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From Social Distancing to Social(ist) Conditioning
We are being conditioned and acclimated to having to stand in long lines for food.
We are being conditioned to finding, after an hour of waiting in line, that the shelves are empty.
We are being acclimated to rationing (my grocery store this week finally had a tiny section of toilet paper. It was an off-brand I’d never heard of, and the sign on the shelf said “ONE PER CUSTOMER”).
We are being conditioned to view other people, even friends, neighbors, and loved ones, as threats. Neighbors are turning on each other. The Mayor of New York is encouraging people to “report” each other for not following government guidelines, helpfully providing an official phone number and demonstrating how to photograph them in the act. The act of standing less than six feet away from another human being. The act of showing one’s face in the open air in a public place.
We are being made to believe wearing a mask makes us Good Citizens, thoughtful people always thinking of the well-being of others. They’re not mandatory everywhere – yet- but in the cities where they’re optional, people are being conditioned to view the mask-free as selfish, ignoble outliers who don’t care about their fellow man. Yet it wasn’t that long ago that they told us wearing a mask doesn’t help at all. They even told us it gives a false sense of security. What has changed? Or maybe the question should be Cui bono?
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The masks make us anonymous. They make it impossible to share a smile with another person. They add to the general air of suspicion, anxiety, and uncertainty, and they add to an overall impression of dystopia. They erase our individuality and make each of us into just another part of The Group. This makes their exhortations about “The Greater Good” fall right into place.
And they’ve thought of everything. They’ve dealt with the inevitable American spirit of individual liberty and the hardy souls who will say, “To heck with the virus. I’ll take my chances,” by telling us that the mask isn’t just for our own safety, but the safety of others. And just in case that isn’t strong enough, they add the heartrending bit about “our elderly loved ones.” So now, if you don’t wear a mask you’re killing grandma. This is now Social Engineering works.
We’re being made to believe that shutting down the economy including every place of business and social gathering is necessary “for our safety.” Why wasn’t this necessary during the Avian Flu pandemic of 1957? Or the Swine Flu or SARS or West Nile or Zika? They’re trying to paint anyone who sees through the hysteria and takes a stand for freedom, whether by protesting or even just making a comment in dissent, as a bunch of nutjobs (and their parents are probably first cousins, and of course they support Trump because their average IQ is that of a houseplant). I mean they just aren’t as educated, intelligent, and discerning as those who believe the entire world economy needs to stay shut down and the Bill of Rights suspended (it’s for our SAFETY!”).
I’m not saying this flu isn’t more contagious than others have been. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be aware and be careful. But I am saying that if you’re someone who’s so scared that you gave me a dirty look at the grocery store for momentarily pulling my mask down so I could breathe, then you can stay HOME. I sure won’t stop you. But your fear (not to mention fatuous gullibility) doesn’t allow you to tread on my Bill of Rights.
It’s impossible not to see parallels to the totalitarian regimes of history. The devaluing of individual freedoms. The individual being subsumed by The Group. I applaud those who are seeing all this for what it is, and protesting and speaking out. It’s way past time we all speak out as our own @rodin did in Sacramento, and that we stand up and say, “This is America. We don’t do that here.”
RA – you are on to something – sinister………see the following:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/apple-and-google-release-test-version-of-coronavirus-tracing-software.html
I’m learning something new everyday that is echoing what your post is all about.
I saw that! Very scary stuff. Wake up, America.
We are very often on the same page, but I disagree with this strongly. No offense, but I thought someone should dissent.
Amen to it all.
Our utterly innumerate media can’t seem to keep track of the severity estimate originally promulgated by Neil Ferguson of Imperial College and the downward adjustments made to it. Facebook, Google, and Twitter are suppressing information that runs contrary to the narrative of the World Health Organization — wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party. This last is curious, because the WHO regularly reverses itself (no human-to-human transmission, face masks of no efficacy, etc)
I’m tired of being treated as a child by people who aren’t bright enough to walk my dog. The dog shouldn’t be the brains of the outfit.
I watched a video at work the other day from a research firm we use. The UK reporter mentioned how China was using this type of technology to track people and then said that this would be happening in Europe and is just a small price to pay to keep safe. That kind of horrified me because Americans don’t think that way . . . but now I am wondering just how well I know my fellow Americans.
You rebel, you.
Masks in stores are mandatory here in Jersey, although the only store I have been in is the liquor store (wife doesn’t trust me to do the supermarket run . . . as if steak and buffalo wings aren’t healthy enough). I do see the mask, and I just have a camo bandana, as more for other peoples’ emotional health than for anyone’s physical health.
Say it!
I continuing to be thunderstruck about how it came about so quickly. We are seeing the fruits of globalization and just-in-time purchasing. The green shade guys persuaded business that keeping dollars sitting idle in inventory was an avoidable cost — and certainly was to the investment bankers that acquired businesses and imposed management strategies that maximized profit.
They failed with the war on poverty.
They failed at the war on drugs.
They think they can legislate societal changes, like we won’t shake hands again? That’s not going to go well for them.
But I see it more like riding a wave than a plotted-out plan. It’s an opportunity to ride on.
Well, if anything, a lazy rebel, since I couldn’t get it together to put in more than a two-sentence effort as to why I disagree. I’ll blame Saturday Night Fever, which is on the DVR and is the movie of the week in the Hoyacon household. It is Saturday night right?
Bottom line, I understand your concern, but I think there are a whole lot of people out there ready to kick butt if we even get close to a worse case scenario.
We are beginning to become players in the sequel to “The Lives Of Others”. Copy write restrictions will force a name change to “The Lives Of Karens”.
I have a flip phone.
I do get that it seems to be more serious than the usual flu. And while I don’t think all the Democrats and Globalist New World Order people were in on some kind of plot, I do think they’re using it.
Not I, said the 71-year-old Rebel. No mask, no distancing, no cowering at home, no working from home, no disinfecting every surface everywhere every 5 minutes.
DEFY TYRANNY, BREAK THE LOCKDOWN
It’s unfortunate that many of the necessities of this epidemic make us behave in ways that progressives secretly love. But we can’t let that make us not do it, if it’s necessary.
(You probably know this, but it’s not a form of flu. If it was, I think it would be more certain that we could get a vaccine quickly, like for swine flu. A vaccine has never been developed for a coronavirus.)
I have a land line.
I think it is clear that sides are being taken and America’s economic future is at stake.
I have a silver dollar.
I have a song in my heart.
Someday you might need a landmine.
Oh yeah? Well my car doesn’t have GPS.
My phone does. I don’t need it on my car.
Something happened here, some new artistic form of dying Western Civilization, on its own and out of nowhere, and it grew and sparkled for a while, and then it too died. Not so sadly, really, because it ended with this perfect cadenza by @Percival…
Perhaps there was nothing more to say.
Our lockdown ends Monday. I still haven’t put on a mask. Today Menard’s told me I had to have one to enter. I went to Lowe’s.
No one has said anything to me about not wearing a mask, and I maintain distance. One gentleman, probably a little over 10 years older than me, jumped when my son went running by him (maybe just inside 6′) in a public square. Actually jumped onto his chair, then ran away.
I don’t mention it to shame him; I mention it to show how much fear has been sown. Of course the topic of his conversation prior to that was all about Covid-19. The next day, my wife was in the same location. She happened to mention we live in the next town. “Oh?” he said, “How is (that town) doing at social distancing?” He’s shouting, I guess because he thinks voices don’t carry for six-plus feet.
“Uh, I don’t know, we just ride our bikes around.”
A huff. He stands and leaves. I understand. He thinks we’re not taking him into account. We didn’t bring fear with us to the public place, where we were generally at least 30 feet away from him.
You have choices. You don’t have to buy in to fear. That choice, however, may create an uncomfortable gap between you and others. Well, they’re uncomfortable, anyway.
I look on Facebook and see families getting closer, and people appreciating things in their lives they really hadn’t given much thought about. at least not for a while. It seems like a realignment of priorities. It’s heartening to see.
Then I spy the other posts…I made the right choice for me. I work at home anyway, so my contact with others was limited well before this started. Tomorrow my kids get to see their grandparents again. We made that choice together, and we’ll have a good day.
And from my local NextDoor, censoring of comments, then closing the comments altogether:
Antibody Testing information from ATCEMS Office of the Medical Director
Yesterday the Office Of The Medical Director – City Of Austin-Travis County issued a joint statement to our Public Safety community regarding antibody testing. Here are some highlights: – Tests could theoretically identify people who have recovered from COVID-19, and may have developed immunity to the virus. – Of the approximately 90 antibody tests on the market, very few have received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA. – Some of these tests have been found to be very inaccurate, giving false negative, as well as false positive results in people that have never had it. – Tests may falsely indicate antibodies to COVID-19 when in reality, the patient has antibodies to another coronavirus. The estimated community prevalence in Austin is just 1% of the population, meaning that we’d have to run about 600 tests, to find 1 true positive. The Office Of The Medical Director – City Of Austin-Travis County IS NOT recommending these tests for our Public Safety community until further evaluation of these tests have been done. An antibody test is NOT a good screen for current or recent infection. Acute infection can only be diagnosed by a polymerise chain reaction (PCR) test, which is the current gold standard for COVID-19 detection, and what is being used at all Austin Public Health testing sites. A positive result from an antibody tests does NOT mean you are immune to COVID-19 and should NOT lead you to take fewer precautions to avoid contracting it, or spreading the virus to your families or the public. If you have ANY symptom that suggests COVID-19, you may enroll for testing via the Public Enrollment Tool at COVID19.AustinTexas.gov.
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Frank W.
Volente
Apparently I have been censored so I will try again since my previous post is missing.. i completed everything and was denied. was in the middle east in late Feb. became sick but totally fine six weeks later. wanted the test. denied. apparently because I am not sick now. I think that the CoA and Travis County just wants medical info. Could be a mistake but BEWARE. Edited 1 day ago
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Public Information Office, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services
Thanks for weighing in on this topic. We are closing the discussion at this time.
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-edited for formatting-
I agree with the OP, but I have to say I am encouraged by all the folks I see protesting. Along with the big ones in the state capital, there are smaller ones in towns and county seats in NC. People are getting fed up and I don’t think they are going to go along with another “2 more weeks” from the government.
If just a simple majority of Americans were only to resist this much, the proggies wouldn’t be able to hire enough cops and buy enough handcuffs, bullets, and CNN reporters put us down.
Pretty soon they will be selling cell phone cases made of lead. You’ll only take it out when you want to communicate. And therefore they will only be able to track you when you come up for air.