City Council is set to give special powers to Mayor Esther Manheimer, a change that city legal staff say would allow a faster response to emergencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
The vote to let the mayor enact the council’s emergency powers on her own, if needed, is planned during the March 23 council meeting. The meeting is closed to public attendance for health reasons, but can be viewed online. Other items on the agenda include a vote on a $70 million River Arts District project.
“Given the need to be able to respond quickly to the threats posed by the novel corona virus known as COVID-19, it is desirable to allow the mayor to issue all regulations needed to address the outbreak via proclamation.” Senior Assistant City Attorney Eric Edgerton said in a report to the council that is part of the public meeting agenda.
Posted in2nd Amendment, Domestic Enemies, Editorial|Comments Off on Asheville City Council set to give mayor emergency powers; Involves curfews, alcohol, weapons
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office will suspend pistol and concealed-carry permit applications until April 30 as demand surges amid the coronavirus outbreak, Sheriff Gerald Baker said Tuesday.
Applications that have already been submitted will continue to be processed, Baker said during a press briefing.
The number of pistol permit applications last week averaged 290 per day, or more than three times the roughly 90 applications per day during the same time period a year ago, officials said.
In my previous post, I objected to the false dichotomy presented by an earlier post “Liberty OR Humanity”. In this, my final post, I offer you the following fromRobert Gore:
When you can’t love, you hate. When you can’t build, you destroy.
When you’re ignored, you scream. When you can’t tell the truth, you lie.
When you can’t reason, you panic. When no one will follow you out of
admiration or respect, you compel. When you can’t live, you kill.
This is it, the last gasp of the psychopaths who express their
contempt and hatred for humanity by trying to rule it. Compulsion, not
voluntary and natural cooperation. Power, pull, and politics, not
incentives, competition, honest production, and value-for-value trade.
From each according to his virtue to each according to his depravity.
It can’t work. It won’t work. They know it. Do you?
As the totalitarian horror unfolds before our eyes, only the
willfully blind will ignore it. Only those who refuse to think will fail
to grasp its implications. Only the irretrievably corrupt will embrace
it.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. We were warned.
Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is
this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not
interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not
wealth or luxury or long life or happiness; only power, pure power.
What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different
from all the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing.
All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and
hypocrites. The German Nazis and Russian Communists came very close to
us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their
own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had
seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the
corner there lay a paradise where humans beings would be free and
equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with
the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.
One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a
revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the
dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of
torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to
understand me?
George Orwell, 1984, 1949
The worship of power has reached its apex even as its temples have
come crashing down. During the twentieth century, the most bloodthirsty
governments in history inflicted unprecedented carnage, destruction, and
death. Some of them now have the capability to destroy life on earth.
It was clear to those who looked and thought about what they saw that
the only outcome of destruction and death would be destruction and
death, including the destruction and death of those who inflicted it.
The temples started crashing in 1945 with the fall of Nazi Germany,
Fascist Italy and Tojo’s Japan and they’ve been crashing ever since. In
1991 it was the Soviet Union and its puppet regimes in Eastern Europe.
Now destruction and death loom before what’s called the Western
democracies, built on the myth that societies can serve two masters:
violence and freedom. The forces of the former will always see seek to
destroy the latter. That is what has happened and is now accelerating
towards either total annihilation or a rejection of hate and violence
and a rebirth of freedom and the human spirit.
There is a residual innocence, a remnant of human decency, that asks: why would they want to destroy us, don’t they know they’ll be destroying themselves?
If we owe to George Orwell our recognition that they want power solely
for power’s sake, we owe to Ayn Rand the answer to that question and the
recognition of a much more subtle point, one from which most people
instinctively recoil.
He was suddenly seeing the motive that had directed all
the actions of his life. It was not his incommunicable soul or his love
for others or his social duty or any of the fraudulent sounds by which
he had maintained his self-esteem: it was the lust to destroy whatever
was living, for the sake of whatever was not. It was the urge to defy
reality by the destruction of every living value, for the sake of
proving to himself that he could exist in defiance of reality and would
never have to be bound by any solid, immutable facts. A moment ago, he
had been able to feel that he hated Galt above all men, that the hatred
was proof of Galt’s evil, which he need define no further, that he
wanted Galt to be destroyed for the sake of his own survival. Now he
knew that he had wanted Galt’s destruction at the price of his own
destruction to follow, he knew that he had never wanted to survive, he
knew that it was Galt’s greatness he had wanted to torture and
destroy—he was seeing it as greatness by his own admission, greatness by
the only standard that existed, whether anyone chose to admit it or
not: the greatness of a man who was master of reality in a manner no
other had equaled. In the moment when he, James Taggart, had found
himself facing the ultimatum: to accept reality or die, it was death his
emotions had chosen, death rather than surrender to that realm of which
Galt was so radiant a son. In the person of Galt—he knew—he had sought
the destruction of all existence.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957
They want to rule you because they want to kill you because they want to kill existence and themselves.
Hard as it may be to comprehend, don’t we know them by their works: by
the slavery, carnage, and wars they’ve imposed, the freedoms they’ve
robbed, the joy they’ve extinguished? Look at the world with eyes wide
open. What do you see?
You see governments rushing to impose dictatorial restrictions on
their citizens in the name of stopping a virus that as of March 23 had
killed 17,156 people (Johns Hopkins University coronavirus website).
In Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address, he proposed
four freedoms that people “everywhere in the world” ought to enjoy:
freedom of speech and worship, and freedom from want and fear. In a
perfect world those first two freedoms would be enjoyed everywhere and
by everyone. The second two describe a fantasy world in which some are
to be slaves keeping the rest free from want and fear. Want and fear are
“solid, immutable facts,” and the battles against them have propelled
much of humanity’s progress. They cannot be banished by political wish
or decree, Roosevelt’s “defiance of reality” notwithstanding.
With the possible exceptions of the governments of South Korea,
Taiwan, Russia, and Singapore, there is not a developed-country
government that has not been subject to justified criticism of its
handling of the coronavirus. As is always the case, if at first you
don’t succeed, ask for a bigger budget. Having already failed in so many
ways, governments are demanding yet more power to fail in more and
bigger ways, and to deprive their citizens of the few rights they have
left. They will lock us in our homes, restrict our travel, destroy our
livelihoods, induce panic that empties shelves, and make two-bit
politicians and bureaucrats potentates whose decrees cannot be
challenged and who can throw us in jail for any infringements. This is
for our own good? If you answered yes, reread the Orwell and Rand
passages.
According to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus website, as of
March 22, there were 63,927 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Italy, the
worst hit county, with a population of approximately 60.5 million. The
confirmed cases amount to a little over one-tenth of one percent (.1%)
of the population and daily new cases may have peaked. The deaths as of
March 22 are 6,077, or a little over one one-hundredth of one percent
(.01%). Multiply those numbers by five: confirmed cases—319,635;
deaths—30,385; and the cases are still a little over half of one percent
(.5%), the deaths a little over five one-hundredths of 1 percent
(.05%). If you apply Italy’s actual rates to the US population of 328.2
million and multiply by five, you would have 1.733 million confirmed
cases and 164,833 deaths.
Now 164,833 deaths is a lot, but put that number in perspective. Keep
in mind that cases and death rates for Italy were multiplied five times
and Italy has been the hardest hit nation. The total cases per million
people in Italy is over eight times that in the US, although that US
rate relative to Italy’s will go up as more cases are confirmed and
Italy’s cases peak. In the US, over 600,000 will die of heart disease
and cancer will kill more than 350,000 this year (statistics from the CDC and National Cancer Institute). Those aren’t one-shot numbers, either, they happen every year.
Yet, nobody’s talking about forcing anyone to do anything about those
diseases, although many of the deaths reflect lifestyle choices that
could be forcibly changed through compulsory exercise and dietary
restrictions. People still have the freedom to die of heart disease and
cancer.
Let’s put the numbers in terms of the elite’s favorite spectator
sport: war. If someone had stood up after the first reading of the
Declaration of Independence and said, “We can’t go to war against King
George, it may cost us five one-hundredths of 1 percent of our
population,” he would have been hung for treason. That, of course, was
when a substantial portion of the population thought that the fight for
freedom was worth waging. If someone had said at the onset of the Civil
War, “We can’t preserve the union, end slavery, and subjugate the South,
it will cost us five one-hundredths of 1 percent of the population,”
Lincoln would have thrown him in jail. (The Civil War, America’s
deadliest, killed at least 1.9 percent of the population, and Saint Abe
threw lots of people in jail). A similar sentiment expressed as the US
entered the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, or any of the US’s other wars would have got
the speaker at best ostracized, at worst imprisoned. The powers that be
have always been willing to sacrifice other people’s lives and freedoms
for their favorite cause and always will be. Damn the percentages, full
speed ahead!
So now we’re supposed to believe that the powers are regretfully
eliminating what’s left of our freedoms and destroying our economy to
protect us from this scourge that might kill five one-hundredths of 1
percent of our population? The notion is idiotic on its face, and could
only work on a docile, emasculated, and brain-dead populace who yearns
for the sterile safety of a rubber room, straight jacket, and ball gag,
removed three times a day when the nice nurse spoons them their gruel.
They’ll be free of want and fear…and everything else.
The powers want absolute power, period. Their panic and police states
are designed to instill and further the want and fear they say they
deplore. Their stocks in trade are want and fear; they’d never eliminate
them even if they could. All of the dictatorial restrictions are based
on projections, not actual reality observed anywhere on the planet. They
tried the projection trick with global warming, but they relented a bit
when people started ignoring, or worse, mocking Greta Thunberg’s
hysterical rants. First-year law students are told when they don’t have
the facts, pound on the law, when they don’t have the law, pound on the
facts, and when they don’t have either the facts or the law, pound on
the table. Neither coronavirus or global warming have the facts or the
law (yet, but they are getting there)—pound on the projections.
Want and fear kill people. Killing people has always been the power’s
desire and is no longer secret. Like James Taggart, they particularly
want to kill those masters of reality, the John Galts who actually
reduce want and fear: the builders, the innovators, the doers, the bold,
the farsighted, the scientists, the technologists, the entrepreneurs,
the savers, the investors, and all of the other creators who have
advanced the human race notwithstanding the powers, who have contributed
nothing but the hindrances and obstacles.
Their “cure” for the coronavirus will be far deadlier than the
disease. The quarantines and lockdowns will bring the world to a
standstill—that’s the point. It was the point of the government’s
Directive Number 10-289 in Atlas Shrugged, derisively named “The
moratorium on brains” by the novel’s heroes. They want you to die, and
yes that will lead to their own deaths and yes they know it, although
like Taggart they can’t admit it to themselves. But now you know it,
too, they’re all but telling you. That they can no longer hide it is a
sign of their weakness, not strength.
Give into fear, panic, and cowardice and they will achieve their
objective. You will deserve what you get. This is the last gasp of a
malignancy—the philosophy of fear, fraud, and force—among humanity
that’s metastasized for millennia. It is dying. Do nothing to prolong
its life and do everything you can to resist its acolytes. Fight with
everything you’ve got to prevent them from destroying the human race.
Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty or give me death.” Liberty is that precious.
Give me liberty and I’ll lick the doorknobs of the coronavirus ward and kiss everyone in it.
Most of humanity has undergone a process of education which depends
for its effectiveness on the perceived power of some ‘authority’ to
exert an unquestioned controlling influence over the general direction
of life. A source of influence that depends for its continuing
effectiveness on never being subjected to rational scrutiny, or genuine
examination of any kind. Such is the beguiling power of full-on
indoctrination.
In the battle now raging for ‘who controls the world’, some of the
largely hidden or disguised controlling agents of planetary life – are
now appearing on the surface. And that’s why chaos and fear are very
much ‘flavor of the month’. The Corona Contagion is chock full of
idiosyncrasies; in fact, there are so many nonsensical factors
associated with media attempts to report on what’s going on, that one
can only feel dazed and confused should one try and follow the script in
real-time.
However, what has become all too clear is the fact that large numbers of people are being herded – and are not resisting. The scare tactics being employed are more dangerous than the virus that is the excuse for deploying them. Under this induced state of psychosis, all manner of tricks can be perpetrated on mankind – and that is precisely what we are witnessing at this time.
Some whiny statists are complaining that not everyone is
embracing the measures being imposed by government to “deal with” the
coronapocalypse. It is claimed that they are endangering lives by
“downplaying” the risk.
No, they are not endangering society, nor will they be the cause of
millions (or even dozens) of extra deaths. People who are “downplaying”
coronavirus are serving an important purpose. Besides disarming the
panic-bomb, I mean.
What they are doing is acting as a drag chute to slow down runaway government overreach.
This is essential.
Those who object to the “downplayers” aren’t adequately (or even minimally) considering the costs of government intervention. You’ve seen this happen in other topics as well, such as with AGCC/”climate change”.
Government-supremacists are pushing the narrative that not taking
the actions government promotes will cause deaths, but are ignoring the
deaths which will result from doing the wrong thing, or even too much
of the “right thing”. They are not considering the costs and benefits of
both courses.
Maybe doing nothing about COVID 19 would kill more people. Of course, you have the option of doing everything you ought to do without government mandating anything. Doing something doesn’t require anything being done by government.
That is a bad assumption to make. But, I will concede that ignoring the
problem would probably result in some unnecessary deaths.
However…
Damaging the economy– as government is actively doing– will also kill people. For certain.
It may, in the long run, kill more people than the coronavirus would
have even if no one had done anything about it– but we don’t know. We won’t know. There is no way to know because you can’t rewind history and change what was done.
Yes, some people caution against comparing how many deaths are resulting
now and comparing that to the total deaths in previous plagues after
they were over. That makes sense. However, you can compare death rates in
the midst of the event– which is something government-supremacists
don’t seem to like for anyone to do. It gets in the way of the narrative
they prefer.
This is why we need brakes on the speeding car of statism. Those
who “downplay” the danger are those brakes. They complete the costs vs.
benefits big picture for the situation. Without them you only get one
side, advocating only one path. Objecting to the balance they provide is
not productive or smart.
(I added a “coronavirus” tag to the blog so you can follow what I’ve said about this from the beginning, if you care.)
Perspective: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
The virus is
not a hoax. It is a killer and it may also be a killer of society as we know
it. Currently Globally there have been 392815 confirmed cases and 17185 deaths.
That’s a death rate of 4.4% globally.
How do we
defeat this invisible enemy without wrecking the world economy? That question
may be a moot point. The damage is most likely already done and we could very
well be heading to a depression that will make the last great depression pale
in comparison.
So do we
just send everyone back to work and go on about our business as usual and to
hell with those who get sick and could die? That is a scary proposition to
me. Remember these numbers?
24.3 million
actively infected and transmitting on this day
2.16 million
cumulative dead since day one, with 183,000 deaths on this day
17.1 million
cumulative recovered since day one
That’s a lot
of death.
It is quiet
the predicament that we find ourselves in. Yes I agree governments are
overstepping and seizing power in the name of safety. I get you. I understand. Why
can we not deal with that once we stomp out this virus?
If people
weren’t so selfish and treating this virus as “it’s just the flu” perhaps some
of the steps the governments are taking wouldn’t have to be done. We can do
better.
Regardless,
I think this is a world altering event. What do you think printing a trillion
dollars a month out of thin air during this crisis is going to do? Hyper-inflation?
Maybe. It’s definitely not a good thing. These kinds of decisions are going to
greatly affect my children’s future. It saddens me to think of the future they
face. We will have time to try and make a better future for them once we
survive this pandemic. You can’t fight your government and take back your
freedoms if this virus kills you.
I’ve watched and read the first hand reports coming out of Spain and Italy and other hotspots. Doctors in tears because they are basically having to play God and decide who lives and who dies. It’s heartbreaking. Italy has a death rate of 9.5%. I certainly do not want that here in the United States.
People are
scared and the Media surely doesn’t help in that regard. I do believe they are
trying to whip people into hysteria. But honestly why would anyone believe the
media on any subject. Their credibility has long since been destroyed. I watch
the evening news only to see what the enemy is saying. Yes the mainstream media
is the enemy. Our government is also not our friend. We are on our own here
folks. This is all going to be up to us. How we handle this and survive is up
to us.
We are quickly approaching the time when some tough decisions are going to have to be made. I hope those in leadership make the right choices. It’s devastating watching the world crumble around you. I can see the desperation creeping into people’s faces. I can feel the tension in the air. It is the unknown that is disturbing to most.
This is now about saving lives. Let’s get thru this pandemic first. Then let’s fight to make things right.
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.
Thomas Jefferson
I have a question: if someone goes out and states that their goal is to infect other people with HB19 so that they contract COVID-19, how does Jefferson’s definition of rightful liberty apply?
The fear of the loss of liberty is certainly warranted if the government issues a national lockdown to curtail the spread of the epidemic. I personally see no other option. I understand that this action may collapse the economy and the government. I (and many others) feel this is inevitable even without the epidemic.
Let’s consider what happens if we do not lockdown the nation. Nevermind, people do not care as long as they can chant their mantra concerning their freedom. What is unsaid is that they will not face reality if we do not implement a lockdown. It is true that 99% of the people will survive the epidemic. This means about 2.4 million deaths in the United States with an 80% infection rate. It does not consider the secondary infections or the inevitable mutations of the virus.
So let me be clear IF a national lockdown is implemented for a specified period of time. Once the threat is over, the lockdown must be lifted. If it is not lifted, we have the duty to water the tree of liberty. Let’s see how many keyboard commandos will stand up to fight for their rightful liberty. As for now, how we deal with this disease is not a measure of our liberty, it is a measure of our humanity.
Who knew what, when, and what was and wasn’t done with that information by the folks who are still in leadership roles at CDC, NIH, et al? The following is from todays’ “Q” feed:
Worth remembering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeVrMniBjSc📁 Wuhan Institute of Virology [geo location]? [1st biosafety lvl 4 lab – 2015] City/Province origin – hot zone [geo location]? https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/harvard-university-professor-and-two-chinese-nationals-charged-three-separate-china-related📁 “Unbeknownst to Harvard University beginning in 2011, Lieber became a “Strategic Scientist” at [Wuhan] University of Technology (WUT) in China and was a contractual participant in China’s Thousand Talents Plan from in or about 2012 to 2017.” [rapid spread] https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-closing-of-21-million-cell-phone-accounts-in-china-may-suggest-a-high-ccp-virus-death-toll_3281291.html📁 >End POTUS rally(s)? >End POTUS econ gains? >End POTUS unemployment gains? >End POTUS [A, B, C, D, ……]? [weaken prior to P_elec?] >Delay US/China trade negotiations? [China pref Biden[+VP] as P?] >Shelter [Biden] public appearances? >Shelter [Biden] debate(s)? >Push new/revised P_2020 > vote by mail? [unsecure] https://twitter.com/TomFitton/status/1242071506445885441📁 >Push [D] ‘wish list’ [unrelated] items CV Bill [voting amends]? https://twitter.com/SenTomCotton/status/1242169734763819011📁 What is the mathematical probability this occurs [the ‘time bomb’ explodes] at the exact point in time that allows for maximum damage [above] prior to the P_elec? Outside of standard deviation? WHO BENEFITS THE MOST? [Mueller failed] [Impeachment failed] >Why was it critically important impeachment be rushed in the House? [MSM[D party]/Hollywood narrative(s) failed] [THE COUP FAILED] [D] party leading nominee established [super T] prior to lock-down [take-over]? [Sanders ELIM_Biden_FRONT] Occam’s razor simply states that of any given set of explanations for an event occurring, the simplest one is most likely the correct one. Q
Posted inEditorial|Comments Off on Historical Perspective – 2007, 2011, 2015
Covid-19’s exponential spread across the world continues unabated, except in China, where the rate of officially reported new cases has slowed dramatically.
At the same time, cases in India are on the rise. Might India be the next big outbreak location? Time will tell. Meanwhile, this honey badger of a virus shows that it “just don’t care” who you are.
We are getting more reports of young & healthy people getting hit hard. Rich, famous, royal, powerful — it doesn’t matter, all socioeconomic strata are coming down with it.
We’re also getting reports that social distancing, PPE and good hygiene practices really do make a big difference — so keep up your efforts, folks!
At the end of today’s video, Chris mentions our book Prosper! and its relevance to the world era we’re entering into. More information on the book, which is a great read for anyone currently under home lockdown, can be found here: https://www.peakprosperity.com/our-bo…
Posted in#coronavirus, Editorial|Comments Off on Even The Young & Healthy Are Getting The Coronavirus
Sapient Americans know what is important. We knew that politically correct bathrooms, climate change, identity politics and the political elite were jokes. Of course, the list is not limited to those few topics.
What is important has nothing to do with federal and state governments. It may have took an epidemic to bring their incompetence and sleight of hand into focus, but it has been exposed. The next two weeks are critical: our hospitals will be overloaded and difficult choices will be made. If you are over 60, I very strongly suggest that you do not leave your house under any circumstances. Let us pray that we will not have to resort to what is happening in Italy where the elderly are no longer treated except to ease their passing.
As for those who still cling to the idea of freedom instead of forced quarantined:
“May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.
This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at Birch Gold Group
Last November, in an article titled ‘The Economic Crash So Far: A Look At The Real Numbers’, I outlined the reality of statistical fraud by governments and central banks to hide the ongoing economic downturn. The Everything Bubble, perhaps the biggest debt fueled bubble in history, has been propping up the global economy for several years, but began to waver dramatically at the end of 2018, as the Federal Reserve tightened liquidity conditions into economic weakness (just as they did in 1929 and in the early 1930’s as the Great Depression took hold).
In that article, I warned:
“If the global economy is not on the verge of collapse, then why did central banks keep propping it up for the past ten years? And if central banks have been propping up the system, how much longer do you think they can do this? How much longer do you think they want to do it? What if one day they decide to let the entire house of cards tumble? What if such an event actually benefits them?”
An important factor to this discussion is the idea that the central banks are “ignorant” to the damage they do. This claim is everywhere in the alternative media these days, and it is simply wrong. The banking elites are well aware of the damage they do, and often it benefits their bigger agenda of one world centralization. In fact, Jerome Powell openly admitted in the minutes of the October 2012 Fed meeting exactly what would happen if the Fed took actions to tighten cash flows while markets were addicted to stimulus. Then, as soon as he became the head of the central bank, he implemented that exact policy.
Almost nothing in finance and economics happens without being “managed”, or at least deliberately triggered by central banks. Economic crisis events are a form of massive leverage against the public. They are designed to siphon tangible wealth for pennies on the dollar from the middle class while also setting up social crisis conditions which allow the elites to manipulate the population into accepting less freedom and more globalism.
Understand that this is not a short-term crisis that will correct itself. This is a long-term disaster. If you are not prepared accordingly, you must do so NOW. Time has almost run out.
CovidActNow.org was created by a team of data scientists, engineers, and designers in partnership with epidemiologists, public health officials, and political leaders to help understand how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect their region.
This tool is built to enable political leaders to quickly make decisions in their Coronavirus response informed by best available data and modeling.
We built this tool to answer critically important questions such as:
What will the impact be in my region be and when can I expect it?
How long until my hospital system is under severe pressure?
What is my menu of interventions, and how will they address the spread of Coronavirus?
The members of the House of Representatives are not in Washington, D.C. This means that a new bill proposed by the House (Nancy Pelosi) cannot be put to a vote. The loss of 5 Republican senators to quarantines has placed the majority of votes in the Senate in the hands of Charles Schumer. The Democrats are not letting this crisis go to waste.
Will their actions cause death and suffering? It is hard to quantify how many lives will be saved by bailing out corporate America. Putting money into the hands of Americans to buy food and supplies is on hold but its impact is also hard to quantify. The abuse of power to impose tyranny is not hard to quantify.
While we watch the epidemic unfold in this country, we are also watching the collapse of the world’s economic system. If we are vigilant, we may also be watching the collapse of the federal government in Washington, D.C. The actions of the government may quickly reach a tipping point which will have unintended consequences along the lines of Henry Bowman.
As the coronavirus outbreak enters the BOOM! phase in a fast-increasing number of countries across the globe, world leaders are scrambling to implement tighter and tougher controls.
Sadly, most of these desperate official actions will be necessary but insufficient. The time to adopt China’s heavy-handed tactics was weeks ago. At this point, the virus’ spread is assured; we can only play to slow its rate now. Which we should.
Heart-breaking videos from health care workers show the hard choices being made in overwhelmed hospitals, forced to decide who lives and who dies as each new patient enters the overflowing emergency rooms.
More of this is coming – a lot more – including truly gargantuation fiscal relief packages, in the coming weeks as we ride up, up, up the exponential curve of covid-19 infections.
How well will these extreme actions work? Time will tell. Right now, we just have to ride out the storm as best we’re able.
