by Stacey Rudin
The American Institute for Economic Research
The third month of 2020 came with a friendly governmental FYI: “your actions, good citizen, can either stop death, or cause death. ‘Stay home’ to save lives; ‘go out’ and kill people.” We froze in our places, shocked at our newfound power. New systems were implemented; kids were set in front of sanitized screens in place of classrooms; alarms were set for 4 a.m. to reserve grocery delivery timeslots to avoid contaminating the store aisles with our breath. “Whatever it takes. At all costs, we will not promote death.” Very few dissenters emerged; instantaneously-formed natural community-watch groups policed them. Anyone who did not take “the safety of thy neighbor” seriously enough (as revealed by any hint of dissatisfaction with the suspension of the Constitution) was identified, labeled, shamed, and ostracized. Easy-peasy, just like the British government envisoned it.