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We Can’t Allow Pandemic Fear to Erode Liberty

Fear makes us do horrible things. It can drive us to ruinous financial decisions and plunge us into addictive behavior. It can make us alienate those we love. And it can drive us to accept government actions that kill our liberties.

Mood Music:

The Patriot Act passed at the height of our hysteria over 9-11. At the time, a lot of us thought we were seeing terrorists holding vials of smallpox and suitcase nukes at every street corner. We were so freaked out over the next potential attack that we gave government the keys to do anything it wanted if it would just keep us safe.

Back then, I was perfectly willing to accept expansion of government power if it meant my friends and loved ones wouldn’t be blown to bits. As government power expanded unchecked, I came to see the folly in my thinking.

Fast-forward to the current pandemic. The federal government and states are imposing lockdowns and social distancing because, we’re told, we must flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections and protect loved ones. I believe that’s true and am doing my part. But I see things that will come back to haunt us — things we must be hyperaware of now because, if we’re not, the government’s reach could grow to totalitarian levels, regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge.

As we grow increasingly restless and desperate for some return to normal — if that’s even possible — we must view the following as red flags:

Apple and Google are working to add technology to their smartphone platforms to alert users when they have come into contact with a person with Covid-19.

From the article:

People must opt in to the system, but it has the potential to monitor about a third of the world’s population.

The technology, known as contact-tracing, is designed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus by telling users they should quarantine or isolate themselves after contact with an infected individual.

I don’t think contact tracing is a bad idea in itself. Part of why we’re all holed up right now is that testing in the U.S. is way behind where it should be, leaving us with no accurate measurement to see exactly how and where the virus is spreading. If we had that data, we could enact more moderate, commonsense measures to protect the most vulnerable and keep the rest of society functioning. Contact tracing can be a useful measurement.

But if those apps are left running, the government’s ability to see and control our daily lives might become limitless.

Once we enable an app on our devices, it’s very easy to forget it’s there and running.

Meanwhile:

The government is considering immunity cards for people who have recovered from COVID-19.

From the article:

Immunity certificates are already being implemented by researchers in Germany and have been floated by the United Kingdom and Italy, the most recent epicenter of the global outbreak in Europe.

In parts of China, citizens are required to display colored codes on their smartphones indicating their contagion risk. The controversial surveillance measure facilitated earlier this week the end of the lockdown of Wuhan, the city in China’s central province of Hubei where the novel coronavirus first emerged.

I’ll admit that my reaction to this idea might be extreme. On the surface it sounds reasonable: This is another tool that could allow free movement. But it’s a paper-thin surface. It fills my head with visions of Star Wars storm troopers patrolling streets with blaster rifles in hand, randomly demanding passersby show their papers.

A more extreme vision — one I hate to use but can’t dismiss — is that of Jews walking around with stars and other badges during the Nazi era. Suggesting that we’ll reach that point feels like tin-hat theory, but the likelihood is not zero.

I spent years working to overcome the fearfulness that can be a byproduct of OCD, anxiety and depression. Most of the time I do fine, sometimes I fail. Admittedly, in this environment it can be easy to succumb. When a friend first shared the contact-tracing app article on Facebook , my reaction was to comment that it was great news. Not long after that, the second thoughts emerged.

These are scary times indeed. But we must keep our heads screwed on straight and remember what it means to be American. If we give up our rights out of fear, we cease to become the land of the free and become something else.

We shouldn’t push back on the technological tools that can help us get a better handle on the virus. But we must be very, very careful.

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Ebola and the Disease of Hyperbole

For weeks, the main cable news stations have been obsessed with Ebola. While the appearance of Ebola in the U.S. is certainly new, I think the bigger problem is a disease that has dogged us since the dawn of TV news.

Hyperbole.

Mood music:

There’s no disputing that Ebola is a fearsome disease. The symptoms are brutal and the death rate is high. It’s been a problem mainly for Africa until recently, when a couple of healthcare workers were infected and brought to the U.S. for treatment. Then an infected man flew from Liberia to the U.S. and became the first official diagnosis of Ebola in America. Two nurses who cared for the now-dead patient have been infected.

None of that is good. But now the news networks are covering it like it’s an impending Armageddon. Every time people fall ill on a plane it becomes national news, with panicked reports of people with “Ebola-like symptoms.” With every such report, Facebook feeds fill up with people making comments about how we’re doomed.

This is where responsible reporting gives way to recklessness. So let’s dispense with the hyperbole and look at reality:

  • Ebola remains a disease people get from exposure to the bodily fluids of another infected person, which is why the two nurses got it.
  • It is not an airborne contagion, which means it’s very difficult to catch. You should be more concerned about flu, which sickens and kills thousands in the U.S. each year. The only U.S. death from Ebola thus far is from the man who caught it before leaving Africa. Stop watching CNN and go get a flu shot.
  • All the reports of sick passengers on planes thus far have turned out to be for things other than Ebola.
  • If you have a fever or a cough and are worried that it may be Ebola, calm down. We get colds and flu every year, and we never worried about it being Ebola until this freight train of fear got rolling.

I understand how fear spreads in these situations. Back when I suffered from severe anxiety, I would see world-ending clouds in every epidemic report.

In 2005, I had a long panic streak over the bird flu in Asia, which was predicted to be the next great pandemic, deadlier than the one that killed off a significant segment of the population in 1918-1919.

I would read every magazine and every website that were tracking all these world events as if my personal safety depended on it. If a hurricane was spinning in the Atlantic, I would watch with deepening worry as it edged closer to the U.S.

It was all part of the larger doomsday fear sparked by a combination of my mental illness and sensational media coverage. So, no, I’m not criticizing people for fearing Ebola. I know what it’s like to get that way.

Ebola may yet morph into something more deadly, but we’re not there yet. Chances are we’ll never get there — at least in terms of this becoming an airborne contagion.

My suggestion: Let’s focus on this one day at a time and keep our focus on the facts.

And for Goodness sake, turn off the news.

Image of Ebola virus