Authoritarianism vs. Democracy
We’re allowing the playing with fire.
What I mean by that statement is we’re allowing the bending, even sometimes breaking, the foundation on which our country is based.
That foundation is based on the individual, the rights of each person and the freedoms each person has to choose and enjoy without repression or repercussion. Those rights and freedoms are spelled out in our Bill of Rights – the 1st ten amendments to the Constitution. They are the bedrock of our system – a democratic system.
Situations over the years has resulted in allowing government to ‘bend’ – not break – those rights in the interest maintaining them. Times of war are examples where conscription and rationing have played a part in ‘bending’ those rights.
Enter 2020 and COVID-19.
The virus resulted in a major public health alert. In an effort to minimize the threat to individual citizens, the government took drastic actions to bring the spread of the disease under control. Exercising unconstitutional mandates, the government basically shut down the American economy and the means of most individuals and families to work and support themselves.
The American public – taxpayers, citizens and businesses – understood what they were told about COVID and allowed it – even supported it. Public health “experts” set the stage and our lead politicians acted.
Since early 2020 the public has received a litany of mixed messages from the COVID “experts’ about what to do and not do at various times, resulting in a growing skepticism about the ‘scientific’ advice and government action(s).
The current administration has not only bought what our CDC/NIH is selling, it has gone two steps further. Suddenly, the President issued a September mandate that all federal employees must be vaccinated by November 22.
In addition, all federal contractor employees working with federal employees are required to be vaccinated – or provide proof of a negative COVID test. Further, all visitors to federal buildings must meet the same requirements.
Last week OSHA finalized an emergency order to require all other private employers of 100 or more to meet the same requirements as those for federal contractors.
These mandates, these executive orders are implemented and enforced without Congress – without consent by the people’s representatives. That’s not democracy. I obviously don’t know whether the majority of Congress would consent to or reject these mandates. But it would be nice to know.
My guess is Congress would reject the COVID mandates – (and likely a host of other executive orders since January) – because:
- The science does not support it
- They provide more negative impact on our economy where economic recovery from 2020 is already blunted.
- First line response teams, police, fire and hospital personnel will be curtailed.
- Commercial flights will be curtailed, impacting the economy even more.
# 4 is already creating difficulty for Southwest Airlines who jumped the gun on imposing the private employer mandate prior to its completion and implementation. It’s affected thousands of flights and multiples of that for ticket holders. Further, we don’t know how many federal flight controllers will be gone by the end of November, exacerbating the situation even more. That’s not to mention thousands of military personnel, including Navy Seals.
All this is being done without public input. That’s not democracy, its authoritarianism.
On top of the pile of negatives for the public these mandates are having, those folks not vaccinated are vilified by our President as unpatriotic.
The point of all this mandate stuff is the total absence of recognition of individual rights. In America people are supposed to have the right to choose what happens to their bodies. Forcing a medical procedure or medicine on anyone is not legal.
So why are we letting government do it?
Have we become so dependent on government we can no longer think for ourselves? We need to think back to 2020 and realize what government did, in the supposed interest of public health, likely had little effect on the spread of COVID. Have we gotten so used to mandates that we follow and comply without hesitation and thinking?
There are any number of countries who did not shut down work and their economies that have had no higher rates of COVID infection than ours. Sweden and South Korea are two examples.
But mandates have had a significant impact in the US.
Because of executive orders and Congressional to support people who were out of work, including not getting our schools back to teaching and learning, many people have not returned to the job market. Many others are quitting their jobs rather than obey the latest mandate – 4.3 million of them in August. The September JOLTS report indicates there are 11 million jobs that remain unfilled.
We should learn from our experience thus far with the pandemic putting public health officials in charge is not a desirable choice. That putting a President or bureaucrats or one political party in charge – however ‘compassionate’ – does not result in positive outcomes.
There is no such thing as a benevolent dictator. That’s why we strive for a democracy. It’s time we insist on following our Constitution and an end to presidential mandates.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
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