Over the past couple of months, we have been bombarded with hysteria surrounding the Coronavirus. The key sources of this hysteria are multifold.
Governments (Federal, State and Local)
Mainstream Media
Social Media
Interpersonal communications.
If you think remotely the same way that I do, you will probably admit that there is far too much being hurled our way; and nobody is considering the adverse implications of the hysteria this has wrought. With all the panic and the passionate discussions that this crisis brings – most people have lost touch with what is really important. Surely, public health is of critical importance to us all, but can we simply dismiss the impact this crisis is having on our basic civil rights and liberties? Western societies have fought, bled and died for many centuries to establish and maintain these rights. You can go back through history to find examples of freedom fighters who were unsuccessful – but they pale in comparison to the successful battles which resulted in the magnificent free society we have enjoyed here for our entire lives. Certainly, there are imperfections in our society – but the framework is there to underpin our fundamental rights.
History
In Canada and the US, we have centuries of laws, codes and practices that were put in place for the specific goal of protecting our natural rights. The 2 most important documents are:
The Charter of Rights & Freedoms (Canada - 1982)
Predated by the Canadian Bill of Rights - 1960, the British North America Act – 1867 & the Quebec Act - 1774.
The US Constitution & Bill of Rights (United States – 1789+)
These documents built on earlier frameworks such as:
The Magna Carta (England - 1215)
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (France - 1789)
British Bill of Rights (1689)
Further influences in our North American frameworks came from philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and many more; as well as all of our respective Nations’ founding fathers – who risked their lives battling to establish the freedoms we all enjoy today.
Most of the rights enshrined in these documents are consistent with each other - this is not a coincidence. Our 2 nations were born from the same origins – Western Europe. The US forcefully broke away from tyrannical monarchical rule in the 18th century, and Canada took the slow road – claiming our independence by default - centuries into the decline of the French and British Empires. In 2020, our 2 societies look similar in almost every way. That makes us incredibly unique neighbors from a global perspective – and it is critical that we do all we can to maintain the greatness of our societies moving forward.
The reason I bring this all up is to point out that our nation builders didn’t make the sacrifices they did, just to have it voluntarily surrendered within mere weeks – as a result of a health crisis that we still know virtually nothing about! In a short time, we have all witnessed examples of excessive power grabs, as various government agencies claw at our freedoms to push their own political agendas.
If the motive of our government was purely to protect the citizenry, then we could of course tolerate some temporary rollback of our rights – in a very measured and calculated way – with distinct fail safes and termination points. Sadly, we have come to observe that things are not evolving this way.
Beyond just our Civil Liberties and Rights, we are also giving up our livelihoods and potentially the livelihoods of our children – if this drags on long enough. Nobody seems to care about the irreversible economic catastrophe that lies mere weeks away – as long as unelected Public Health experts keep shouting FIRE – at the top of their lungs. Will they ever face accountability for calling it wrong?
The Sad Reality
We need to take some time and review several harsh examples of government overreach, that are largely being dismissed by the Media. We must ask ourselves why the very institutions that are trusted to deliver government transparency and accountability – are in fact doing the opposite. The Media has become a propaganda tool to peddle partisan viewpoints – most of which actually violate our basic rights.
Why would our national media organizations work tirelessly to peddle propaganda designed by the Chinese Communist Party(CCP)? By extension, they also defend the World Health Organization(WHO) ad nauseum. Where are the countless hours of coverage about government overreach and the daily violation of our rights? Why are these issues not getting even a fraction of the media attention as the Coronavirus fear-porn. As an aside, everyone should watch Bill Maher’s clip from April 17. Bill and I have quite divergent political beliefs, but I will not dismiss someone merely because of political differences. He happens to be dead on here.
Canadian Government Overreach
While attempting to ram through Parliament a much-needed economic support package to protect the citizenry from the economic impact of our forced home confinement and economic shutdown – Justin Trudeau attempted an unprecedented power grab. Not only did he bar the Conservative Leader – Andrew Scheer from participating in initial talks, because he “disqualified himself from constructive discussions with his unacceptable speech”; but he also attempted to seize full, unilateral control over the power to tax and spend – without Parliamentary consent or oversight!
Even worse than this, Trudeau is now attempting to remove our freedom of speech and expression. He is working on a plan to make it a criminal offense to “knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people.” The goal is to silence those that contradict the official government position. Notable that social media platforms are already doing this without even having the cover of political expediency. It is also quite amusing that this comes right out of the CCP playbook. I will remind you all that China is a radical totalitarian dictatorship that provides virtually no rights or freedoms to its citizens. To add another level of insanity to this, the government of Canada has embraced the CCP/WHO position as FACT. How can we possibly lend any credence to these positions when:
China has been caught repeatedly lying and covering up their dishonesty.
The WHO has failed at every turn in both their projections and understanding of this pandemic
The Virus is so new, and we really have extremely limited knowledge of it.
How can we even begin to define what the Truth is before we understand the basic facts of this Pandemic – such as the Origin, Epidemiology, Infection Rate, Mortality Rate, Effective Treatments, and Ratio of Asymptomatic carriers. WE MUST NOT LET THE GOVERNMENT DICTATE HOW WE ARE ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE ABOUT THIS CRISIS.
Violation of our Rights (Global Examples)
Philadelphia Police drag an African American man from a bus for not wearing a mask (masks are NOT mandatory in the US). Furthermore, the Transit Authority website specifically stated that masks are OPTIONAL.
UK Police barge into a private residence looking for ‘Social Gatherings’ that violate Social Distancing Rules.
UK Police threaten to monitor Grocery carts to restrict what they deem to be ‘legitimate and necessary items’.
UK Police threaten people in rural locations from ‘going for a picnic’
Australian Police levy <$5k in fines:
“An Australian couple was issued hefty fines this week for violating lockdown orders after they posted photos to Facebook that were taken at a vacation spot two hours from their home. Police showed up at their door and issued over $5,000 in fines for the photos, according to multiple reports. The only problem? The photos were taken last year, long before non-essential travel was banned due to the coronavirus pandemic. after they posted photos”
Maryland County Proposes Plan to Limit Grocery Shopping Trips Based on Last Names
Former police officer arrested in park for throwing ball with daughter due to coronavirus social distancing rules
Rhode Island Police Charge 3 Massachusetts Golfers With Violating Emergency Coronavirus Order
The Governor of New Jersey, when asked about the arrest of 15 Jewish men congregating for a Rabbi’s funeral said the following:
"The Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans' rights — enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together to assemble peacefully," Carlson said. "By what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that?"
"That's above my pay grade, Tucker," Murphy replied. "I wasn't thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this. ... We looked at all the data and the science and it says people have to stay away from each other. That is the best thing we can do to break the back of the curve of this virus, that leads to lower hospitalization and ultimately fatalities."
The Governor of Michigan issued new orders last week:
“people aren't allowed to travel between homes they own in Michigan or to vacation rentals, and large retail stores must cordon off areas dedicated to furniture, gardening and paint, which aren't viewed as essential supplies.“
Many Canadian examples of Government enforcement action can be found here.
Where are we headed?
Erosion of Rights
Over the past century, we have all studied how ruthless dictatorships evolved in Germany, Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and many other nations. If we are naïve enough to believe this is not possible here in North America – there is no hope. The current climate is setting itself up perfectly for many nations to go this route. The keystones of totalitarian rule are the extermination of the following groups:
Political Opposition – Threat to power
Minority Cultures – Threat to the common culture, and thought control.
Weaker elements of society (Elderly, Disabled) - Deemed to be a drag on the system.
These societies also restricted emigration to limit the loss of required labor participants. Further to this, there is a strong economic motive for governments to seize absolute power over their citizens. If this crisis drags on, and we enter an irreversible economic depression, many Businesses will collapse, financial and banking systems will collapse, Unemployment will skyrocket, and GDP will be eviscerated. With tax revenues down, and government costs rising – due to continued social welfare programs – there will be no choice but to begin expropriating our wealth. Governments will creep into more and more areas of our lives – and control virtually everything. Effectively, this will harm those who HAVE vs. those who HAVE NOT. Does this sound like the path we wish to take?
In line with this thinking, when these extreme steps are taken by governments, do you believe you will have any individual power to fight it? The answer is NO, not in Canada. We are functionally powerless. 66% of our elected Federal Government consists of radical leftists – who mostly favor Socialism/Statism. This crisis has provided an opportunity they have been working towards for decades. This is less so in the US – where the electorate is more evenly divided and where gun rights are sacrosanct. There can and will be militias raised to fight any attempt at Tyrannical overreach.
There has been some discussion of digital passports. This is an initiative championed by Bill Gates – where we are all tagged based on our history of infection. In theory, this may sound helpful, but do we really want to slide down the slippery slope of segmenting our society into multiple ‘classes’ that do not have equal rights to each other? We have centuries of history where this sort of thinking prevailed – and have worked so hard to overcome it. Are we simply going to surrender those gains?
Of interest, you may want to read up on Edward Snowden’s thoughts on this crisis as it relates to our freedom.
How can they achieve all of this?
Now we come back to the Media and the forces that control them, namely those who seek to overthrow our beloved way of life and all the freedoms attached to it. I have found the history related to Operation Mockingbird to be fascinating. In short, this was a CIA operation that began during the early 1950’s. The CIA paid top Journalists (including Pulitzer prize winners) to manipulate the public with government propaganda. The Congressional Church commission was established to investigate and expose this program in the 1970s – after more than 2+ decades of unfettered operation! Unfortunately, we see propaganda every day in the western media – except now it is not controlled by the CIA, but rather, interested power groups that control the media. These power groups also happen to back the same forces who oppose the current POTUS. Thus, the same techniques are being used to manipulate our thoughts, but they are being employed by private groups who are protected by the 1st Amendment. If you open your eyes and ears, you can see examples of this daily. Here are a few of my keys to identifying propaganda.
Interesting & Frightening Example - https://youtu.be/_RHKmOovMfMLook how fast and wide a particular narrative proliferates. Why do we often see the same story regurgitated 24/7 across a mass array of media outlets?
Look at the sourcing of the biggest ‘Bombshell’ stories. Are they ‘anonymous’ or ‘unnamed’ sources? IS THAT EVEN JOURNALISM???? Often times, we are effectively yielding all our trust to some millennial J-School grad who may or may not have an agenda or be on the payroll of someone who does!
Look at the motive for each story - Who is targeted? Who is being elevated? Who is the largest beneficiary? Who loses?
Look at the suppression of counter narratives.
The Media’s most dangerous propaganda technique is lying by omission. Where they selectively edit their ‘news’ stories to omit information that will contradict their desired narrative. In many cases, they avoid airing factual stories altogether – aiming to blind the public about real events. A terrific example of this is the Russia Hoax. Many people remain unaware of the truth behind this operation. The real story is now emerging clearer than ever(for those who wish to explore it) – that the entire Russia Hoax was used to cover up treasonous and corrupt crimes by the Democrats leading up to the 2016 election, and extending years into Donald Trump’s presidency.
Calling all opposition to their narrative a ‘conspiracy theory’ or ‘debunked’ is another example of crushing dissent to a chosen narrative. Interestingly, this tactic was identified by the Church commission as an essential component of Operation Mockingbird. Furthermore, publicly shaming and humiliating anyone who does in fact break through with an opposing view – is critical to the maintenance of the chosen narrative.
What Government opportunities evolve from a particular story?
Erosion of rights
Demonization of opposition parties
Changes in policy – Taxation, Program Spending, etc.
Justification for otherwise unacceptable actions
I want to note that we have been peppered with media lies about the Coronavirus for months, and I found this video by Congressman Dan Crenshaw to be especially enlightening. Notice the broad narratives the media peddled at each juncture - with one singular mission in mind – now compare that against the verifiable timeline of actual events. Even the Canadian media has spent almost no energy pointing out similar faults with the handling of the virus north of the border – instead they peddle anti-trump propaganda 24/7 – except of course when they are busy praising Justin Trudeau!
In Conclusion
It is not too late for us. We need to remain vigilant, and question everything. We also cannot take lightly, the surrender of any of our Rights & Freedoms – even if it is only temporary. Currently, we are putting our lives in the hands of Public Health operatives we know absolutely NOTHING about. They are also wholly unaccountable for the ever growing mountain of errors and miscalculations they are making, while implementing their radical agenda – which restricts our rights in unprecedented ways.
The one narrative that I find the single most dangerous – and it is parroted all over the world – is that we need to Shelter in Place until there is a Vaccine. We are told that the timeframe is 12-18 months, but how can this possibly be true? There is currently no vaccine for Coronavirus, and most vaccines take upwards of 5 years to develop and safely test. If we do unconditionally follow this advice, emanating from the UN, WHO and Bill Gates – we may find ourselves in a post-apocalyptic future, where Autocrats rule using our expropriated wealth. In this new world, we may never have a Vaccine, and thus, no justification to have our rights restored to us. This is not the future that I desire, and it is not the world I want my children to inherit.
I will end with a ray of hope. The brilliant plan rolled out this week by the US Federal Government may save all of us. It is measured, safe and practical – and it will allow them to get the economy running back to its pre-COVID19 levels in a relatively short timeframe. It will also rapidly restore rights that were temporarily ceded. I believe that most nations of the world must adopt similar guidelines – that work for their specific geography and demographics. The other thing that may save us all is effective therapeutics. I am hopeful that several emerging treatments can significantly reduce hospitalization and mortality rates while this virus runs its course. This strategy has worked for many other viruses in the past. In time, perhaps a safely tested vaccine may become available – and I am not opposed to that. However, I am opposed to a vaccine that is hastily developed without enough of a testing period to avoid catastrophic side effects.
Let us all hope that the best of civilization prevails, and we end up stronger in the long run.
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