{"id":15726,"date":"2021-03-24T12:27:33","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T16:27:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=15726"},"modified":"2021-03-24T14:48:31","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T18:48:31","slug":"lockdown-tyranny-a-personal-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/24\/lockdown-tyranny-a-personal-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"Lockdown Tyranny: A Personal Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"
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American Institute for Economic Research, March 24, 2021<\/h3>\n

Lockdown Tyranny: A Personal Retrospective<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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\"JamesJames Bovard<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Over the past year, Americans\u2019 rights and liberties have been ravaged worse than almost anyone expected at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fearmongering quickly proved the ticket for politicians to seize almost unlimited power. But heavy-handed government decrees were more effective at wrecking lives than at vanquishing a virus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first attack on Covid hysteria came out last March 24 in the Daily Caller<\/em>. \u201cPandemic Security Theater<\/a> Is Self-Destructive, And Won\u2019t Make Us Safer\u201d scoffed at President Trump\u2019s proclamations that \u201cwe are at war with an invisible enemy<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m a wartime president<\/a>.\u201d In Washington, wartime presidents are usually exalted as if they personally received a mission from God. \u201cThe pandemic threatens to open authoritarian Pandora\u2019s Boxes. Permitting governments to seize almost unlimited power based on shaky extrapolations of infection rates will doom our republic<\/strong>,\u201d the piece concluded.<\/p>\n

After the Covid-19 pandemic began, politicians tightened tourniquets that would supposedly vanquish the virus by cutting off the economy\u2019s blood supply.<\/strong> Governors in state after state effectively placed hundreds of millions of citizens under house arrest \u2013 dictates that former Attorney General Bill Barr aptly compared to \u201cthe greatest intrusion on civil liberties<\/a>\u201d since the end of slavery. The New York Times<\/em> set the tone<\/a> for media coverage when it announced that the task for government was to \u201clearn how to frighten [citizens] into acting for the common good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The American Institute for Economic Research was in the forefront of denouncing pointless, oppressive restrictions from the start. In May, my old friend AIER editorial director Jeffrey Tucker<\/strong> contacted me and the result was my first AIER piece, \u201cWill the Political Class Be Held Liable For What They\u2019ve Done<\/a>?\u201d That article lambasted politicians for responding \u201cto Covid-19 by dropping the equivalent of a Reverse Neutron Bomb<\/a> \u2013 something which destroys the economy while supposedly leaving human beings unharmed\u2026. Shutting down entire states, including vast uninfected rural swaths, is the economic equivalent of burning witches or sacrificing virgins to appease angry viral gods.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

In a Fourth of July-themed AIER piece, \u201cIndependence Day in the Midst of Dictatorship<\/a>,\u201d I lamented that the holiday was \u201coccurring under the most dictatorial restrictions of the modern era. Anyone who values their liberty must recognize\u201d the mockery of the Spirit of 1776. Many locales banned crowds from gathering to watch fireworks but that was the least of the problems in a year in which governors proved \u201cthat the Bill of Rights is a parchment barrier that can be easily shredded by invoking their emergency powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, in a piece headlined \u201cSham Bailout Statistics Shroud Shutdown Tyranny<\/a>,\u201d I noted that \u201cpoliticians have entitled themselves to inflict unlimited economic damage<\/a> as long as they also shovel out almost unlimited handouts.\u201d After taunting the Small Business Administration\u2019s for its \u201cspending so fast we can\u2019t explain what we are doing\u201d fiascos, I warned, \u201cThe biggest mistake Americans could make would be to permit politicians to absolve themselves now by giving away more of other people\u2019s mone<\/strong>y.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an August 7 AIER piece on perverse pandemic policies<\/a> in Maryland, I noted, \u201cAcross the nation, politicians and bureaucrats have invoked the Covid pandemic to seize dictatorial power to ban activities they disapprove<\/strong>.\u201d I castigated how Covid shutdowns and lockdowns are scored: \u201c[p]oliticians are applauded for everything they ban while enjoying zero liability for the vast collateral damage they inflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following month, in a piece pegged to the 9\/11 anniversary, I predicted, \u201cLike the endless War on Terror, the Covid shutdowns will likely be viewed as one of the greatest political debacles<\/a> in modern American history. But many politicians still believe that there is no problem that cannot be solved by a bigger federal iron fist<\/strong>.\u201d I noted that \u201cstunning debacles are no impediment to politicians pirouetting as saviors,\u201d and then kindly plugged Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s new book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In an AIER piece the week before the election, I lamented that most of the media \u201ccheered almost every arbitrary restriction<\/a> imposed by any government official in the name of fighting Covid.\u201d The presidential race had blighted my idealistic hopes: \u201cRather than campaigning against Trump\u2019s abuses of power, Biden and the Democrats are condemning Trump for not seizing far more power to pretend to keep everyone safe from everything. A virus with a 99.9% survival rate has spawned a 100% presumption in favor of despotism<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

On December 30, in a piece headlined, \u201cThe Year in which Comforting American Myths Were Ravaged<\/a>,\u201d I noted that \u201cthe casualty list for 2020 must also include many of the political myths that shape Americans\u2019 lives,\u201d such as the Rule of Law, \u201cthe consent of the governed,\u201d and even minimal competence of federal agencies. \u201cPerhaps the saddest casualty of 2020 is the myth that average Americans cherish their personal freedom.\u201d Though politicians continually shifted the rationale for lockdowns, \u201cmost people submitted without a fight, and usually without even a whimper.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a March 10 AIER roundup, Lockdowns Wrecked Democracy around the World<\/a>,\u201d I detailed how pandemic-spurred crackdowns have devastated democracy around the world. Emergency proclamations have entitled presidents and other government officials to seize vast new powers previously forbidden to them.\u201d The political exploitation of the pandemic could threaten freedom for decades to come. But \u201cthe world doesn\u2019t need any more Cage Keeper Democracies where citizens\u2019 ballots merely designate who will place them under house arrest.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the past year, shutdown advocates flaunted claims of science \u201clike righteous priests invoking<\/a> God and the Bible to sanctify scourging enemies.\u201d<\/strong> But the \u201cscience\u201d was often farcically unreliable. The World Health Organization catapulted catastrophic policies with a Covid mortality forecast that was 50 times higher<\/a> than the rate the U.S. experienced. Hysteria was also fueled by vast numbers of false Covid positive test results based on WHO scoring \u2013 an error that the WHO delayed correcting<\/a> until Joe Biden\u2019s inauguration day. School shutdowns blighted the lives of millions of children in part because the Centers for Disease Control proclaimed that six feet of \u201csocial distancing\u201d was necessary to avoid contagion \u2013 an arbitrary standard pulled out of thin air that was recently denounced by former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest pseudo-science charade involved masks. High rates of compliance with mask mandates utterly failed to prevent second and third waves of Covid infections. Regardless, politicians and bureaucrats fanned mass fears<\/a> which quickly ripened into hatred of anyone who did not comply with the latest edict.<\/strong> One California mayor declared that anyone not wearing a mask in public was guilty of \u201can act of domestic terrorism<\/a>.\u201d Government officials proclaimed heavy fines for anyone not wearing a mask \u2013 and then urged people to only wear unreliable masks<\/a> so that medical personnel could have all of the surgical and N95 masks. But mandating wearing unreliable masks was on par with wearing dunce caps inscribed, \u201cSave me, Big Brother!\u201d Biden \u201cran for the White House as the mask candidate<\/a>,\u201d as USA Today<\/em> noted, and demanded that Americans wear masks for \u201c100 days\u201d after he took office.<\/p>\n

He also issued a mandate requiring people to wear masks in national<\/a> parks (perhaps in perpetuity?), while his wife sought to shame people into wearing a mask when they walk their dog<\/a> alone. The primary justification for such mandates is that many Biden supporters are spooked by seeing anyone outside not wearing a mask. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Late last year, I wrote, \u201cThus far, politicians have paid no price<\/a> for their constitutional demolitions.\u201d But the tide may be turning as more Americans recognized the wreckage their rulers have inflicted. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the most zealous lockdowners, is dodging a recall election sparked in part by his Covid hypocrisy. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is under criminal investigation for covering up mass Covid deaths due to his nursing home policy. But will the backlash make it to the White House? In his recent televised speech, President Biden declared that, if people obey government decrees, \u201cthere\u2019s a good chance<\/a> you, your families and friends, will be [permitted] to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day.\u201d When did presidents become BBQ Czars? And who invited this killjoy?<\/p>\n

While politicians and pundits have ridiculed lockdown opponents as unwashed deplorables, many pandemic policies were simply Political Science 101<\/a>, using deceit and demagoguery to seize more power.<\/strong> Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito declared late last year, \u201cThe pandemic has resulted in previously unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty<\/a>.\u201d Unfortunately, unless there is a stark ruling from the Supreme Court<\/a>, shutdowns could return whenever politicians can panic enough citizens with some new threat. But in the long run, people have more to fear from politicians<\/a> than from viruses.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Institute for Economic Research, March 24, 2021 Lockdown Tyranny: A Personal Retrospective James Bovard Over the past year, Americans\u2019 rights and liberties have been ravaged worse than almost anyone expected at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fearmongering quickly proved the ticket for politicians to seize almost unlimited power. But heavy-handed government decrees were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2577,2753,2124,2574,2287,850,2316,2370,2752,2032,2550,203,2285,2551,2313,2754,2465,708,252,2515],"class_list":["post-15726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alito","tag-attorney-general-bill-barr","tag-biden","tag-big-brother","tag-centers-for-disease-control","tag-civil-liberties","tag-covid-19","tag-cuomo","tag-jeffrey-tucker","tag-july-4","tag-lockdown","tag-maryland","tag-masks","tag-newsom","tag-pandemic","tag-scvott-gottlieb","tag-shutdown","tag-trump","tag-tyranny","tag-world-health-organization"],"yoast_head":"\nLockdown Tyranny: A Personal Retrospective - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Covid lockdowns have been some of the worst tyranny in U.S. history. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. 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