My wife is brilliant. She is able to get me to do just about anything she wants. Just the other day, she points to some trim above the fireplace and says, ‘Can you take that ugly stuff down?’ I look up, grave, trying like hell to form some justification to keep it there, but I can’t. She’s right. It’s ugly. I look down at the dog for a second opinion but her big eyes stare back as if to say – c’mon, who you kidding? And with great reluctance, I go up the ladder and pry the wood down. Afterward, we both admire the trimless alcove, no longer ugly, but now terribly incomplete. I say, ‘We need to do something about that.’ My wife nods as if it was truly my own idea. And so, it goes, I calculate, cut, screw, fit, drywall, plaster, sand and paint, and if the measure of my work was a foot – then it all started with an inch, artfully suggested, and unknowingly agreed too.

Which leads me to something I wrote about a week or so ago. That the media’s constant churning of the fear apparatus has revved up our limbic brain and in doing so, constrained our ability to be rational. So much so, that if allowed to continue, would have us agreeing to things we normally would not want to do, and even worse, wanting or suggesting them. The Wall Street Journal reports that government’s across Asia, the US and Europe are using cell phone data to track the movement of infected. CNN reports how two private companies have used cell phone data to track the migration of US students after their Spring Break festivities. The New York Times reports how London cops are using drones to identify and shame dog walkers who aren’t defiance of the ban but yearn for fresh air and exercise for their pets.

I’d like to say that I  was right – but I wasn’t, for this is worse. I had thought that western governments would openly declare that new powers of surveillance would come into effect for a limited time to combat the virus’ spread and we, the vigilant populace, would gauge the efficacy of granting the government this privilege and watch to ensure they relinquished it once this was all over. However, what we are seeing is the violation of civil liberties by business and government without so much as a hello. It’s as if they are farther along in the game than we are, that they’ve set us up for the yes over time, and they are confident that once we give it, there’s no other option but to follow it through the whole way. And where might that be? Could those who violate the isolation protocols be fined through their banking accounts upon their detection on surveillance video? Perhaps they are shut out of their account entirely until they comply? Think this is the stuff of science fiction? Newsweek reports that China has employed facial recognition software to monitor for jay-walkers, and they will be fined without notification and informed via text message.

But this Orwellian state of affairs couldn’t ever come to the west could it? Well ask yourself, would you agree to it if it meant slowing or eliminating the spread of Corona Virus? What would you say? Tough question. And it’s likely to be asked of you, and it wont be asked innocently, rather, an avalanche of emotional set pieces, shame and peer pressure will follow it. Are you willing to do what’s right? Maybe for ‘right-now’, but we know that once a right is given, it is rarely given back. That inch, may be what’s required to get a handle on the crisis, but inches turn to feet when they are stacked up over time.

Cheers!

​BG