by Ryan McMaken
Mises.org
The toll lockdowns have taken on human life and human rights has been incalculable. Increases in child abuse, suicide, and even heart attacks, all appear to be a feature of mandatory stay-at-home orders issued by politicians who now rule by decree without any legislative or democratic due process. And then, of course, there is the economic toll on employment, and which will feed negative impacts into the longer term. The economic burden has fallen the most on the young, and on working class families where earners are least able to work from home.
These measures also have made a mockery of basic human rights while essentially expropriating private property. Mom-and-pop business owners were told to shut their doors indefinitely, or face arrest. The unemployed were told it was now illegal to work for a living if their careers were deemed “non-essential.” Police officers have beaten citizens for not “social distancing” while mothers are manhandled by cops for attempting to use playground equipment.