Resist Tyranny, Part 1

There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.
—Ronald Reagan—

Key point: Forever and always, panic is an ardent enemy of wisdom.

In any crisis, perspective and sound thinking are essential. Why? First, actions based on fear aren’t actions, but reactions; and actions rooted in panic are knee-jerk reactions. A second reason is that a great many people with nefarious motives wish to take advantage of crises to advance agendas that benefit them and harm others.

Calling attention to these realities and warning people about them may subject the those who issue the warnings to accusations of callousness. Yet I believe in the vast majority of cases, these heroes are acting in a role similar to that of Paul Revere. They aren’t at all trying to minimize the crisis at hand but rather are endeavoring to encourage people to exercise discernment. When facing a crisis, the goal of fair-minded people ought to be to bring workable solutions to the emergency without creating or multiplying additional problems that can be difficult or even impossible to solve.

The Cost of Panic

On Sunday, March 15, in response to the cornoavirus threat, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued an “order closing all bars and restaurants in #Ohio beginning at 9:00 tonight.”

J. B. Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, ordered the closure of all bars and restaurants statewide from Monday evening, March 16, through Monday, March 30. He said,

I tried earlier this week to appeal to everyone’s good judgment to stay home, to avoid bars, not to congregate in crowds. It’s unfortunate that many people didn’t take that seriously. The time for persuasion and public appeals is over. The time for action is here. This is not a joke. No one is immune to this, and you have an obligation to act in the best interests of all the people in this state.

Soothing words, right? The governor himself sounds panicked. I’m not saying he shouldn’t treat the crisis seriously, but regardless of the reasons he felt compelled to make this decision, the governor’s rhetoric will only fuel panic further. Among other things, he should be keenly aware that those in his audience weren’t just the “many people [who] didn’t take…seriously” the warnings he’d previously made, but all of his state’s residents. And plenty of those people were panicked already. Leaders need to remain calm in crisis situations.

Other governors likely will make similar decisions. The die has been cast! Yet on Friday, March 13, Ohio Health Director Amy Acton confessed on national television that her “projection” of 100,000 cases in her state were based on assumptions. As of this writing on Monday, March 16, 2020, Ohio has 37 confirmed coronavirus cases. Acton told Tucker Carlson and his audience, “So we know that we don’t know the exact number of Ohioans because we haven’t been able to test and we don’t yet have the exact models that will tell us.” She added, “I think there was some confusion in my remarks, and partly because I am tired, but what we did know is that we assumed community spread already because we weren’t able to test.”

Tom Zawistowski of wethepeopleconvention.org writes (reader discretion advised),

As of yesterday (3/13/20) the number of Covid-19 cases WORLDWIDE was 132,758 with only 80,991 outside of China, yet Dr. Acton wants Ohioans to believe that Ohio has 100,000 ITSELF!  How can that be possible? It isn’t! She just made it up, and it’s no excuse that she “is tired!” Her reckless statement is unnecessarily scaring the hell out of Ohio Citizens. Now, thanks to the media, including Tucker Carlson whom we think has done a good job on this issue, but should have challenged Dr. Acton last night based on her lack of facts, and Governor DeWine’s actions, the WHOLE NATION is now acting as if it is a FACT that there are 100,000 cases in Ohio!  It’s NOT a FACT it is NOT TRUE!

Worst of all, this kind of un-proven “modeling” has  influenced Governor DeWine and others to take actions that are simply NOT APPROPRIATE based on how little they know.

Especially in responding to a crisis, it is inexcusable and irresponsible for health officials and other leaders to be “flying blind.”

Never Lose Sight of the Big Picture

Daren Mehl, an astute cultural observer, took to Facebook to focus on the economic fallout and the harm the decision to shut down bars restaurants will inflict on innocent individuals and families (a few minor edits made).

I disagree with this wholeheartedly. This is not caring for people, this is HURTING people. I have done a LOT of research into pandemics and looked at H1N1 and this kind of behavior is actually acting like tyranny.

Governor Mike DeWine’s declaration that “Every day we delay, more people will die” is a manipulative statement that cannot be confirmed. These people are going to lose income and there are plenty who live paycheck to paycheck. This is heartless to leverage potential deaths against peoples own ability to provide for their families. They don’t get the CHOICE TO TRUST GOD FOR THEIR HEALTH. They are fleeced by the government.

Think about it this way. Rather than TAXING your labor to pay for the emergency response, which they did for H1N1 in 2009, the government is PREVENTING labor. Preventing people from PROVIDING for their families. All while the government workers and leaders have guaranteed incomes.

To me, this is an attack on people, not a preventative measure. Unprecedented as well.

I’m a risk analyst by trade, albeit information security, the formula is the same. Draconian formula would say you will try to avoid ALL death, but the government isn’t responsible for every death occurring from a disease. Reasonable response is within everyone’s interest. Overreaction and overreach is not.

Just Ten Years Ago

On his national radio show on Friday, Rush Limbaugh reminded the country of how the media and the Obama Administration responded to the virulent swine flu outbreak of 2009-2010. He declared,

Now, can I go back and remind you of something? 2009-2010 swine flu, Barack Hussein Obama, first year as president, 60 million Americans infected in a 10-month period, 300,000 hospitalized. 18,000 deaths. This is just 10 years ago now, folks, 10, 11 years ago. We didn’t suspend anything. We didn’t stop anything. The Masters happened. Major League Baseball season happened. The NFL draft and the NFL season, the preseason happened, spring training happened.

These kinds of major evens have been cancelled in response to the coronavirus crisis. Rush went on to play a montage “of the Drive-By Media praising President Obama after a thousand Americans had died. At the time this montage begins,” he said, “a thousand Americans had died, not 40, 1,000 Americans had died, Obama finally declared a national emergency after a thousand deaths.”

Will the measures being taken plunge this country into a recession? With the steps Governor DeWine and others are taking, we have to consider this a real possibility. Even if they don’t, innocent people are being hurt, and without a careful, level-headed understanding of the situation.

Don’t Despair; Instead, Act to Preserve Liberty and Economic Freedom

Yet, even against the backdrop of these extreme measures, we have reasons for hope—and most of them have nothing to do with government intervention to mitigate the spread of the disease.

An article titled “Coronavirus: Ten reasons why you ought not to panic,” highlights some very encouraging realities, many of which are unrelated to government intervention. Included in the list are these points.

• • • The situation is improving in China,
    • 80% of cases are mild, and
    • People recover.

While we must take the coronavirus crisis seriously, be must not let panic determine our response.

We have to use our heads, not just our hearts. Jon Harris of Conversations That Matter has wisely warned that if the spread of the disease continues to increase, government will say, “We need to do more.” And if the spread of the disease slows down, even, say, for a reasons as natural as the arrival of warm spring weather, government will take credit for averting the crisis and say, “You see, we did what was needed. It’s proof we know what’s best for you!” Either way, government intervention in Americans’ private lives will continue unabated.

Whether the politicians involved have good intentions or not, government needs to be reigned in.

Next time, we’ll talk about efforts being made by people with nefarious intentions. Some people in power really do want to use this crisis to thwart liberty in America.

You and I need to stand in their way!

 

Copyright © 2020 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

top image credit: Photo by Jose Fontano on Unsplash

Update: 2020-03-20 — Is the Ohio Department of Health Refusing to Release Coronavirus Test Data to Conceal Lower Than National Average Percentage of Positive Tests?

Update: 2020-03-27 — Dr. [Deborah] Birx Video proves Ohio’s Dr. Acton is WRONG!