This is Dystopia: COVID-19 and Government Overreach
The scariest aspect of COVID-19 is having to wake up to a reality many of us feared for a very long time: a global event giving governments, politicians, and bureaucrats the license to exert control over hundreds of millions of people without consequence.
Just like in your favorite politically themed dystopian fantasy novels, governments across America are using the inciting event of COVID-19 to redefine, reshape, and reassess the limits of unrestricted power. And because of the cycle of fear delivered by media outlets, entertainment parading as journalism, and journalism pretending to be activism, too many of us are okay with ongoing exercises of power.
However, the strangest twist to this nightmare isn’t an all powerful federal government exerting its will over the people through a violence. Instead, it’s state and local governments lined up with non-elected bureaucrats reminding people daily that the sky is falling and, if they don’t believe that it is, they will shamed, fined, and censored out of existence.
In the beginning of the pandemic, curtailing economic activity and social mobility was useful, as America was largely unsure what it was dealing with. But within weeks — and if we are being generous, two months — states and researchers had a good handle on how to mitigate viral spread. Unfortunately, politicians also learned during this time how to exert control over the masses. By doubling down on widely incorrect models that calculated millions dead, hospitals being overrun, and ventilator shortages, governments led by governors and public health officials routinely told the American people it was time to brace for extinction.
Many states are now into almost seven months of prolonged emergency powers. There is no end in sight. Democracy and discussion are gone.
If we were in a scenario where tens of millions in America would face an almost certain death, I’d probably too dead to write this. But we’re not. Months after the start of the pandemic, we’ve gotten a fairly good idea of what works: good masks (N95 or above, but these are still expensive and not scientifically proven), some social distancing measures, and ventilation. Similarly, we know that being healthy with respect to diet, weight, and sleep are helpful in naturally fighting the virus. Additionally, we know that the most predictive factor of death is being over the age of 75 irrespective of other conditions, and having a pre-existing conditions and being 45 or older starts increasing the odds of needing intensive care.
We also know that children are very unlikely to get fatally sick or sick at all from the virus. As time goes on we also learn that young, moderately healthy adults also do well with the virus and rarely need hospitalization let alone be seen by a doctor(college experiments are proving this live). Finally, we know that, for all intents purposes, the virus is becoming less deadly likely due to some combination of herd immunity, viral attenuation, better testing, and better treatment.
Despite getting a better grip on the virus, many states are still in a form of lockdown with emergency powers concentrated in the hands of a governor. Even when there is no statistical or scientific “state of emergency,” some states look like they are never returning to normal even at the great cost of non-COVID lives. And it’s precisely due to local and state governments being power drunk that the real “new normal” will set in — the one where cities can no longer meet their financial obligations, jobs are lost, salaries and benefits are reduced, and the most vulnerable become the most disposed.
Of course, state leaders will simply blame the threat of the virus. It’s just too easy.
The tools to continue prolonged lockdowns and government overreach are there. PCR tests are too sensitive and lack clinical significance, causing an abundance of false positive rates that have distorted the number of individuals infected as well as the number of people dead from the virus. The PCR test at its current cycle rate and amplification level can sense even trace amounts of viral RNA. Clinically, this is horrific because just containing viral RNA (it’s everywhere, folks) doesn’t mean you are infected with COVID-19 and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re a spreader. In fact, the mythological “asymptomatic spreader” could be, in all likelihood, someone with trace amounts of viral RNA.
Instead of clinically overhauling the test by reducing cycles and amplification, states like California are aiming for almost everyone in the state to to get routinely tested. This all but assures the California economy will never leave lockdown, even with a vaccine. The same goes for any state that bases its lockdown measures on the number of people infected rather than more tangible and important numbers like hospitalizations and ICU load — the original goal of destroying the economy in the first place.
Remember: the goal of “staying home” was to “flatten the curve.” Now, we should stay home and live in terror until their is a vaccine.
The goalposts have been moved over and over again. It’s part of the power grab playbook. As long as there is a crisis, there is never a need to relinquish control. And, trust me, the sole reason why many go into high level politics in the first place is because they want to be kings and queens.
By using a combination of fear and power, governors are trading one life for another. In the months and years to come, the amount of cancers that could have been detected, the suicides that could have been prevented, the screenings that were missed to a fatal outcome, and the substance addicts that isolation and hopelessness forged will be far greater than the death tolls from COVID-19. If the goal of public health is to analyze how each decision impacts the well-being and livelihood of a population, it has failed miserably.
And public health has certainly lost the trust of the people, especially those who will start to discover their own serious health consequences that could’ve been prevented if rational adults were in charge.
In just a few months, America has forfeited many of its civil liberties and its freedoms. These are very difficult if not impossible to get back. However, should we emerge back to a status where elections do matter and we, through our elected officials, get to make a more collective decision, can make some strides in ensuring this massive, life-destroying failure of government doesn’t happen again.
How? For starters, we need every state legislature to redefine the powers of governors. There should be no more automatic extensions of emergency orders. That is, if a governor wants to renew an emergency order, it must pass a certain threshold vote in the state legislature. Sure, you run into a scenario where one party controls the state, but at least the people can vote out the people empowering the governor.
The next time you think of COVID-19, think of the other 99% of the population that doesn’t have and will not contract COVID-19. Think of their health needs and the dire consequences they face because we trusted the few to look out for the many. Think of the children not receiving their vaccinations, the overdoses that didn’t need to happen, and then domestic abuse victims who had to stay in their home with their abuser. And while your at it, think of how we can all work together to prevent this from happening again.
COVID-19 is a threat. An out-of-control government is an economic, intellectual, and civil liberty death sentence.
