One Nation Under House Arrest: How Do COVID-19 Mandates Impact Our Freedoms?

[Mayacaman]

One Nation Under House Arrest: How Do
COVID-19 Mandates Impact Our Freedoms?

By John W. Whitehead

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.”

—James Madison

July 31, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - We have become one nation under house arrest.

You think we’re any different from the Kentucky couple fitted out with ankle monitoring bracelets and forced to quarantine at home?

We’re not

Consider what happened to Elizabeth and Isaiah Linscott.

Elizabeth took a precautionary diagnostic COVID-19 test before traveling to visit her parents and grandparents in Michigan. It came back positive: Elizabeth was asymptomatic for the novel coronavirus but had no symptoms. Her husband and infant daughter tested negative for the virus.

Now in a country where freedom actually means something, the Linscotts would have the right to determine for themselves how to proceed responsibly, but in the American Police State, we’ve only got as much freedom as the government allows. That’s not saying much.

Indeed, it’s a dangerous time for anyone who still clings to the idea that freedom means the right to think for yourself and act responsibly according to your best judgment.

In that regard, the Linscotts are a little old-school in their thinking. When Elizabeth was asked to sign a self-quarantine order agreeing to check in daily with the health department and not to travel anywhere without prior approval, she refused.

“I shouldn’t have to ask for consent because I’m an adult who can make that decision. And as a citizen of the United States of America, that is my right to make that decision without having to disclose that to somebody else,” said Elizabeth. “So, no, I wouldn’t wear a mask. I would do everything that I could to make sure that I wouldn’t come in contact with other people because of the fear that’s spreading with this. But no, I would have just stayed home, to take care of my child.”

Instead of signing the blanket statement, Elizabeth submitted her own written declaration:

" I will do my best to stay home, as I do every other time I get sick. But I cannot comply to having to call the public health department every time that I need to go out and do something. It’s my right and freedoms to go where I please and not have to answer to anyone for it. There is no pandemic and with a survival rate of 99.9998% I’m fine. I will continue to avoid the elderly, just like PRIOR guidelines state, try to stay home, get rest, get medicine, and get better." I decline.

A few days after being informed that Elizabeth’s case was being escalated and referred to law enforcement, the Linscotts reportedly found their home surrounded by multiple government vehicles, government personnel and the county sheriff armed with a court order and ankle monitors.

“We didn’t rob a store,” Linscott said. “We didn’t steal something. We didn’t hit and run. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

That’s the point, of course.

In an age of over-criminalization—when the law is wielded like a hammer to force compliance to the government’s dictates whatever they might be—you don’t have to do anything wrong to be fined, arrested or subjected to raids and seizures and surveillance.

Watch and see: just as it did in China, this pandemic is about to afford the government the perfect excuse for expanding its surveillance and data collection powers at our expense.

On a daily basis, Americans are already relinquishing (in many cases, voluntarily) the most intimate details of who we are—their biological makeup, our genetic blueprints, and our biometrics (facial characteristics and structure, fingerprints, iris scans, etc.)—in order to navigate an increasingly technologically-enabled world.

( Continues here... )

[podfish]

July 31, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - We have become one nation under house arrest.

You think we’re any different from the Kentucky couple fitted out with ankle monitoring bracelets and forced to quarantine at home?

We’re not

I can easily tell the difference. He should ask around, I bet a bunch of people could explain the difference to him.

[OldGranddad]

If the article is correct then I suggest that we all rebel at stopping for redlights, using seatbelts, parking on railroad tracks and smoking in movie theaters, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Is America devoid of common sense? Are we just a nation of nitwits? What happened to pulling together for the common good? What happened to the notion of working together to make America a better place that comes closer to its ideals? What's wrong with mandating the use of masks to protect each other? Why is there so much arguing over whether masks are effective when that's a relatively easy thing to prove or disprove? The reason there is so much division is that we are all pawns of the power elite and it is to their benefit that we are kept divided.

The 1% has 99% of the money, but the 99% has 99% of the votes. What do you think would happen if we voted together to make the country better? The 1% would mess their pants, that's what. And that's why it is to their advantage to keep us caviling over every issue that comes up. It's especially important now that we can't watch sporting events and go to bars, etc. What can you say about people who allow themselves to fall into their trap? Sadly, we have become a nation of nitwits, but not for lack of intelligence, just for the lack of its use.

Greed has always tried to rule, even during WWII. Standard Oil and Henry Ford helped Hitler, as did many other companies and people. Read a book called, "Trading With The Enemy". Also, "The Death of Common Sense". Look what occupies the White House. A "businessman" who gets accused of stealing, doesn't pay his debts, profits from his position, shows support for the products of his donors and brags about groping women, Is he a man you'd invite into your house? I certainly wouldn't. I wouldn't even belly up to a bar with him. That's how divided we've become.

Why is it that we can't sit down together and choose goals and work together to reach them for the common good like well meaning citizens. I'm referring to goals on the order of "All men are created equal...". I didn't write it, but I take it to mean as opposed to chimpanzees. Or "Equal justice under the law", or the best education for the countries' children or getting money out of politics, to name but a few.

Why do we have to submit to the will of those with all the money? Why can't we have capitalism, but make it fair so there is still a chance to make your fortune, but without stepping on others? Why can't the super rich pay their fair share? We need to work together to survive and win the war and, let me tell you, it is a war. I grew up during WWII and I saw most of the country going in the same direction and working together. Also, let me tell you, this war is far more dangerous.

Old Granddad

One Nation Under House Arrest: How Do
COVID-19 Mandates Impact Our Freedoms?

By John W. Whitehead

“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freeman of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.”

—James Madison

July 31, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - We have become one nation under house arrest.

You think we’re any different from the Kentucky couple fitted out with ankle monitoring bracelets and forced to quarantine at home?