A successful maneuver for political power is usually driven by a compelling emotion with a rationale that dupes people into complying, or at least fail to vigorously oppose. Fear: Carbon is destroying the planet, so you can’t buy things we don’t approve and you must buy expensive substitutes that we do. We will save you and the world from burning up. Envy or anger: wealth is bad and rich people abuse you, so give me your power against them, so you will all be equal; equally ho-hum. Pride: Deutschland über alles!

Now a pestilence is upon us. What a fortuitous opportunity to allow government officials, abetted by the fear-mongering media, to drive the capitalist economy off a cliff and substitute a centralized socialist economy that concentrates power. It was so compelling and esoteric, the proponents even cajoled a president with the most conservative record in American history into complying. For a while.

Suppose political power were a zero sum substance with each adult endowed with an equal amount. The more one cedes to any level of authority, the less is retained. While this is likely a true and immutable principle, some visible factors such as wealth and weaponry sometimes confuse the picture. Jefferson, a Democrat, saw inalienable rights as at least part of this substance. The US was founded as an egalitarian society with individuals and states retaining much of this substance. This changed about one hundred years ago when a series of constitutional amendments changed the very fabric of the country. Some called this progress and claimed the euphemistic title progressives. (Federal income tax was a stroke of genius in this regard. Money is power and most of it ended up controlled by the central government.)

Mitigating the pandemic provides a compelling reason to abridge basic rights and thereby accrete more power. Manipulative words are used such as science, mortality rates, overwhelming collapse, etc. Indeed, infection management has provided many good reasons to curtail many civil liberties such as financial independence, going to work or school, recreating, even visiting with friends and family. The uber-adherent busybodies, like brownshirts of the 20th century, run about reporting noncompliance to the authorities. Shop owners and surfers get thrown in jail. Those who cower-in-place gradually become vassals of the state. That may sound extreme. It is, but if what is reported as news is true, then who can argue otherwise? Progressives (aka socialists) strive for their ascendency while forcing the common man to cede autonomy, control, and power. The “progress” in progressive refers to their vaunted social and political status. For the rest of us, it is a regression to the state of civilization that existed for most of the last ten thousand years.

Trying to prevent a catastrophic collapse of our hospitals is appropriate and laudable. It’s also the threat used to compel compliance with the diktats from the overlords in capitols across our once free land. It’s a better reason than most for extracting power from individuals and amassing it to the government. Surely, in a world and nation replete with geniuses, we can learn to do two things at once: keep the death rate reasonably low while feeding the economic engine that allows us to do so without amassing five or ten trillion dollars of additional debt.