Friday, April 17, 2020

The "Government Tyranny" Boogeyman vs Social Darwinist Tyranny - Jeff Wiersma

If public servants failed to act in the interest of the public good, all of us would be left on our own against the tyranny of Social Darwinism.

Those who believe that various levels of government acting in the interest of public health is "tyranny" have an inadequate and misguided understanding of what tyranny is.

In a constitutional republic, various levels of government acting within their constitutionally-mandated roles to stop the spread of a deadly pandemic are not malevolently taking away citizen's liberty or trampling on their civil rights.

Though we should always be wary of authoritarianism, which desires totalitarianism over constitutionalism (especially with a would-be authoritarian in the Oval Office), it is inaccurate to label public servants acting in the interest of the public good as such.

More accurately, if those public servants failed to act in the interest of the public good, all of us would be left on our own against the tyranny of Social Darwinism.  The Social Darwinism would take on several forms, including the survival of those least-immunocompromised, the merciless and cynical forces of the financialized market, and potentially mob rule.

Of course, it should come as no surprise that those protesting social distancing are stirred up and organized by corporate interests like the Devos family's Michigan Freedom Fund, who see potentially diminished bottom lines as a higher priority than human life.