The reason that dystopian novels and movies appeal to the masses is because the contrast to our real life situation is so jarring and foreign, yet simultaneously feels familiar and close, so possible and just around the corner if we make some unknown future wrong turn. We can see tiny pieces of that fictional dystopian society around us, hence the familiarity, even if it's a safe and amusing familiarity we can deal with. We feel like those small annoyances, like the droning television screens imbedded in gas pumps around the county, are insignificant enough for now. We feel like we can still turn that situation around before it progresses too far past simple aesthetics.
The problem with this thinking is demonstrated by the oft-cited the adage about boiling a frog. A dystopian society is a slow burn, not a quick turn. We are always looking for that quick turn, and in the meantime we have completely missed the boil that seems to be rolling at this point.
I had a dream last night. I was standing at a gas pump hearing that damned Orwellian "telescreen". It's not looking back at us quite yet, but then again, all you have to do is look up, left and then right to see three cameras pointed right at you. So what is the difference? Back to my dream. Half listening to the news or some other blather, I look up and notice a big red-colored billboard. It has a close-up of a young tan woman wearing a mask over her nose and mouth. The message in plain black script says "Do the right thing, stay home!"
I woke up this morning and was thinking about that dream, and told my wife. She noted that the billboard is real. In town about thirty minutes south of us there is a BP gas station with a billboard across the street that is exactly like the one in my dream, except that the script says "Be a hero, stay home." They haven't put the exclamation point on the billboards, yet.
I went to Walmart the other day for the first time in a couple months. I had not seen the new process there. Now there is a path to walk through, a minder is standing there counting the people going in while someone else counts the people leaving. Again, look up, left and then right to see three sets of cameras staring at you. The floor inside has some suspiciously permanent-looking decals that tell you which direction to walk through the aisles. Walking opposite of them garners some glares that are amusing until the fourth or fifth time. Most people are wearing masks, of course. Maybe it's time for me to wear one just so the cameras above me and to my left and right can work for their money. The Walmart here has telescreens too, advertising the Chinese-made product that is directly next to them.
I spoke with an ER physician where I work the other day. As grounded and discerning as anyone I know, this physician suspects there is something going on behind the scenes, because our "leaders" in science and government are telling us all things that simply don't make any sense based on the teaching we all received in school, clinicals and experience we've all had in our fields over the years. I agree. The people giving us the senseless information have never had our best interests in mind anyway, and have been caught lying every time someone bothered to give their words even a cursory examination.
My ER doc had been watching a video by Dr. Dan Erickson and Dr. Artin Massihi. They had done some very thorough statistical research and posted an hour-long video detailing their findings. The video had about five million views on YouTube and our doc had just about finished watching the video when it was removed by YouTube. It seems that any statements or information that contradict what government-approved sources are saying are subject to being banned and removed. It doesn't matter if it's a personal post on Facebook from a layman or a well-researched statistical analysis posted to YouTube by experienced, front-line physicians like Dr. Erickson and Dr. Massihi. Only government-approved science is valid. I feel like I've seen this before in the climate debate. Do a search on Google and see the full pages of results "debunking" the video. Or just hit this link to see the full video at Bitchute.
The other day a man was arrested out at the beach. Apparently he was violating the social isolation edicts that society has put in place. He was paddle-boarding in the ocean, alone. Five deputies arrived and put him in handcuffs and took him away. This is what we asked for.
It's coming out now that the majority of people who carry the virus develop zero symptoms throughout the course of the illness. This would make the rational person think that means the virus is much less dangerous than we previously thought, and the mortality rate for the virus would end up being much lower than we thought. Maybe less than 2%, rather than the 4% from before. But the government-approved sources are not going in that direction. Now rather than relaxing a bit, we are being asked to further isolate, even from healthy people. "Be a hero, stay home." Be suspicious of everyone around you and avoid them. Call your local commissar is you suspect your neighbor is violating social distancing. Don't go to church (unless it's a mosque). Happily accept that $1,200 and shut up, don't worry about what it's doing to the economy. The federal debt is up by about a trillion dollars just in the last four weeks. Don't worry about that though.
What's clear is that the people in power have taken this opportunity to tighten their grip on their zones of control. The governor of New Mexico has sealed off the roads leading into a town of 70,000 people. The governor of Michigan doesn't want her citizens to grow gardens. The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi has declared open carry to be illegal. The Agricultural Commissioner in Florida has refused to accept concealed carry permit applications online and has slowed the process for mail-in applications.
It's easy too find violations of the first, second, fourth and tenth amendments happening all over the nation due to this outbreak of a virus that appears to possibly have less than a 2% mortality rate. Pair that with obviously bad information coming from the government-approved scientific sources, and my ER doc here said that there must be something going on behind the scenes we aren't being told about. Again, I agree.
We've been taking small steps toward it, but 2020 appears to have been one giant leap in the direction of a dystopian society. It's past time to be standing on your own. Collect your own water, grow your own food, own the roof over your head, arm yourself, get your communications gear up, homeschool your kids, get your medical training, make sure your transportation is in working order and have your intelligence collection element running.
What we've been preparing for is upon us now.
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