lewrockwell--2020-03-26--The CDC, NIH, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, AAP, AMA Bill Gates Plan To Abolish the Informed Consent Eth

The CDC, NIH, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, AAP, AMA Bill Gates Plan To Abolish the Informed Consent Ethical Principle and Vaccinate Everybody

To watch the video of Barb ’ s talk , go here .
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are working with a biotech company to quickly start clinical trials of an experimental messenger RNA vaccine and fast track it to licensure .
1 The FDA has not yet licensed messenger RNA vaccines that use part of the RNA of a virus to manipulate the body ’ s immune system into stimulating a potent immune response .
2 3 It looks like the coronavirus vaccine will be the first genetically engineered messenger RNA vaccine to be fast tracked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first genetically engineered virus-like particle vaccine to be fast tracked to licensure .
4 5 There likely will be lots of questions about whether the fast tracked coronavirus vaccine was studied long enough to adequately demonstrate safety , especially for people who have trouble resolving strong inflammatory responses in their bodies and may be at greater risk for vaccine reactions.6 7 8 9 10 However , there is no question about what will happen if the Centers for Disease Control ’ s ( CDC ) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ( ACIP ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the newly licensed coronavirus vaccine .
The government has a National Vaccine Plan .
It is a Plan designed to make sure you , your child and everyone in America gets every dose of every vaccine that government officials recommend now and in the future .
Jabbed : How the Vaccin ... Wilcox , Brett Best Price : $ 13.02 Buy New $ 13.05 Established under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act during the Reagan Administration , 13 the Plan didn ’ t really get traction until Congress funded the Vaccines for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Administration 14 15 and gave the Department of Health and Human Services authority to fund a network of state-based electronic vaccine tracking registries 16 that can monitor the vaccination histories of children without the informed consent of their parents .
In 1995 , then Secretary of Health Donna Shalala used rule-making authority to authorize the Social Security Administration to disclose the social security number of every baby born in the country to state governments without parental consent.17 Federal officials explained that – quote – “ public health program uses of the social security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ limited to , establishing immunization registries ” and that new routine use of social security numbers would help the government operate “ a national network of coordinated statewide immunization registries.
” 18 By 1996 , when Congress established a national Electronic Health Records ( EHR ) system under HIPPA , 19 the stage had been set for a government-operated electronic surveillance system to monitor the personal medical records and vaccination status of all Americans .
20 21 22 23 The justification for this big data grab by the government , which clearly violated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quote – “ protect the public by reducing disease.
” Today , the nationwide federally funded Electronic Health Records system captures the details of every visit you make to a doctor ’ s office , hospital , pharmacy , laboratory or other medical facility ; every medical diagnosis you get ; every drug you have been prescribed and every vaccine you accept or refuse .
Your Electronic Health Record can be accessed not only by government health agencies like the Social Security Administration , Medicaid and federal and state health and law enforcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be shared with authorized third parties such as doctors , health insurance companies , HMOs and other corporations , hospitals , labs , nursing homes and medical researchers .
26 27 28 A new Health Information Exchange 29 30 31 initiative funded by the government will make it even easier for computerized health and vaccine records databases to tag , track down and sanction Americans who do not go along with the National Vaccine Plan in the future .
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 What Happened to the Plan ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Ironically , when Congress directed the Department of Health and Human Services to create a National Vaccine Program in the 1986 Act , federal health officials were told to put together a Plan to – quote – “ achieve optimal prevention of human infectious diseases through immunization and to achieve optimal prevention against adverse reactions to vaccines.
” 39 The Plan was not supposed to focus solely on vaccine development and promotion but to equally focus on preventing vaccine reactions .
Yet , in the very first 1994 National Vaccine Plan only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and only two out of 14 anticipated “ outcomes ” addressed preventing vaccine reactions .
40 The 2010 version of the Plan 41 also largely ignored the legal duty of HHS to conduct vaccine safety research to fill in long standing knowledge gaps and take steps to make vaccines and vaccine policies less likely to cause harm .
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Looking back , it appears Congress was not really committed to funding research and creating substantive initiatives to reduce vaccine risks , regardless of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or there would been congressional oversight and federal agencies would have been directed to follow the law rather than ignore it for more than 30 years .
53 Instead , government agencies have brazenly forged lucrative public private business partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry and the medical establishment to : • raise vaccination rates among children to nearly 100 percent ; 59 • promote global vaccination programs , 65 66 even though the primary purpose of the 1986 Act was to reduce vaccine reactions and protect the U.S. childhood vaccine supply , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ programs .
In fact , federal health officials accurately characterize the U.S. vaccination system in the 21st century as a business .
A decade ago they admitted that – quote – “ The 2010 National Vaccine Plan provides a vision for the U.S. vaccine and immunization enterprise for the next decade.
” 68 That ’ s because they know the National Vaccine Plan is really a Vaccine Marketing Plan for the pharmaceutical industry .
69 70 71 72 So , if you are wondering why many states are trying to pass laws eliminating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pharmaceutical industry produces and the CDC recommends , 73 74 75 76 you don ’ t have to look any further than the government ’ s well-financed National Vaccine Plan .
Implementation of The Plan Accelerated in 2011 Implementation of the Plan was accelerated in 2011 after the U.S. Supreme Court declared FDA licensed vaccines to be –quote – “ unavoidably unsafe ” for the purpose of removing almost all remaining liability from drug companies when vaccines hurt people .
77 78 Since 2011 , two powerful CDC-appointed vaccine advisory committees influenced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical trade industries – the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ( ACIP ) 79 80 81 82 83 and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee ( NVAC ) 84 85 86 – have been busy coming up with new ways to meet strategic goals of the National Vaccine Plan .
When highly publicized cases of measles were reported in California ’ s Disneyland in 2015 87 and in New York in 2019 , 88 89 with military precision pursuit of the Plan was kicked into even high gear .
90 91 During the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York , Maine and Hawaii have lost vaccine exemptions , even though tens of thousands of Americans rose up in protest .
92 In 2019 , the people managed to hold on to exemptions in states like Oregon , Arizona and New Jersey 93 but this year , bills to force vaccine use are already threatening parental , civil and human rights in Virginia , Massachusetts , Florida , Washington , Pennsylvania and more .
94 Five Main Types of Vaccine Laws Being Proposed in States These are the five main types @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and your state may be one of them : Number One : State laws that eliminate all personal belief vaccine exemptions allowing you to follow your conscience or religious beliefs and make it illegal for physicians to grant a medical exemption unless it strictly conforms to very narrow CDC-approved contraindications to vaccination .
National vaccine coverage rates among school children are at 95 percent for core vaccines like polio , pertussis , measles and chickenpox , yet , government health officials are not satisfied .
95 They have narrowed vaccine contraindications so that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ qualifies as a reason for a medical exemption .
96 If you or your child have had previous vaccine reactions , are vaccine injured , have a brother or sister who was injured or died after vaccination , or are suffering with a brain or immune system disorder that the CDC ’ s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ( ACIP ) does not consider to be a contraindication to vaccination , states like California 97 98 are denying physicians the right to exercise professional judgment and give children a medical exemption to vaccination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wonder less than one percent of vaccine reactions are ever reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System 100 and doctors feel free to discriminate against and deny medical care to anyone who is not vaccinated according to CDC schedules .
101 Laws that eliminate medical , religious and conscience exemptions to vaccination and ban citizens from getting a school education – even a college education – do violate civil and human rights and so do vaccine mandates by employers who fire or refuse to hire workers based on their vaccination status @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being targeted first for workplace vaccine mandates are healthcare 105 106 107 and childcare workers , 108 109 but they certainly will not be the last .
110 Number Two : State laws that turn unelected members of the CDC ’ s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices into de facto lawmakers and automatically mandate all current and future federally recommended vaccines without any public discussion or vote by duly elected state legislators .
Under the U.S. Constitution , state legislatures hold the majority of power to pass public health laws , so vaccine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If states hand that constitutional authority over to an unelected federal government committee , the people no longer can work through their elected state representatives to make sure laws do not force involuntary medical risk taking and punish citizens exercising civil and human rights .
113 It is clear that Pharma and medical trade lobbyists partnering with government officials to implement the National Vaccine Plan are unhappy they have to spend so much time and money trying to strong arm state legislators into mandating every CDC recommended vaccine .
At the same time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a growing number of Americans are showing up in state Capitols to oppose oppressive vaccine mandates .
Today , it costs a staggering $ 3,000 to give a child every one of the 69 doses of 16 vaccines on the federal government ’ s schedule .
114 In addition to coronavirus vaccine , there are more than a dozen experimental vaccines being fast tracked to market for TB , influenza , HIV/AIDS , gonorrhea , herpes simplex , strep A and B , e-coli , RSV , salmonella , and malaria , 115 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a global vaccine market estimated to balloon to nearly $ 100 billion by 2026 .
116 117 State laws that automatically mandate all federally recommended vaccines are handing Big Pharma a big blank check and putting an unknown number of vaccine vulnerable children and adults at risk for serious health problems if they are forced to use every one of them .
118 119 120 121 122 Number Three : State laws that allow doctors to declare minor children mentally competent to consent to vaccination so children can be vaccinated without the knowledge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of scientific evidence that children ’ s brains are not developed enough before or during teenage years to support rational benefit and risk decision-making , especially if they are subjected to pressure .
123 124 Giving doctors the legal authority to , in effect , go behind parents ’ backs and persuade a minor child to get liability free vaccines violates the legal right of parents to consent to medical interventions performed on their children .
125 It also puts vaccine vulnerable children at greater risk for suffering reactions .
126 Dissolving Illusions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Best Price : $ 19.24 Buy New $ 17.17 Parents know their child ’ s personal and family medical history best and if parents are left in the dark , not only are they blocked from preventing vaccine reactions but there is no way for them to monitor a child after vaccination for signs of reactions so they can immediately take their child for treatment .
127 Number Four : State laws requiring schools to publicly post vaccine coverage rates for the purpose of shaming schools that allow students with vaccine exemptions to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school vaccination rates and numbers of students with exemptions creates a hostile community environment by targeting certain schools and families , whose children have vaccine exemptions , for discrimination and abuse .
128 129 130 It is an illusion that some schools are safer based on vaccination rates .
For example , even schools with 100 percent vaccination rates and zero exemptions have had outbreaks of pertussis 131 and schools with very high vaccination rates have had outbreaks of measles and mumps .
132 133 That is because vaccinated children and adults can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but sometimes show few or no symptoms and are never diagnosed or reported .
134 135 136 137 138 139 140 Children and teachers interact with many other vaccinated and unvaccinated people outside of the school setting .
It is discriminatory to require public posting of the numbers of healthy students with vaccine exemptions , when schools are not required to publicly post the numbers of students who are infected with transmissible diseases like hepatitis B and C , HIV , streptococcal , mononucleosis , cytomegalovirus , e-coli , Fifths disease , herpes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State laws that operate vaccine tracking registries and integrate them into Electronic Health Records systems without the consent of those being tracked .
The National Vaccine Information Center has a two-decade public record of opposing the creation of national or state based electronic surveillance systems that automatically enroll children and adults without their informed consent to monitor their vaccination status and health histories .
141 Not only have there been past security breaches with electronic databases dumping personally identifying information into the public domain , 142 but there is legitimate concern that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on citizens while pursuing a National Vaccine Plan that encourages punitive societal sanctions , such as the inability to get a school education or a job , for individuals who refuse to go along with the Plan .
Learn About Federal & State Government Police Powers to Compel Vaccine Use For more information on the history and types of public health laws that allow the federal government and states to use police powers to compel vaccine use , go to NVIC ’ s website at NVIC.org .
143 144 To learn more about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talking points you can use to educate your legislators , go to NVIC Advocacy.org and become a user of NVIC ’ s free online Advocacy Portal .
You will be put into direct contact with your own state and federal representatives and sent emails when bills that threaten or expand your freedom to make voluntary vaccine choices are moving in your state so you can make your voice heard , including showing up at scheduled public hearings .
In America , we are governed by laws that the representatives we elect make , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidates for positions on issues you care about before going to the polls .
Good laws can be enacted and bad laws can be repealed but only if we wake up , stand up and actively participate to make our representative government work for us .
Already this year , there have been more than 50 good bills introduced in a number of states that defend voluntary vaccine choices .
This is a time for positive action .
It ’ s your health .
Your family .
Your choice .
Note : This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a topic related to vaccine science , policy , law or ethics being discussed in public forums and by U.S. lawmakers .
The websites of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ( DHHS ) provide information and perspective of federal agencies responsible for vaccine research , development , regulation and policymaking .

To watch the video of Barb’s talk, go here.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are working with a biotech company to quickly start clinical trials of an experimental messenger RNA vaccine and fast track it to licensure. 1 The FDA has not yet licensed messenger RNA vaccines that use part of the RNA of a virus to manipulate the body’s immune system into stimulating a potent immune response. 2 3 It looks like the coronavirus vaccine will be the first genetically engineered messenger RNA vaccine to be fast tracked to licensure, just like Gardasil was the first genetically engineered virus-like particle vaccine to be fast tracked to licensure. 4 5
There likely will be lots of questions about whether the fast tracked coronavirus vaccine was studied long enough to adequately demonstrate safety, especially for people who have trouble resolving strong inflammatory responses in their bodies and may be at greater risk for vaccine reactions.6 7 8 9 10 However, there is no question about what will happen if the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) 11 12 recommends that all Americans get the newly licensed coronavirus vaccine.
The government has a National Vaccine Plan. It is a Plan designed to make sure you, your child and everyone in America gets every dose of every vaccine that government officials recommend now and in the future. Jabbed: How the Vaccin... Wilcox, Brett Best Price: $13.02 Buy New $13.05 (as of 03:50 UTC - Details)
1986-1996: Establishing & Creating the Plan
Established under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act during the Reagan Administration, 13 the Plan didn’t really get traction until Congress funded the Vaccines for Children program in 1993 under the Clinton Administration 14 15 and gave the Department of Health and Human Services authority to fund a network of state-based electronic vaccine tracking registries 16 that can monitor the vaccination histories of children without the informed consent of their parents.
In 1995, then Secretary of Health Donna Shalala used rule-making authority to authorize the Social Security Administration to disclose the social security number of every baby born in the country to state governments without parental consent.17 Federal officials explained that – quote – “public health program uses of the social security numbers would include, but are not limited to, establishing immunization registries” and that new routine use of social security numbers would help the government operate “a national network of coordinated statewide immunization registries.” 18
By 1996, when Congress established a national Electronic Health Records (EHR) system under HIPPA, 19 the stage had been set for a government-operated electronic surveillance system to monitor the personal medical records and vaccination status of all Americans. 20 21 22 23 The justification for this big data grab by the government, which clearly violated the privacy of Americans, was to– quote – “protect the public by reducing disease.”
Nationwide Electronic Health Records & Vaccine Tracking Systems
Today, the nationwide federally funded Electronic Health Records system captures the details of every visit you make to a doctor’s office, hospital, pharmacy, laboratory or other medical facility; every medical diagnosis you get; every drug you have been prescribed and every vaccine you accept or refuse. Your Electronic Health Record can be accessed not only by government health agencies like the Social Security Administration, Medicaid and federal and state health and law enforcement agencies, 24 25 but also can be shared with authorized third parties such as doctors, health insurance companies, HMOs and other corporations, hospitals, labs, nursing homes and medical researchers. 26 27 28
A new Health Information Exchange 29 30 31 initiative funded by the government will make it even easier for computerized health and vaccine records databases to tag, track down and sanction Americans who do not go along with the National Vaccine Plan in the future. 32 33 34 35 36 37 38
What Happened to the Plan’s Duty to Prevent Adverse Reactions to Vaccines?
Ironically, when Congress directed the Department of Health and Human Services to create a National Vaccine Program in the 1986 Act, federal health officials were told to put together a Plan to – quote – “achieve optimal prevention of human infectious diseases through immunization and to achieve optimal prevention against adverse reactions to vaccines.” 39 The Plan was not supposed to focus solely on vaccine development and promotion but to equally focus on preventing vaccine reactions.
Yet, in the very first 1994 National Vaccine Plan only four out of 25 “objectives” and only two out of 14 anticipated “outcomes” addressed preventing vaccine reactions. 40 The 2010 version of the Plan 41 also largely ignored the legal duty of HHS to conduct vaccine safety research to fill in long standing knowledge gaps and take steps to make vaccines and vaccine policies less likely to cause harm. 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
Looking back, it appears Congress was not really committed to funding research and creating substantive initiatives to reduce vaccine risks, regardless of what was stated in the 1986 Act, or there would been congressional oversight and federal agencies would have been directed to follow the law rather than ignore it for more than 30 years. 53
Government’s Vaccine Marketing Plan for the Pharmaceutical Industry
Instead, government agencies have brazenly forged lucrative public private business partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry and the medical establishment to:
develop many new vaccines; 54 55 56 57
increase public demand for vaccines; 58
raise vaccination rates among children to nearly 100 percent; 59
create and expand electronic vaccine tracking registries; 60 61 62 63 64 and
promote global vaccination programs, 65 66 even though the primary purpose of the 1986 Act was to reduce vaccine reactions and protect the U.S. childhood vaccine supply, 67 not fund and expand global vaccination programs.
In fact, federal health officials accurately characterize the U.S. vaccination system in the 21st century as a business. A decade ago they admitted that – quote –“The 2010 National Vaccine Plan provides a vision for the U.S. vaccine and immunization enterprise for the next decade.” 68 That’s because they know the National Vaccine Plan is really a Vaccine Marketing Plan for the pharmaceutical industry. 69 70 71 72
So, if you are wondering why many states are trying to pass laws eliminating all vaccine exemptions and mandate every vaccine the pharmaceutical industry produces and the CDC recommends, 73 74 75 76 you don’t have to look any further than the government’s well-financed National Vaccine Plan.
Implementation of The Plan Accelerated in 2011
Implementation of the Plan was accelerated in 2011 after the U.S. Supreme Court declared FDA licensed vaccines to be –quote – “unavoidably unsafe” for the purpose of removing almost all remaining liability from drug companies when vaccines hurt people. 77 78
Since 2011, two powerful CDC-appointed vaccine advisory committees influenced by members associated with the pharmaceutical and medical trade industries – the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) 79 80 81 82 83 and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) 84 85 86 – have been busy coming up with new ways to meet strategic goals of the National Vaccine Plan.
When highly publicized cases of measles were reported in California’s Disneyland in 2015 87 and in New York in 2019, 88 89 with military precision pursuit of the Plan was kicked into even high gear. 90 91
During the past five years, California, Vermont, New York, Maine and Hawaii have lost vaccine exemptions, even though tens of thousands of Americans rose up in protest. 92 In 2019, the people managed to hold on to exemptions in states like Oregon, Arizona and New Jersey 93 but this year, bills to force vaccine use are already threatening parental, civil and human rights in Virginia, Massachusetts, Florida, Washington, Pennsylvania and more. 94
Five Main Types of Vaccine Laws Being Proposed in States
These are the five main types of laws being proposed in the states and your state may be one of them:
Number One: State laws that eliminate all personal belief vaccine exemptions allowing you to follow your conscience or religious beliefs and make it illegal for physicians to grant a medical exemption unless it strictly conforms to very narrow CDC-approved contraindications to vaccination.
National vaccine coverage rates among school children are at 95 percent for core vaccines like polio, pertussis, measles and chickenpox, yet, government health officials are not satisfied. 95 They have narrowed vaccine contraindications so that almost no medical history or health condition qualifies as a reason for a medical exemption. 96
If you or your child have had previous vaccine reactions, are vaccine injured, have a brother or sister who was injured or died after vaccination, or are suffering with a brain or immune system disorder that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) does not consider to be a contraindication to vaccination, states like California 97 98 are denying physicians the right to exercise professional judgment and give children a medical exemption to vaccination are threatening human rights. 99
No wonder less than one percent of vaccine reactions are ever reported to the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System 100 and doctors feel free to discriminate against and deny medical care to anyone who is not vaccinated according to CDC schedules. 101
Laws that eliminate medical, religious and conscience exemptions to vaccination and ban citizens from getting a school education – even a college education – do violate civil and human rights and so do vaccine mandates by employers who fire or refuse to hire workers based on their vaccination status. 102 103 104 The two professions being targeted first for workplace vaccine mandates are healthcare 105 106 107 and childcare workers, 108 109 but they certainly will not be the last. 110
Number Two: State laws that turn unelected members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices into de facto lawmakers and automatically mandate all current and future federally recommended vaccines without any public discussion or vote by duly elected state legislators.
Under the U.S. Constitution, state legislatures hold the majority of power to pass public health laws, so vaccine laws are state laws. 111 112 If states hand that constitutional authority over to an unelected federal government committee, the people no longer can work through their elected state representatives to make sure laws do not force involuntary medical risk taking and punish citizens exercising civil and human rights. 113
It is clear that Pharma and medical trade lobbyists partnering with government officials to implement the National Vaccine Plan are unhappy they have to spend so much time and money trying to strong arm state legislators into mandating every CDC recommended vaccine. At the same time, some politicians are not happy that a growing number of Americans are showing up in state Capitols to oppose oppressive vaccine mandates.
Today, it costs a staggering $3,000 to give a child every one of the 69 doses of 16 vaccines on the federal government’s schedule. 114 In addition to coronavirus vaccine, there are more than a dozen experimental vaccines being fast tracked to market for TB, influenza, HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea, herpes simplex, strep A and B, e-coli, RSV, salmonella, and malaria, 115 with several hundred more being developed in a global vaccine market estimated to balloon to nearly $100 billion by 2026. 116 117
State laws that automatically mandate all federally recommended vaccines are handing Big Pharma a big blank check and putting an unknown number of vaccine vulnerable children and adults at risk for serious health problems if they are forced to use every one of them. 118 119 120 121 122
Number Three: State laws that allow doctors to declare minor children mentally competent to consent to vaccination so children can be vaccinated without the knowledge of their parents.
There is plenty of scientific evidence that children’s brains are not developed enough before or during teenage years to support rational benefit and risk decision-making, especially if they are subjected to pressure. 123 124 Giving doctors the legal authority to, in effect, go behind parents’ backs and persuade a minor child to get liability free vaccines violates the legal right of parents to consent to medical interventions performed on their children. 125 It also puts vaccine vulnerable children at greater risk for suffering reactions. 126
Dissolving Illusions: ... Bystrianyk, Roman Best Price: $38.50 Buy New $21.60 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details) Parents know their child’s personal and family medical history best and if parents are left in the dark, not only are they blocked from preventing vaccine reactions but there is no way for them to monitor a child after vaccination for signs of reactions so they can immediately take their child for treatment. 127
Number Four: State laws requiring schools to publicly post vaccine coverage rates for the purpose of shaming schools that allow students with vaccine exemptions to receive a school education.
Publicly posting school vaccination rates and numbers of students with exemptions creates a hostile community environment by targeting certain schools and families, whose children have vaccine exemptions, for discrimination and abuse. 128 129 130
It is an illusion that some schools are safer based on vaccination rates. For example, even schools with 100 percent vaccination rates and zero exemptions have had outbreaks of pertussis 131 and schools with very high vaccination rates have had outbreaks of measles and mumps. 132 133 That is because vaccinated children and adults can get infected with and transmit infectious diseases but sometimes show few or no symptoms and are never diagnosed or reported. 134 135 136 137 138 139 140
Children and teachers interact with many other vaccinated and unvaccinated people outside of the school setting. It is discriminatory to require public posting of the numbers of healthy students with vaccine exemptions, when schools are not required to publicly post the numbers of students who are infected with transmissible diseases like hepatitis B and C, HIV, streptococcal, mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus, e-coli, Fifths disease, herpes simplex and more.
Number Five: State laws that operate vaccine tracking registries and integrate them into Electronic Health Records systems without the consent of those being tracked.
The National Vaccine Information Center has a two-decade public record of opposing the creation of national or state based electronic surveillance systems that automatically enroll children and adults without their informed consent to monitor their vaccination status and health histories. 141
Not only have there been past security breaches with electronic databases dumping personally identifying information into the public domain, 142 but there is legitimate concern that the government should not be conducting electronic surveillance on citizens while pursuing a National Vaccine Plan that encourages punitive societal sanctions, such as the inability to get a school education or a job, for individuals who refuse to go along with the Plan.
Learn About Federal & State Government Police Powers to Compel Vaccine Use
For more information on the history and types of public health laws that allow the federal government and states to use police powers to compel vaccine use, go to NVIC’s website at NVIC.org. 143 144
To learn more about vaccine legislation pending in your state and talking points you can use to educate your legislators, go to NVIC Advocacy.org and become a user of NVIC’s free online Advocacy Portal. You will be put into direct contact with your own state and federal representatives and sent emails when bills that threaten or expand your freedom to make voluntary vaccine choices are moving in your state so you can make your voice heard, including showing up at scheduled public hearings.
Making Government Work for Us
In America, we are governed by laws that the representatives we elect make, so it is important to vet all candidates for positions on issues you care about before going to the polls. Good laws can be enacted and bad laws can be repealed but only if we wake up, stand up and actively participate to make our representative government work for us.
Already this year, there have been more than 50 good bills introduced in a number of states that defend voluntary vaccine choices. This is a time for positive action.
It’s your health. Your family. Your choice.
Note: This commentary provides referenced information and perspective on a topic related to vaccine science, policy, law or ethics being discussed in public forums and by U.S. lawmakers. The websites of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provide information and perspective of federal agencies responsible for vaccine research, development, regulation and policymaking.
National Vaccine Information Center


lewrockwell--2020-03-26--Decadent Like the Late Roman Empire, the West Is Committing Suicide Through Its Irrational Response

Decadent Like the Late Roman Empire, the West Is Committing Suicide Through Its Irrational Response to Covid-19

By Dr. Luboš Motl , Czech theoretical physicist , who was an assistant professor at Harvard University from 2004 to 2007 .
He writes a science and politics blog called The Reference Frame Many think Covid-19 is some kind of alien invasion that spells the end of the world .
But the real threat to us is a much deadlier virus : a hatred of all the values that have underpinned our civilisation for centuries .
For years , I was puzzled as to why the Roman Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by communities that were uncivilized by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s progress reverse in this way ?
Recent experience has eliminated the mystery .
No special devastating event was needed ; the cause of Rome ’ s demise was simply the loss of its people ’ s desire to support their ‘ empire ’ and its underlying values .
And as it was 1,500 years or so ago , so I fear it is now .
The Covid-19 crisis – specifically , the reaction to it – demonstrates that people have grown bored , detached , and easily impressionable by things that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their society .
We are all – or too many of us – fin de siècle Romans now .
Gloves Latex Free , Glo ... Buy New $ 14.89 ( $ 14.89 / Count ) A large number of Westerners are happy to accept the suicidal shutting down of their economies to try to halt a virus that predominantly causes old and sick people to die just a few weeks or months before they would have anyway .
Just as they enthusiastically endorse proclamations such as that there are 46 sexes , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a cow must be reduced to save a polar bear ; that millions of migrants from the Third World must be invited to Europe and assumed to be neurosurgeons ; and so on .
The widespread opinion that everything , including economies , must be sacrificed to beat coronavirus is a revival of medieval witch hunts ; the sacrifice seems more important than finding an effective method to deal with the problem .
Our increasingly decadent mass culture has gradually become more ideological and openly opposed to the values Western civilization is based @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being ‘ counter-culture ’ and independent , it ’ s acquired a monopoly over almost all the information channels that determine opinions , including mainstream media and political parties .
Our leaders have become sucked into this group-thinking and happily institute policies that unleash shutdowns that may cause the worst recession in history .
Thousands of businesses are closing and long-term prospects are bleak .
Governments are stepping in to pay wages and fund other services .
As tax revenue will be virtually non-existent , public debt will soar .
Some governments may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ printing money , causing soaring inflation .
These countries may be unable to fund healthcare , their police or their military , and be so weakened they will be invaded by others and be erased from the world map .
That may be a worst-case scenario , but it ’ s almost certain that the impact of the shutdowns will be a recession comparable to the Great Depression .
Yet what do most Western citizens make of it ?
Well , they are either unaware , uncaring , or they ’ re happy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seem to appreciate the consequent dangers .
Instead , they are more obsessed with the latest celebrity who ’ s caught the virus .
The consumers of this mass culture haven ’ t built anything like what our ancestors did – enlightenment , the theory of relativity , parliamentary democracy , industrialisation , major advances in philosophy , science , literature and engineering .
They don ’ t have to defend any real values against a tangible enemy , because hiding in a herd with uniform group-think is good enough for them .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; they had to work hard , produce enough to survive , fight enemies , and defend what they ’ d inherited .
Numerous lasting values emerged from those efforts .
The current generations of Westerners are good only at producing and escalating irrationality and panic .
If a two-month lockdown isn ’ t deemed enough to contain the virus , they ’ re happy to extend it to six months , if not years .
China decided to impose strict policies , but they were assertive enough to be relatively short-lived ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last for a much longer time .
That ’ s clearly an irrational approach ; instead of ‘ flattening a curve ’ , rational leaders ( like Beijing ’ s ) try to turn the curve into a cliff .
The faster you eliminate the virus , the cheaper it is .
This support for economically suicidal policies didn ’ t start with Covid-19 .
Westerners have spent recent decades amid a prosperity in which they took material wealth and good healthcare for granted .
They forgot what hunger ( and , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They got used to demanding ever deeper ‘ entitlements ’ , such as the ‘ right not to be offended ’ .
10PCS Disposable Mask ... Buy New $ 9.99 Activists sensationalised smaller and more implausible threats and demanded that governments mitigated them .
In particular , the climate change movement advocated that the 1-2 °C of warming caused by CO2 emissions in a century was equivalent to an armageddon that had to be avoided , whatever the cost .
In this context , it could be expected that the first ‘ real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease is certainly one – would make people fearful .
Because if people were led to believe that 1-2 °C of warming was basically the end of the world , is it surprising that they ’ re absolutely terrified of a new disease that has the potential to kill a few million old and sick people ?
The existential threat posed by coronavirus – or at least , our irrationality towards it – is greater than the climate threat ( though still very small ) .
Westerners who haven ’ t seen any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ developed a condition – termed “ affluenflammation ” by the American musician Remy – which is a pathological habit of inflating negligible threats .
When this inflation of feelings is applied to a real threat , namely a pandemic , they lose their composure .
The context of Covid-19 , where every death is presented with horror , makes it clear that ‘ immortality ’ is just another ‘ human right ’ .
This wisdom says that our leaders are failing because they can not defend this so-called right .
But this excessive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ problem .
Many Westerners actively want to harm their economies , corporations , rich people , and governments , because they don ’ t feel any attachment to or responsibility for them .
They take security and prosperity for granted .
Their money and food arrive from ‘ somewhere ’ , and they don ’ t care about the source .
And they believe that the structures which allow them to survive – the governments , banks , and so on – are ‘ evil ’ .
Some are just financially illiterate .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and rejoice in demanding that trillions be sacrificed in order to infinitesimally increase the probability that a 90-year-old will avoid infection and live a little bit longer .
They don ’ t accept their dependence on society and the system at all .
They don ’ t realise that their moral values , their ‘ human rights ’ , are only available if paid for by prosperous societies .
I have used some dramatic prose , so let me be clear : the scenario I ’ ve outlined – ending in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and I hope and believe it will be .
I know some who are willing to fight for its survival .
50 Disposable Face Mas ... Buy New $ 18.87 ( $ 171.55 / Fl Oz ) But even if this acceleration towards shutdowns is reversed and countries restore their pre-virus businesses , our world won ’ t be the same .
Many people will conclude that the crisis was exciting , and try to kickstart a repetition .
The curfew is likely to reduce CO2 emissions this year , so climate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the future .
Terrorists may deploy some new disease – which , after all , is likely to be more effective than any stabbing or bombing .
It ’ s conceivable that the West ’ s brush with mortality will lead people to regain some common sense and survival instincts .
Perhaps several nations going bankrupt will be a wake-up call .
Maybe people will realise that the reaction to the coronavirus was disproportionate .
But even if that is so , I ’ m afraid it won ’ t be enough .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ relationship of Westerners to the roots of their civilization will be still missing – and that this is a virus that poses a much more fundamental existential threat than Covid-19 .
The statements , views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT .

By Dr. Luboš Motl, Czech theoretical physicist, who was an assistant professor at Harvard University from 2004 to 2007. He writes a science and politics blog called The Reference Frame
Many think Covid-19 is some kind of alien invasion that spells the end of the world. But the real threat to us is a much deadlier virus: a hatred of all the values that have underpinned our civilisation for centuries.
For years, I was puzzled as to why the Roman Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by communities that were uncivilized by comparison. How and why could mankind’s progress reverse in this way? Recent experience has eliminated the mystery. No special devastating event was needed; the cause of Rome’s demise was simply the loss of its people’s desire to support their ‘empire’ and its underlying values. And as it was 1,500 years or so ago, so I fear it is now.
The Covid-19 crisis – specifically, the reaction to it – demonstrates that people have grown bored, detached, and easily impressionable by things that have nothing to do with the roots of their society. We are all – or too many of us – fin de siècle Romans now.
Gloves Latex Free, Glo... Buy New $14.89 ($14.89 / Count) (as of 11:56 UTC - Details) A large number of Westerners are happy to accept the suicidal shutting down of their economies to try to halt a virus that predominantly causes old and sick people to die just a few weeks or months before they would have anyway. Just as they enthusiastically endorse proclamations such as that there are 46 sexes, not two; that the flatulence of a cow must be reduced to save a polar bear; that millions of migrants from the Third World must be invited to Europe and assumed to be neurosurgeons; and so on.
The widespread opinion that everything, including economies, must be sacrificed to beat coronavirus is a revival of medieval witch hunts; the sacrifice seems more important than finding an effective method to deal with the problem.
Our increasingly decadent mass culture has gradually become more ideological and openly opposed to the values Western civilization is based upon. And while it boasts of being ‘counter-culture’ and independent, it’s acquired a monopoly over almost all the information channels that determine opinions, including mainstream media and political parties.
Our leaders have become sucked into this group-thinking and happily institute policies that unleash shutdowns that may cause the worst recession in history. Thousands of businesses are closing and long-term prospects are bleak.
Governments are stepping in to pay wages and fund other services. As tax revenue will be virtually non-existent, public debt will soar. Some governments may default on their debts or resort to printing money, causing soaring inflation. These countries may be unable to fund healthcare, their police or their military, and be so weakened they will be invaded by others and be erased from the world map.
That may be a worst-case scenario, but it’s almost certain that the impact of the shutdowns will be a recession comparable to the Great Depression. Yet what do most Western citizens make of it? Well, they are either unaware, uncaring, or they’re happy about it. They don’t seem to appreciate the consequent dangers. Instead, they are more obsessed with the latest celebrity who’s caught the virus.
The consumers of this mass culture haven’t built anything like what our ancestors did – enlightenment, the theory of relativity, parliamentary democracy, industrialisation, major advances in philosophy, science, literature and engineering. They don’t have to defend any real values against a tangible enemy, because hiding in a herd with uniform group-think is good enough for them.
Our ancestors had difficult, short lives; they had to work hard, produce enough to survive, fight enemies, and defend what they’d inherited. Numerous lasting values emerged from those efforts. The current generations of Westerners are good only at producing and escalating irrationality and panic.
If a two-month lockdown isn’t deemed enough to contain the virus, they’re happy to extend it to six months, if not years. China decided to impose strict policies, but they were assertive enough to be relatively short-lived; many Westerners want less perfect policies to last for a much longer time. That’s clearly an irrational approach; instead of ‘flattening a curve’, rational leaders (like Beijing’s) try to turn the curve into a cliff. The faster you eliminate the virus, the cheaper it is.
Immortality as an entitlement
This support for economically suicidal policies didn’t start with Covid-19. Westerners have spent recent decades amid a prosperity in which they took material wealth and good healthcare for granted. They forgot what hunger (and, in most cases, unemployment) meant. They got used to demanding ever deeper ‘entitlements’, such as the ‘right not to be offended’. 10PCS Disposable Mask ... Buy New $9.99 (as of 11:41 UTC - Details)
Activists sensationalised smaller and more implausible threats and demanded that governments mitigated them. In particular, the climate change movement advocated that the 1-2 °C of warming caused by CO2 emissions in a century was equivalent to an armageddon that had to be avoided, whatever the cost.
In this context, it could be expected that the first ‘real challenge’ – and a new flu-like disease is certainly one – would make people fearful. Because if people were led to believe that 1-2 °C of warming was basically the end of the world, is it surprising that they’re absolutely terrified of a new disease that has the potential to kill a few million old and sick people?
The existential threat posed by coronavirus – or at least, our irrationality towards it – is greater than the climate threat (though still very small). Westerners who haven’t seen any real threats for a long time have developed a condition – termed “affluenflammation” by the American musician Remy – which is a pathological habit of inflating negligible threats. When this inflation of feelings is applied to a real threat, namely a pandemic, they lose their composure.
The context of Covid-19, where every death is presented with horror, makes it clear that ‘immortality’ is just another ‘human right’. This wisdom says that our leaders are failing because they cannot defend this so-called right. But this excessive sensitivity is just one part of the problem.
Many Westerners actively want to harm their economies, corporations, rich people, and governments, because they don’t feel any attachment to or responsibility for them. They take security and prosperity for granted. Their money and food arrive from ‘somewhere’, and they don’t care about the source.
And they believe that the structures which allow them to survive – the governments, banks, and so on – are ‘evil’. Some are just financially illiterate. But others know what they are saying, and rejoice in demanding that trillions be sacrificed in order to infinitesimally increase the probability that a 90-year-old will avoid infection and live a little bit longer. They don’t accept their dependence on society and the system at all. They don’t realise that their moral values, their ‘human rights’, are only available if paid for by prosperous societies.
I have used some dramatic prose, so let me be clear: the scenario I’ve outlined – ending in the suicide of the West – is avoidable, and I hope and believe it will be. I know some who are willing to fight for its survival. 50 Disposable Face Mas... Buy New $18.87 ($171.55 / Fl Oz) (as of 04:55 UTC - Details)
But even if this acceleration towards shutdowns is reversed and countries restore their pre-virus businesses, our world won’t be the same. Many people will conclude that the crisis was exciting, and try to kickstart a repetition. The curfew is likely to reduce CO2 emissions this year, so climate activists may try for similar results in the future. Terrorists may deploy some new disease – which, after all, is likely to be more effective than any stabbing or bombing.
It’s conceivable that the West’s brush with mortality will lead people to regain some common sense and survival instincts. Perhaps several nations going bankrupt will be a wake-up call. Maybe people will realise that the reaction to the coronavirus was disproportionate. But even if that is so, I’m afraid it won’t be enough.
We need to accept that the positive relationship of Westerners to the roots of their civilization will be still missing – and that this is a virus that poses a much more fundamental existential threat than Covid-19.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.


lewrockwell--2020-03-26--Suspending the Constitution: the Police State Uses Crises To Expand Its Lockdown Powers

You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis , legitimate or manufactured .
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception .
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties , but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts , medical intervention , protection and sustenance .
Unless we find some way to rein in the government ’ s power grabs , the fall-out will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for years—government overreach , invasive surveillance , martial law , abuse of powers , militarized police , weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry , and so on—has coalesced into this present moment .
Battlefield America : T ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 10.95 Buy New $ 18.80 The government ’ s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding .
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shadow government , a.k.a .
the Deep State—has been anticipating this moment for years , quietly assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment ’ s notice .
It should surprise no one , then , that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “ other ” emergencies .
It ’ s that “ other ” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by action , I mean a loud and vocal , apolitical , nonpartisan outcry and sustained , apolitical , nonpartisan resistance ) .
In fact , the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution .
We ’ re talking about lockdown powers ( at both the federal and state level ) : the ability to suspend the Constitution , indefinitely detain American citizens , bypass the courts , quarantine whole communities or segments of the population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people , shut down entire industries and manipulate the economy , muzzle dissidents , “ stop and seize any plane , train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease , ” reshape financial markets , create a digital currency ( and thus further restrict the use of cash ) , determine who should live or die… You ’ re getting the picture now , right ?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent .
Specifically , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detain American citizens without trial .
The DOJ also wants to be able to pause court proceedings and suspend the statute of limitations on criminal and civil cases .
Both signify a clear violation of every right espoused in the Constitution , including habeas corpus .
Habeas corpus , a fundamental tenet of English common law that guards against arbitrary and lawless state action , does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights .
Its importance was such that it was enshrined in the Constitution itself .
And it is of such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those in the Bill of Rights , are dependent upon it .
Without habeas corpus , the significance of all other rights crumbles .
The right of habeas corpus was important to the Framers of the Constitution because they knew from personal experience what it was like to be labeled enemy combatants , imprisoned indefinitely and not given the opportunity to appear before a neutral judge .
Believing that such arbitrary imprisonment is “ in all ages , the favorite and most formidable instrument of tyranny , ” the Founders were all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government abuses .
Translated as “ you should have the body , ” habeas corpus is a legal action , or writ , by which those imprisoned unlawfully can seek relief from their imprisonment .
Derived from English common law , habeas corpus first appeared in the Magna Carta of 1215 and is the oldest human right in the history of English-speaking civilization .
The doctrine of habeas corpus stems from the requirement that a government must either charge a person or let him go free .
While serving as President , Thomas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corpus .
In his first inaugural address on March 4 , 1801 , Jefferson said , “ I know , indeed , that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong ; that this government is not strong enough.
” But , said Jefferson , our nation was “ the world ’ s best hope ” and , because of our strong commitment to democracy , “ the strongest government on earth.
” Jefferson said that the sum of this basic belief was found in the “ freedom of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corpus ; and trial by juries impartially selected .
These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us , and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.
” Throughout the twentieth century , the importance of the right of habeas corpus has repeatedly been confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court .
Yet 200-plus years after America ’ s founders risked their lives to secure their freedoms , we find ourselves right back where we started , with a government determined to strip us of every vestige of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ request to Congress is merely a signal that the police state is ready to step out of the shadows , with the current national emergency being a convenient cover for their dastardly deeds .
Bear in mind , however , that these powers the Trump Administration , acting on orders from the police state , are officially asking Congress to recognize and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself .
Unofficially , the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress , the courts or the citizenry .
As David C. Unger , observes in The Emergency State : America ’ s Pursuit of Absolute Security at All Costs : This rise of an “ emergency state ” that justifies all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security is all happening according to schedule .
The civil unrest , the national emergencies , “ unforeseen economic collapse , loss of functioning political and legal order , purposeful domestic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergencies , and catastrophic natural and human disasters , ” the government ’ s reliance on the armed forces to solve domestic political and social problems , the implicit declaration of martial law packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation ’ s security : the powers-that-be have been planning and preparing for such a crisis for years now , not just with active shooter drills and lockdowns and checkpoints and heightened danger alerts , but with a sensory overload of militarized , battlefield images—in video games , in movies , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a police state .
Whether or not this particular crisis is of the government ’ s own making is not the point : to those for whom power and profit are everything , the end always justifies the means .
The seeds of this present madness were sown several decades ago when George W. Bush stealthily issued two presidential directives that granted the president the power to unilaterally declare a national emergency , which is loosely defined as “ any incident , regardless of location , that results in extraordinary levels of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ severely affecting the U.S. population , infrastructure , environment , economy , or government functions.
“ Comprising the country ’ s Continuity of Government ( COG ) plan , these directives ( National Security Presidential Directive 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 ) , which do not need congressional approval , provide a skeletal outline of the actions the president will take in the event of a “ national emergency.
” Mind you , that national emergency can take any form , can be manipulated for any purpose and can be used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say so of the president .
Just what sort of actions the president will take once he declares a national emergency can barely be discerned from the barebones directives .
However , one thing is clear : in the event of a national emergency , the president will become a dictator because while the COG directives ensure the continuity of executive branch functions , they do not provide for repopulating or reconvening Congress or the Supreme Court .
Thus , a debilitating attack would give unchecked executive , legislative and judicial power to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The country would then be subjected to martial law by default , and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would be suspended .
Originally devised as a plan for quickly restoring constitutional government , the COG concept arose during the Cold War .
The fear was that a nuclear strike would paralyze the federal government .
These concerns continued into the 1980s .
A Government of Wolves ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 1.16 Buy New $ 2.99 Under President Ronald Reagan , an elaborate plan was created in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ member , an executive chief of staff and military and intelligence officials would practice evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against the Soviet Union from a variety of high-tech , mobile command vehicles .
If the president and vice president were both killed , one of these teams would take control , with the ranking cabinet official serving as president .
Among those Reagan handpicked to advise an inexperienced and potentially incompetent successor in a time of crisis were Congressman Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld , then a business executive with G. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a year during the 1980s , Cheney and Rumsfeld vanished on top-secret training missions , where each of the teams practiced evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against Russia .
This all changed after the attacks of September 11 , 2001 , when it became clear that the assumptions that drove COG planning during the Cold War no longer applied : there would be no warning against a so-called “ terrorist ” attack .
Thus , instead of relying on part-time bureaucrats and evacuation schematics , the Bush administration permanently appointed executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to run a shadow government .
The U.S. military has reportedly already been given standby orders under COG for this present coronavirus pandemic .
The plans for the shadow government administered by those who run the Deep State are more elaborate than many realize .
Massive underground bunkers the size of small cities are sprinkled throughout the country for the government elite to escape to in the event of a national emergency .
Mount Weather , near Bluemont , Va. , is one of a number of such facilities .
Built into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contains , among other things , a hospital , crematorium , dining and recreation areas , sleeping quarters , reservoirs of drinking and cooling water , an emergency power plant and a radio/television studio .
There is also an Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather , which regularly receives top-secret national security information from all the federal departments and agencies .
This facility was largely unknown to everyone , including Congress , until it came to light in the mid-1970s .
Military personnel connected to the bunker have refused to reveal any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committees .
In fact , Congress has no oversight , budgetary or otherwise , on Mount Weather , and the specifics of the facility remain top-secret .
What is the bottom line here ?
We are , for all intents and purposes , one crisis away from having a full-fledged authoritarian state emerge from the shadows , at which time democratic government will be dissolved and the country will be ruled by an unelected bureaucracy .
This is exactly the kind of mischief that Thomas Jefferson warned against when he cautioned , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ let no more be heard of confidence in man , but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
” Thus far , we have at least pretended that the government abides by the Constitution .
Those who wrote our Constitution sought to ensure our freedoms by creating a document that protects our God-given rights at all times , even when we are engaged in war , whether that is a so-called war on terrorism , a so-called war on drugs , a so-called war on illegal immigration , or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attempts by each successive presidential administration to rule by fiat merely plays into the hands of those who would distort the government ’ s system of checks and balances and its constitutional separation of powers beyond all recognition .
Remember , these powers do not expire at the end of a president ’ s term .
They remain on the books , just waiting to be used or abused by the next political demagogue .
So , too , every action taken by Trump and his predecessors to weaken the system of checks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law , and expand the power of the executive branch of government has made us that much more vulnerable to those who would abuse those powers in the future .
Although the Constitution invests the President with very specific , limited powers , in recent years , American presidents ( Trump , Obama , Bush , Clinton , etc . )
have claimed the power to completely and almost unilaterally alter the landscape of this country for good or for ill .
The Trump Administration ’ s willingness to circumvent the Constitution by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so-called emergency powers constitutes a gross perversion of what limited power the Constitution affords the executive branch .
The powers amassed by each successive president through the negligence of Congress and the courts—powers which add up to a toolbox of terror for an imperial ruler—empower whomever occupies the Oval Office to act as a dictator , above the law and beyond any real accountability .
As law professor William P. Marshall explains , “ every extraordinary use of power by one President expands the availability of executive branch power for use by future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t even matter whether other presidents have chosen not to take advantage of any particular power , because “ it is a President ’ s action in using power , rather than forsaking its use , that has the precedential significance.
” In other words , each successive president continues to add to his office ’ s list of extraordinary orders and directives , expanding the reach and power of the presidency and granting him- or herself near dictatorial powers .
This abuse of presidential powers has been going on for so long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Constitution be damned .
We no longer have a system of checks and balances .
“ The system of checks and balances that the Framers envisioned now lacks effective checks and is no longer in balance , ” concludes Marshall .
“ The implications of this are serious .
The Framers designed a system of separation of powers to combat government excess and abuse and to curb incompetence .
They also believed that , in the absence of an effective separation-of-powers structure , such ills would inevitably follow .
Unfortunately , however @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surrendered.
” Homemade Hand Sanitize ... Smith , Rebecca Buy New $ 8.99 All of the imperial powers amassed by Barack Obama and George W. Bush and now Trump—to kill American citizens without due process , to detain suspects ( including American citizens ) indefinitely , to strip Americans of their citizenship rights , to carry out mass surveillance on Americans without probable cause , to wage wars without congressional authorization , to suspend laws during wartime , to disregard laws with which he might disagree , to conduct secret wars and convene @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to sidestep the legislatures and courts with executive orders and signing statements , to direct the military to operate beyond the reach of the law , to establish a standing army on American soil , to operate a shadow government , to declare national emergencies for any manipulated reason , and to act as a dictator and a tyrant , above the law and beyond any real accountability—have become a permanent part of the president ’ s toolbox of terror .
These presidential powers—acquired through the use of executive orders , decrees , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting president—enable past , president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution .
Think on this : the presidential election is right around the corner .
Suddenly , the improbable possibility of any incumbent president attempting to extend the police state ’ s stranglehold on power by using current events to justify postponing or doing away with an election—forfeiting the people ’ s rights to govern altogether—and establishing a totalitarian regime seems less far-fetched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago .
The emergency state is now out in the open for all to see .
Unfortunately , “ we the people ” refuse to see what ’ s before us .
Most Americans , fearful and easily controlled , would sooner rouse themselves to fight for that last roll of toilet paper than they would their own freedoms .
This is how freedom dies .
We erect our own prison walls , and as our rights dwindle away , we forge our own chains of servitude to the police state .
Be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your freedoms to the government—no matter how compelling the reason might be for doing so—you can never get them back .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , no government willingly relinquishes power .
If we continue down this road , there can be no surprise about what awaits us at the end .
The America metamorphosing before our eyes is almost unrecognizable from the country I grew up in , and that ’ s not just tragic—it ’ s downright terrifying .
@ @ @ @ @ @

“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn’t even an enemy you could put your finger on.”― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis, legitimate or manufactured.
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties, but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts, medical intervention, protection and sustenance.
Unless we find some way to rein in the government’s power grabs, the fall-out will be epic.
Everything I have warned about for years—government overreach, invasive surveillance, martial law, abuse of powers, militarized police, weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry, and so on—has coalesced into this present moment. Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
The government’s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding.
It’s downright Machiavellian.
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot Act, the police state—a.k.a. the shadow government, a.k.a. the Deep State—has been anticipating this moment for years, quietly assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment’s notice.
It should surprise no one, then, that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “other” emergencies.
It’s that “other” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause, if not spur you to immediate action (by action, I mean a loud and vocal, apolitical, nonpartisan outcry and sustained, apolitical, nonpartisan resistance).
In fact, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution.
We’re talking about lockdown powers (at both the federal and state level): the ability to suspend the Constitution, indefinitely detain American citizens, bypass the courts, quarantine whole communities or segments of the population, override the First Amendment by outlawing religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people, shut down entire industries and manipulate the economy, muzzle dissidents, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease,” reshape financial markets, create a digital currency (and thus further restrict the use of cash), determine who should live or die…
You’re getting the picture now, right?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent.
Specifically, the DOJ wants to be able to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial. The DOJ also wants to be able to pause court proceedings and suspend the statute of limitations on criminal and civil cases.
Both signify a clear violation of every right espoused in the Constitution, including habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus, a fundamental tenet of English common law that guards against arbitrary and lawless state action, does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights. Its importance was such that it was enshrined in the Constitution itself. And it is of such magnitude that all other rights, including those in the Bill of Rights, are dependent upon it. Without habeas corpus, the significance of all other rights crumbles.
The right of habeas corpus was important to the Framers of the Constitution because they knew from personal experience what it was like to be labeled enemy combatants, imprisoned indefinitely and not given the opportunity to appear before a neutral judge. Believing that such arbitrary imprisonment is “in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instrument of tyranny,” the Founders were all the more determined to protect Americans from such government abuses.
Translated as “you should have the body,” habeas corpus is a legal action, or writ, by which those imprisoned unlawfully can seek relief from their imprisonment. Derived from English common law, habeas corpus first appeared in the Magna Carta of 1215 and is the oldest human right in the history of English-speaking civilization. The doctrine of habeas corpus stems from the requirement that a government must either charge a person or let him go free.
While serving as President, Thomas Jefferson addressed the essential necessity of habeas corpus. In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1801, Jefferson said, “I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government cannot be strong; that this government is not strong enough.” But, said Jefferson, our nation was “the world’s best hope” and, because of our strong commitment to democracy, “the strongest government on earth.” Jefferson said that the sum of this basic belief was found in the “freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.”
Throughout the twentieth century, the importance of the right of habeas corpus has repeatedly been confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet 200-plus years after America’s founders risked their lives to secure their freedoms, we find ourselves right back where we started, with a government determined to strip us of every vestige of our freedoms.
The DOJ’s latest request to Congress is merely a signal that the police state is ready to step out of the shadows, with the current national emergency being a convenient cover for their dastardly deeds.
Bear in mind, however, that these powers the Trump Administration, acting on orders from the police state, are officially asking Congress to recognize and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself.
Unofficially, the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress, the courts or the citizenry.
As David C. Unger, observes in The Emergency State: America’s Pursuit of Absolute Security at All Costs:
“For seven decades we have been yielding our most basic liberties to a secretive, unaccountable emergency state – a vast but increasingly misdirected complex of national security institutions, reflexes, and beliefs that so define our present world that we forget that there was ever a different America. … Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have given way to permanent crisis management: to policing the planet and fighting preventative wars of ideological containment, usually on terrain chosen by, and favorable to, our enemies. Limited government and constitutional accountability have been shouldered aside by the kind of imperial presidency our constitutional system was explicitly designed to prevent.”
This rise of an “emergency state” that justifies all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security is all happening according to schedule.
The civil unrest, the national emergencies, “unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters,” the government’s reliance on the armed forces to solve domestic political and social problems, the implicit declaration of martial law packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation’s security: the powers-that-be have been planning and preparing for such a crisis for years now, not just with active shooter drills and lockdowns and checkpoints and heightened danger alerts, but with a sensory overload of militarized, battlefield images—in video games, in movies, on the news—that acclimate us to life in a police state.
Whether or not this particular crisis is of the government’s own making is not the point: to those for whom power and profit are everything, the end always justifies the means.
The seeds of this present madness were sown several decades ago when George W. Bush stealthily issued two presidential directives that granted the president the power to unilaterally declare a national emergency, which is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.“
Comprising the country’s Continuity of Government (COG) plan, these directives (National Security Presidential Directive 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20), which do not need congressional approval, provide a skeletal outline of the actions the president will take in the event of a “national emergency.”
Mind you, that national emergency can take any form, can be manipulated for any purpose and can be used to justify any end goal—all on the say so of the president.
Just what sort of actions the president will take once he declares a national emergency can barely be discerned from the barebones directives. However, one thing is clear: in the event of a national emergency, the president will become a dictator because while the COG directives ensure the continuity of executive branch functions, they do not provide for repopulating or reconvening Congress or the Supreme Court.
Thus, a debilitating attack would give unchecked executive, legislative and judicial power to the executive branch and its unelected minions. The country would then be subjected to martial law by default, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would be suspended.
Originally devised as a plan for quickly restoring constitutional government, the COG concept arose during the Cold War. The fear was that a nuclear strike would paralyze the federal government.
These concerns continued into the 1980s. A Government of Wolves... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $1.16 Buy New $2.99 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
Under President Ronald Reagan, an elaborate plan was created in which three teams consisting of a cabinet member, an executive chief of staff and military and intelligence officials would practice evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against the Soviet Union from a variety of high-tech, mobile command vehicles. If the president and vice president were both killed, one of these teams would take control, with the ranking cabinet official serving as president.
Among those Reagan handpicked to advise an inexperienced and potentially incompetent successor in a time of crisis were Congressman Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, then a business executive with G. D. Searle & Co. At least once a year during the 1980s, Cheney and Rumsfeld vanished on top-secret training missions, where each of the teams practiced evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against Russia.
This all changed after the attacks of September 11, 2001, when it became clear that the assumptions that drove COG planning during the Cold War no longer applied: there would be no warning against a so-called “terrorist” attack. Thus, instead of relying on part-time bureaucrats and evacuation schematics, the Bush administration permanently appointed executive officials, stationed outside the capital, to run a shadow government.
The U.S. military has reportedly already been given standby orders under COG for this present coronavirus pandemic.
The plans for the shadow government administered by those who run the Deep State are more elaborate than many realize. Massive underground bunkers the size of small cities are sprinkled throughout the country for the government elite to escape to in the event of a national emergency. Mount Weather, near Bluemont, Va., is one of a number of such facilities. Built into the side of a mountain, this bunker contains, among other things, a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power plant and a radio/television studio.
There is also an Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather, which regularly receives top-secret national security information from all the federal departments and agencies. This facility was largely unknown to everyone, including Congress, until it came to light in the mid-1970s. Military personnel connected to the bunker have refused to reveal any information about it, even before congressional committees. In fact, Congress has no oversight, budgetary or otherwise, on Mount Weather, and the specifics of the facility remain top-secret.
What is the bottom line here?
We are, for all intents and purposes, one crisis away from having a full-fledged authoritarian state emerge from the shadows, at which time democratic government will be dissolved and the country will be ruled by an unelected bureaucracy.
This is exactly the kind of mischief that Thomas Jefferson warned against when he cautioned, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Thus far, we have at least pretended that the government abides by the Constitution.
Those who wrote our Constitution sought to ensure our freedoms by creating a document that protects our God-given rights at all times, even when we are engaged in war, whether that is a so-called war on terrorism, a so-called war on drugs, a so-called war on illegal immigration, or a so-called war on disease.
The attempts by each successive presidential administration to rule by fiat merely plays into the hands of those who would distort the government’s system of checks and balances and its constitutional separation of powers beyond all recognition.
Remember, these powers do not expire at the end of a president’s term. They remain on the books, just waiting to be used or abused by the next political demagogue.
So, too, every action taken by Trump and his predecessors to weaken the system of checks and balances, sidestep the rule of law, and expand the power of the executive branch of government has made us that much more vulnerable to those who would abuse those powers in the future.
Although the Constitution invests the President with very specific, limited powers, in recent years, American presidents (Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc.) have claimed the power to completely and almost unilaterally alter the landscape of this country for good or for ill.
The Trump Administration’s willingness to circumvent the Constitution by leaning heavily on the president’s so-called emergency powers constitutes a gross perversion of what limited power the Constitution affords the executive branch.
The powers amassed by each successive president through the negligence of Congress and the courts—powers which add up to a toolbox of terror for an imperial ruler—empower whomever occupies the Oval Office to act as a dictator, above the law and beyond any real accountability.
As law professor William P. Marshall explains, “every extraordinary use of power by one President expands the availability of executive branch power for use by future Presidents.” Moreover, it doesn’t even matter whether other presidents have chosen not to take advantage of any particular power, because “it is a President’s action in using power, rather than forsaking its use, that has the precedential significance.”
In other words, each successive president continues to add to his office’s list of extraordinary orders and directives, expanding the reach and power of the presidency and granting him- or herself near dictatorial powers.
This abuse of presidential powers has been going on for so long that it has become the norm, the Constitution be damned.
We no longer have a system of checks and balances.
“The system of checks and balances that the Framers envisioned now lacks effective checks and is no longer in balance,” concludes Marshall. “The implications of this are serious. The Framers designed a system of separation of powers to combat government excess and abuse and to curb incompetence. They also believed that, in the absence of an effective separation-of-powers structure, such ills would inevitably follow. Unfortunately, however, power once taken is not easily surrendered.” Homemade Hand Sanitize... Smith, Rebecca Buy New $8.99 (as of 09:37 UTC - Details)
All of the imperial powers amassed by Barack Obama and George W. Bush and now Trump—to kill American citizens without due process, to detain suspects (including American citizens) indefinitely, to strip Americans of their citizenship rights, to carry out mass surveillance on Americans without probable cause, to wage wars without congressional authorization, to suspend laws during wartime, to disregard laws with which he might disagree, to conduct secret wars and convene secret courts, to sanction torture, to sidestep the legislatures and courts with executive orders and signing statements, to direct the military to operate beyond the reach of the law, to establish a standing army on American soil, to operate a shadow government, to declare national emergencies for any manipulated reason, and to act as a dictator and a tyrant, above the law and beyond any real accountability—have become a permanent part of the president’s toolbox of terror.
These presidential powers—acquired through the use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting president—enable past, president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution.
Think on this: the presidential election is right around the corner.
Suddenly, the improbable possibility of any incumbent president attempting to extend the police state’s stranglehold on power by using current events to justify postponing or doing away with an election—forfeiting the people’s rights to govern altogether—and establishing a totalitarian regime seems less far-fetched than it did even a few years ago.
The emergency state is now out in the open for all to see. Unfortunately, “we the people” refuse to see what’s before us. Most Americans, fearful and easily controlled, would sooner rouse themselves to fight for that last roll of toilet paper than they would their own freedoms.
This is how freedom dies.
We erect our own prison walls, and as our rights dwindle away, we forge our own chains of servitude to the police state.
Be warned, however: once you surrender your freedoms to the government—no matter how compelling the reason might be for doing so—you can never get them back.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, no government willingly relinquishes power.
If we continue down this road, there can be no surprise about what awaits us at the end.
The America metamorphosing before our eyes is almost unrecognizable from the country I grew up in, and that’s not just tragic—it’s downright terrifying.
The Best of John W. Whitehead


lewrockwell--2020-03-26--In Spain You Can’t Use Your Own Back Yard. Police Make Sure of It

The last days and weeks of the coronavirus epidemic give an interesting insight into the human psyche .
Elementary liberties are restricted all over the world , such as the freedom of movement or private property .
Yet most people accept these restrictions without blinking , as the state declares their indispensability .
A chronology of the events in Madrid : on Sunday , March 8 , a large World Women ’ s Day demonstration against the alleged rule of the Patriachate was held .
There were 120,000 particiants , and members of the government took part in it , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ row .
They had called for strong participation .
Just one day later it was announced that starting on Wednesday , March 11 , kindergartens , schools , and universities in Madrid would be closed .
Since Sunday , March 14 , there a curfew has been in place , which is enforced by police and military force .
Cyclists and joggers trying to keep fit in the fresh air have been fined heavily .
Spaniards are no longer even allowed to be in the private gardens of apartment blocks , even if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short , we are no longer allowed to use our own gardens .
They have been temporarily expropriated .
Most people are little bothered by the fact that the state is violating their freedom massively .
They regard it as necessary and good .
They do not question the state´s authority to restrict our freedom at all .
Rather , they denounce those who want to move freely and make use of their property rights .
When two brothers were seen playing soccer in the garden of an acquaintance ’ s apartment block @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Defense of Deflatio ... Bagus , Philipp Best Price : $ 120.03 Buy New $ 119.98 People denounce playing children , who are regarded as harmful to public health , and put up posters saying “ Quédate en casa ” ( stay at home ) .
This is a block warden mentality .
The most worrying thing is the high number of willing state collaborators .
The parallels with the past are unnoticed .
No one seems to care , and it is not even discussed .
If people are just scared enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temporary ) dictatorship without grumbling .
They give up their freedom in the hope of being saved by state leaders advised by wise experts .
Fear makes people controllable .
Instead of protesting against the violation of their property rights , they clap their hands every day at 8 p.m. in Spain .
Initially , the applause was mainly to show support for doctors and nurses , but in the meantime cheers for the police have been mixed in .
The state leaders plan the violation of liberty centrally .
They do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rational answer to the coronacrisis .
They take into account the benefits of the curfew and economic shutdown but not the costs , because these are not quantifiable .
One of the immediate costs is the loss of a more rapid immunization of the population .
But there are other health costs .
Being confined to one ’ s own four walls , with the corresponding lack of physical exercise , will lead to increased cardiovascular diseases , high blood pressure , strokes , and thromboses , among other things .
The psychological @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immense .
The psychological strain will cause some marriages and families to break up ; trauma and depression will be created .
The Tragedy of the Euro Philipp Bagus Best Price : $ 17.05 The economic collapse triggered by the political reaction to the coronavirus has its own health costs , such as entrepreneurs who suffer heart attacks and unemployed people who fall into depression or alcohol .
And then there are the economic costs in the narrower sense .
The standard of living will fall , perhaps considerably .
That depends on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sooner or later , supply chains will be threatened , even for essential medicines and food .
Already today the range of products in Spanish supermarkets is reduced .
This too can shorten lives .
Worldwide , a decline in the standard of living will hit especially the poorest of the poor , whose supply of food and medicines will be greatly diminished .
As the costs and benefits are not quantifiable , it is hubris to rely on central planning to address the COVID-19 epidemic and come to the decision to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not to mention the ( temporary ) disappearance of freedom ) .
Unfortunately , frightened people seem to shed few tears for freedom .
There is a shortcut to serfdom , and it is called fear .
Note : The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute .

The last days and weeks of the coronavirus epidemic give an interesting insight into the human psyche. Elementary liberties are restricted all over the world, such as the freedom of movement or private property. Yet most people accept these restrictions without blinking, as the state declares their indispensability.
A chronology of the events in Madrid: on Sunday, March 8, a large World Women’s Day demonstration against the alleged rule of the Patriachate was held. There were 120,000 particiants, and members of the government took part in it, marching side by side in the first row. They had called for strong participation. Just one day later it was announced that starting on Wednesday, March 11, kindergartens, schools, and universities in Madrid would be closed. Since Sunday, March 14, there a curfew has been in place, which is enforced by police and military force. Cyclists and joggers trying to keep fit in the fresh air have been fined heavily. Spaniards are no longer even allowed to be in the private gardens of apartment blocks, even if families take turns using them. In short, we are no longer allowed to use our own gardens. They have been temporarily expropriated.
Most people are little bothered by the fact that the state is violating their freedom massively. They regard it as necessary and good. They do not question the state´s authority to restrict our freedom at all. Rather, they denounce those who want to move freely and make use of their property rights. When two brothers were seen playing soccer in the garden of an acquaintance’s apartment block, the police were called. In Defense of Deflatio... Bagus, Philipp Best Price: $120.03 Buy New $119.98 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
People denounce playing children, who are regarded as harmful to public health, and put up posters saying “Quédate en casa” (stay at home). This is a block warden mentality. The most worrying thing is the high number of willing state collaborators. The parallels with the past are unnoticed. No one seems to care, and it is not even discussed.
If people are just scared enough, they entrust themselves to a (temporary) dictatorship without grumbling. They give up their freedom in the hope of being saved by state leaders advised by wise experts. Fear makes people controllable. Instead of protesting against the violation of their property rights, they clap their hands every day at 8 p.m. in Spain. Initially, the applause was mainly to show support for doctors and nurses, but in the meantime cheers for the police have been mixed in.
The state leaders plan the violation of liberty centrally. They do not have the necessary information to give a rational answer to the coronacrisis. They take into account the benefits of the curfew and economic shutdown but not the costs, because these are not quantifiable.
One of the immediate costs is the loss of a more rapid immunization of the population. But there are other health costs. Being confined to one’s own four walls, with the corresponding lack of physical exercise, will lead to increased cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, strokes, and thromboses, among other things. The psychological burden of being locked up is especially immense. The psychological strain will cause some marriages and families to break up; trauma and depression will be created. The Tragedy of the Euro Philipp Bagus Best Price: $17.05 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
The economic collapse triggered by the political reaction to the coronavirus has its own health costs, such as entrepreneurs who suffer heart attacks and unemployed people who fall into depression or alcohol.
And then there are the economic costs in the narrower sense. The standard of living will fall, perhaps considerably. That depends on how long economic life remains switched off. Sooner or later, supply chains will be threatened, even for essential medicines and food. Already today the range of products in Spanish supermarkets is reduced. This too can shorten lives. Worldwide, a decline in the standard of living will hit especially the poorest of the poor, whose supply of food and medicines will be greatly diminished.
As the costs and benefits are not quantifiable, it is hubris to rely on central planning to address the COVID-19 epidemic and come to the decision to paralyze an entire country—even entire continents (not to mention the (temporary) disappearance of freedom). Unfortunately, frightened people seem to shed few tears for freedom. There is a shortcut to serfdom, and it is called fear.
Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.