helps the boy take the head back, butnnot before the two of them are capturednby an angry mob. What are thesenimmoral themes? Family loyalty, localnpatriotism, the willingness to acceptnblame.nWhat really upsets America’s rulingnclass is the notion that average Americansndon’t want or need them or theirnfalse values. Bart, the underachiever, isnin one episode sufficiently temptednthat he cheats on an intelligence testnand gets sent to a school for giftednchildren, all of whom turn out to bencruel snobs. But the most populistnepisode finds Bart sticking up for hisnPrincipalities & Powersnby Samuel Francisno ne of the unmistakable signs that annew civilization is about to leap forthnfrom the crumbling cocoon of an old isnthe transformation in the meaning ofntraditional holidays. When a risingnChristian elite seized political and culturalnpower in the late Roman Empire,nit lost no time in turning the old RomannSaturnalia of late December intonChristmas. The word “Easter” derivesnfrom the name of a pre-Christian dawnngoddess, and the Christian observancenof the Resurrection is closely linkednwith the rites of earlier religions thatnmarked the vernal equinox and thenannual rebirth of natural life. The elitenthat forms the core of a civilizationnunderstands that it’s usually easier tonbuild its power on the wreckage that liesnto hand than to start all over from anblank slate.nSo it is with the emerging globalncivilization that now twitches in thenneurons of the planet’s transnationalnelites. Today in the United States, thenreal year begins not with the midnightndebauchery of New Year’s Eve but withnthe far more pious festivals of MartinnLuther King Day and Black HistorynMonth, which offer occasions for exposingnthe evils of the old regime andnproclaiming the universalist, cosmopolitan,nand egalitarian vision that makesnthe eyes of the new elite flutter andndrip. But these celebrations are notnnearly as useful in binding the planet’snhuman cattle to the chariots of then10/CHRONICLESnhero, a TV clown accused of committingnan armed robbery to which Bart’snfather was a key witness. At first thenboy trusts the evidence but later comesnto believe in his hero’s character. As itnturns out, the real villain is the clown’snsidekick, who always wanted to improventhe tone of the program. Henreads improving books (obviously fromna list prepared by the Department ofnEducation) to the kiddies. And whosenvoice is that of the cultivated poseur?nKelsey Grammer, otherwise known asnDr. Frasier Crane on Cheers.nIllusion and reality. We want ournkids to grow up reading the right booksncoming Caesars as this year’s orgy ofnhealth, safety, and sunshine known asn”Earth Day.”nNo doubt for the several hundrednthousand greenies who descended onnthe nation’s metropolitan centers onnApril 22 to prostrate themselves innhomage to the earth, the festival reallynwas a chance to spit in the face of whatnthey think is a capitalist oligarchy thatninsists on making people work in factories,neat cholesterol, and get suntans.nBut the truth is that the celebration, sonfar from being a revolt against thenpowers that mle the earth, was actuallyna proclamation from their headquarters.nRegulation of the “environment” involvesnmuch more than the solar panelsnand tree-planting beloved of schoolchildrennand grown-ups whose mental agenis no higher than that of 12-year-olds.nSince the environment includes everywherenand everything, “preserving,”n”protecting,” and “taking care” of it isnlittle more than a formula for a newnspecies of totalitarianism far more profoundnthan even la famille Ceausescuncould have imagined. As currently understood,nit encompasses not only thenlabor you perform but also what andnhow much you eat, where and hownyou travel, what you do with yournleisure time, how you maintain yournhealth, how you raise your children,nand indeed whether you may havenchildren.nUnknown to most of those whonswoon in adoration of the earth are thenbottomless opportunities this understandingnof the environment offers tonnnand thinking the right thoughts, speakingnin a Harvard-professor accent, butnwhen (as in the case of Mr. Grammer)nthey do, they get arrested on a DUIncharge and violate their probation. Perhaps-it.is.betternto be an underachiever,nif that means working a steady job,ntaking care of the kids, and muddlingnthrough like the Simpsons. If the successnof their show is any indication, itnmeans that the 80’s — the decade ofnYuppies, networking, LBO’s, powernbreakfasts, designer tennis shoes, andnthe high-priced watery vinegar theyncall New Beaujolais — are finally over.n— Thomas Flemingnthose who would like to control allnthese ordinary activities. Nor do mostnearth-worshipers seem to suspect thensacrifices their new goddess and hernhigh priests will demand of them. Antitobacconzealots who rejoice in thenillegalization of smoking may not be sonmerry once they realize they are creatingnprecedents for the banning of meatnand potatoes. Mawkish maidens whonweep over the fate of youngsters molestednby their parents and demandnfederal action to save the children maynone day regret that the state will tellnthem whom they may or may notnmarry. Citizens who vow to study warnno more may recoil when potentatesnhalfway around the globe are draftingnthe rules that govern their lives. So far,nthe “right,” immersed in its economicndeterminism and obsessions, hasnwhimpered only about the jobs thatnwill be lost and the taxes that will havento be paid as a result of environmentalistnlaws and policies; but it has largelynignored or failed to recognize the farnmore serious danger that the Cult ofnthe Earth presents — the technocraticnmanipulation of the daily lives of individualsnand societies by the elites thatnhave created and made use of environmentalism.nThe environmentalist movement isnan odd bag that contains, besides theninnocent calves who provided the cannonnfodder for Earth Day, at least twonmain components. On the one hand,nthere is the part represented by thenprofessional, well-funded, highlyskilled,nand well-connected environ-n