More evidence of the totalitarian shift
Today I read this headline: “Trump says federal social distancing guidelines will be ‘fading out’.” Meanwhile, here in Korea, Moon Jae-in’s government, which was one of the most reasonable and restrained in the world in the early stages of this nonsense, has become increasingly schoolmarmish and micromanagerial of late, repeatedly warning people that if they insist on “violating” social distancing “guidelines,” they will be punished for their bad behavior with the extension of those “guidelines,” the ultimate instantiation of “Go to your room!”
Were you aware before this year that the practice of social distancing — sick of that phrase yet? — belonged to the realm of government policy? The entire world, over the past two months, has become collectively inured to the implicit idea that normal etiquette during a flu outbreak — avoiding close contact with others if possible, staying home when you are ill — is now a matter of government “guidelines” and “orders.” In other words, that adult human beings are, by default, unthinking children in need of general guidance, and occasionally direct coercion, to steer them in the right direction in matters of daily life and social interaction.
That is to say, we have all had to swallow, willingly or otherwise, the near-universal rejection, or cancellation, of the concept of mature adulthood, along with its related concepts: self-determination, moral responsibility, common sense, and mutual respect and goodwill among fellow citizens. All of those concepts have now been replaced in our lexicon of living by variations of authoritarian paternalism, nanny-statism, or whatever similar term you prefer.
Adulthood has been rescinded in favor of the ersatz safety of the inescapable embrace of an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving Mother Government. Our universal Mother is in the process of deciding whether we should go back to work soon, or whether we need to be “guided” to remain apart from our fellow men a little longer, for our own protection of course.
Doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy to know Mother is thinking about what is best for you, and how you should behave, so that you don’t have to?
