1984
Big Brother…is watching.
Reports from all over the nation indicate that the pandemic has impacted individual freedom the like of which has never been seen. The civil rights abuse is reminiscent of the start of the Japanese interment during WWII or the East German Stasi guarding the Berlin Wall.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Garcetti is using his Safer at Home Business Ambassadors Program consisting of city workers and volunteers from Garcetti's crisis response team along with the LAPD to enforce the closure of businesses and social distancing (gatherings in public places).
"The easiest way to avoid a visit from the City is to follow the rules," Garcetti said. "Where this does not happen, we are ready to deploy these folks, identify businesses that are not doing what they're supposed to, issue initial warnings, and if necessary, share information on recurring noncompliant establishments.” Businesses that don't comply may face misdemeanor charges and may have their water and power shut off.
ABC News reported that Matt Mooney, a former Colorado State Patrol trooper had walked to a local park with his wife and 6-year-old daughter on Sunday to play softball. A local snitch reported folks were gathered in the park, too close to one another. Mooney, 33, said when police officers arrived, they told him and others in the field that the park was closed, and they needed to leave. Mooney said, "We're just having a good time, not near anybody else. The next closest person is at least 15 feet away from me and my daughter at this point," Nevertheless the police handcuffed him in front of his six-year-old daughter and marched him to their patrol car. He was released in 15 minutes and the Police Chief has issued a public apology.
In Pennsylvania Anita Shaffer went for a Sunday drive and came home with a $200 bill for violating the state’s stay-at-home order. The cops said her taillight was out, but the ticket they ended up issuing says she violated the state's Disease Control and Prevention Act of 1955 and "failed to abide by the order of the governor and secretary of health issued to control the spread of a communicable disease." She was alone in her car.
In New York City, where the outbreak is most severe right now, police have been arresting people for violating social distancing orders. The arrests were for "obstructing governmental administration, unlawful assembly, and disorderly conduct". The violators were then sent to packed jails. How much social distancing is there in a crowded jail cell?
Parishioners in Mississippi were issued $500.00 tickets for attending church. Evidently social distance was not being practiced as they were sitting inside their cars listening to the service on the radio.
Michigan’s governor decreed the purchase of automobile baby seats were non-essential along with garden seeds or a can of paint. Also not allowed, taking a motorized boat out, but it is permissible to use a sailboat. What?
Decrees and strategies like these listed and their enforcement, risk the encouragement of civil disobedience, that will create serious social disorder. As in previous posts, the consistent theme of this blog is to recognize the majority of Americans as responsible citizens, not total halfwits.
Is this a new normal that brings us closer to what George Orwell envisioned in his classic 1984 ?
Wonder who’s writing 2084 ?