One overlooked area is household appliances.

Politicians are implementing increasingly stringent regulations for dishwashers, washing machines, and other appliances. There have even been reports of a desire to phase out gas stoves.

What's your take on all of this?

Doug Casey: As Der Schwabenklaus of the World Economic Forum boldly said some years ago, "You'll own nothing and be happy."

The fact that a prominent figure could actually say that, promote the idea, and not be pilloried gives you an idea of the spirit of the current century. The lack of outrage from the average man is even more sick than the idea itself.

Not owning appliances is a practical application of the meme, but just one tentacle of the global warming octopus. Appliances are constructed from resources that have to be mined and run with electricity; that makes them evil. It's much more important in these people's views to "save the planet"—a ridiculous concept—than to continue raising the standard of living.

The fact is that the self-righteous authoritarians who want to limit the use of appliances basically just hate people—especially middle-class people. They'd really like to revert to pre-capitalist times, when only the upper classes, the feudal aristocrats, could benefit from conveniences.