In 1993, a remarkably prescient film was released. "Demolition Man" stars Sylvester Stallone, as police officer John Spartan, and Wesley Snipes as criminal mastermind Simon Phoenix.
Both Spartan and Phoenix were cryogenically frozen in the 1990s and wake up in the year 2032. In this dystopian future, Southern California defunded their police to such an extent that they have forgotten how to fight and do not carry guns.
Without guns, the police are helpless against a martial artist like Simon Phoenix.
After Simon Phoenix easily overpowers several police officers in hand-to-hand combat, the police reinstate the Demolition Man to apprehend Simon Phoenix.
Beyond defunding the police and gun control, this movie predicted social distancing. In this movie, shaking hands and even kissing was no longer permitted due to viral infections.
In this future, parents can only have children through artificial insemination. This movie is partially based on Aldous Huxley’s 1932 book "Brave New World," in which all children in the World State are born from artificial wombs.
In the book, Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne leave London to travel to a reservation in New Mexico. They meet John who was naturally-born.
While John is impressed by London’s wealth and technology, he doesn’t want to live in such a shallow and conformist society where freedom of speech, religion, and even Shakespeare are forbidden.
In the novel, Bernard Marx, and Helmholtz Watson, are both banished for not conforming with the rest of society. While the conformists win in the book, they lose in the film.
At the end of the movie, John Spartan kills Simon Phoenix.
With the death of Phoenix, and his boss Raymond Cocteau, freedom returns to California.
Before John Spartan’s return, Southern California was run by Raymond Cocteau.
People who did not to live by Cocteau’s standards of political correctness were forced to live in the sewers.
At the climax of the film, one of these non-conformists, Edgar Friendly, explains cancel culture to John Spartan in 2032:
"See, according to Cocteau's plan, I'm the enemy. Cause I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. . . . You wanna live on top, you gotta live Cocteau's way. What he wants, when he wants, how he wants. Your other choice: come down here, maybe starve to death."
In 2021, Californians have a chance to recall a governor who isn’t doing anything about California’s major problems.
Even before COVID hit, California was becoming unaffordable to the middle class.
In 2019, the cost of a median house in California was 2.5 times the cost of a median house nationwide. In April 2021, the median house in California was over $800,000 dollars.
Housing costs are high due to a lack of supply. If elected, Larry Elder plans to adopt a bipartisan plan formulated by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson to help the homeless.
If elected, Larry Elder has promised to declare an emergency in housing and suspend the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). This would embolden builders to construct more housing without the fear of frivolous lawsuits.
Education is another issue where Governor Newsom has failed.
California currently has 5.9 million students from pre-kindergarten to the 12th grade.
For decades, California had consistently lagged behind the national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
In 2019, only 34% of fourth-graders and 29% of the eighth-graders were proficient in math in California. Only 32% of fourth-graders and 30% of eighth-graders were proficient in reading.
We have to fire incompetent teachers to improve education.
Don't count on Gavin Newsom to challenge the unions.
Larry Elder will.
After graduating high school, Larry Elder attained an Ivy League degree. He became a successful lawyer, and a popular talk show host.
Why? Because he lives by his father’s values.
At 13, Randolph Elder, was abandoned by his mother in the Jim Crow South.
He served as a Marine in World War II.
After the war, he worked as a janitor for years and saved up enough money to start a thriving restaurant in California. Randolph Elder always told his sons:
"Hard work wins. You get out of life what you put into it. You can't control the outcome, but you are 100% in control of the effort. Before you complain about what somebody did to you, ask yourself what could I have done to change the outcome."
Larry Elder refuses to accept the status quo. The governor of California has the emergency powers in housing and education to substantially improve the current situation.
Regarding Covid lockdowns, unlike Governor Newsom, Larry Elder will practice what he preaches.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer whose work focuses on foreign affairs, national security and presidential history. He has been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, the Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.