“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
—Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama, a senior advisor to President Bill Clinton
Ron Paul knows this well. We should be on our guard for a push to a) remove our liberties and b) push us further into socialism.
Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them.
After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act’s hollow promises of security.
It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the Trump Administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans.
Declaring a pandemic emergency on Friday, President Trump now claims the power to quarantine individuals suspected of being infected by the virus and, as Politico writes, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease.” He can even call out the military to cordon off a US city or state.
State and local authoritarians love panic as well. The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.