A Hybrid Dishwasher

Isn't it odd how Marxists want to control every detail of daily life -- and yet never deliver on their promises to make it better?

The gym I go to every week has water-efficient toilets. Usually, one flush cannot do the job. Additional flushes are required. How efficient are these kinds of toilets? Do they really save water? It doesn’t seem to live up to the promise. But this got me thinking about other things.

My dishwasher is also water efficient. California, which is controlled by the progressive left, has appliance regulations that set minimum efficiency levels for energy and water consumption. Nowadays, only water-efficient dishwashers are available statewide.

A a toilet offers more consumer confidence than a dishwasher, allowing us to observe the result and to decide if more flushes are needed. A dishwasher does not have this feature — with its door closed, it demands blind trust.

But I have little faith in government programs, especially Gov. Gavin Newsom’s. If my dishwasher meets the same regulations as a water-efficient toilet, little water would be allowed to pass through it. How do I know if my dishes are thoroughly rinsed? Doesn’t dishwasher detergent in general contain toxic chemicals? If these chemicals are not completely rinsed off, they will eventually end up in our mouths and may cause all kinds of diseases including cancers.

I decided to find out the answers to these questions.

Dirty Water!

It seemed the only feasible way was to examine the water in the dishwasher was at the end of the rinse cycle before it completely drained. At the right moment, I paused the washer and opened the door a few inches wide. To my dismay, the water wasn’t clear and there was still foam on the top.

The dishes had not been rinsed clean.

It was disheartening knowing that day after day, I had been eating from dishes and silverware covered with toxic residue, though they looked sparkly clean to naked eyes.

Since this discovery, I have told many of my friends why they need to hand-wash their dishes. Some shared my worry, but most sided with the government, insisting that a water-efficient dishwasher is safe and can save water.

I stopped using my water-efficient dishwasher and have been hand-washing my dishes ever since I learned about this.

But as I get older, a dishwasher sounds more and more appealing, and I know soon it will become a necessity in my life. Thus, I’m making adjustments to adjust, just as I have adjusted the toilet with repeated flushes: I take everything out of the dishwasher at the end of the rinse cycle – skipping the drying cycle — and give them a good rinse by hand before laying them out on a mat to dry.

I now consider it a hybrid dishwasher, because I am performing the most crucial task in the process.

Maybe my skepticism comes from my upbringing in China, where I learned to recognize the pattern of Marxist practices.

Trusting the Government to Our Own Detriment

Marxists, first and foremost, try to arouse the masses by seemingly empowering them as a way to win their support. Mao’s Great Leap forward (1958-1960) excited the people with the image of a rapidly transformed, modern China. The whole country enthusiastically embraced the political movement, and then no one dared to question Mao’s policy, even though it would soon lead to the Great Chinese Famine (1959-1961) that brought about 36 to 45 million deaths.

Take the Four Pests Campaign (1958-1962) as another example. It was a nationwide effort to eradicate rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows. For a while, in every corner of China, people were vigorously chasing after the pests. No one foresaw that upsetting the ecological balance would create a proliferation of locusts that would severely damage crops. And every time a new political movement started, people would demonstrate the same eagerness, oblivious to the previous lessons they should have already learned.

The American left follows the same pattern Marxists in China used: They mandate a seemingly benevolent policy that invariably fails to deliver on its promised objective. In aiming to help the poor, the welfare system only makes the poor perpetually poor. But today many still champion this failed policy, because the concept of helping the poor creates a pleasant vibe. Many enjoy the vibe more rather than looking critically at the results. Saving water, saving this planet, and saving wildlife follow the same line of reasoning. The policies sound judicious and far-sighted, but often come at the expense of harming humans’ livelihood and health.

Based on what I’ve seen, I think most people feel more comfortable following government directives rather than defying them, regardless of how valid they may be. This was true during the COVID pandemic and also during the Revolutionary War.

But unless California turns red and legislators change the appliance regulation, I will continue using my hybrid dishwasher.

Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the U.S. and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminary. She and her husband live in northern California and have two grown children.