even if those consumers DON’T WANT them, remember the injections! The government with the stroke of a pen, or these days by the click of a mouse, a behemoth new multi-billion-dollar market. Creating new markets usually takes research and development, tons of investment, and decades of hard work, not to mention demand. Nah, that’s so yesterday, today for a fraction of the price and time that type of “innovation” would require, carmakers can instantly fill their trunks with the same benefit through mandates.

And the best part of all, they don’t have to make GOOD cars, think vaccines. They just have to make ELECTRIC cars. That sounds comforting, what could go wrong with that right?

CONSUMERS: Finally, we arrive at consumers, when it comes to benefits for consumers, I’m reminded of another adage, “shit rolls downhill” Well, the good news is you’ll have piles of it, benefits a little less so. Consumers get the “camshaft”, get it, I know not great, but I couldn’t’ help myself. You’ll be glad to know that you along with other consumers will be forced to buy an inferior expensive product that you more than likely don’t want and don’t need, kinda, sorta like vaccines. But it’s not all bad, in their quest to “govern you harder” you no longer have to purchaser inexpensive USED cars, why, simple they’re now banned. And guess who’s really happy about that little turn of events, yes, Big Auto, after all the mandates just wiped out their main competition while at the same time really adding to the bottom line, not to mention the little “bump up” in the stock prices due to the reduced competition! I’m sure none of the politicians advocating this have shares in any of these companies, right?

Don’t worry folks it gets even better for consumers, well now there won’t even be any real market for used electric cars at all. Primarily because even if a used electric car may still be in reasonable condition, it’s highly unlikely the battery is!

Of course, if you bring any of this up, they’ll remind you that you need to do your part for the mother earth, don’t’ you want reduced carbon dioxide emissions or something. Now of course if you dare ask them to quantify exactly how it’s going to benefit you or somebody living in LA, don’t be surprised if you hear something like, by ensuring the beaches in Monterey don’t go underwater stupid?