by Jeffrey A. Tucker
The American Institute for Economic Research
Let’s speak frankly about a strange protocol foisted on us nearly a year ago – not just us but also people all over the world! – but about which there has been very little open discussion. I’m speaking of a phrase with which I’m so exasperated that it can barely come out of my mouth: “social distancing.”
It makes an appearance in the movie Contagion from 2011 but otherwise has no precedent in American-English vernacular before March 1, 2020.
For twenty years, I’ve written about goofy government regulations and their perverse effects. I’ve covered malfunctioning gas cans, toilets, faucets, garbage disposals, hot-water heaters, showerheads, and sprinklers, I’ve written about the terrible effects of corn subsidies, tariffs of all sorts, high taxes, patents, curbs on insurance, price controls, wage controls, and school regulations. I’ve pointed to terrible foreign policy failures that make people less free and less safe.