PUBLIC HEALTH'S CREDIBILITY GAP.

Strong words from Robert M. Sauer and Donald Siegel.

America’s involvement in Vietnam was an unmitigated public policy disaster. In 2020, a new standard for monumental government failure has been set: our public policy response to the coronavirus, which has resulted in the establishment of a state-run religion of mandatory social distancing, a tyrannical public health police state to enforce it, and a never-ending “state of emergency.”

It has been a lot easier for the citizens to see through the lies, as this time the evidence is right in front of them, not half a world away.

We can’t expect the public health police state to voluntarily relinquish their grip on power. Similarly, governors and mayors who are being bailed out by taxpayers are also reluctant to cancel their hour-long press conferences. Infectious disease experts and other public health officials have never been so adored by the public. Their budgets have risen, and at the same time they are destroying our economies and societies and abusing our children. They have become the new generals loving the sweet smell of napalm in the morning.

It's not clear that these officials are "so adored by the public." The palace-guard media, that might be another thing.

People are starting to question the failed strategy of lockdowns, much as they questioned the wisdom of LBJ’s Vietnam strategy. While nonviolent protest is certainly warranted, especially when it comes to the pressing need for our children to return to school, we need an end to the “state of emergency” that enables governors and mayors to lock us down in the first place. Note that these governors and mayors are locking down businesses and educational institutions that are complying with onerous Covid-19 regulations.

The evidence is clear that lockdowns are ineffective and highly destructive and yet, to quote the feisty Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré of Hurricane Katrina fame, our political leaders are “stuck-on-stupid.” Thus, it is time to resist lockdowns, much as citizens resisted during the Vietnam era. Resistance to lockdowns should occur along several dimensions. The first step is for legislators to rein in the power of governors to issue executive orders to shut down businesses. Such powers emanate from the permanent “state of emergency” that has existed in most states since March. In Arizona, State Senator Michelle Ugenti-Rita is seeking to end Government Ducey’s Covid-19 emergency declaration. She states: “We can deal with COVID-19 in a thoughtful and meaningful way without being under a perpetual state of emergency.”

Simultaneously, nonviolent protest against the most unreasonable restrictions, highlighting the toll on our children, is also warranted. The courts must also constrain the executive power of governors and mayors. While supporting lawsuits against shutdowns is vital, we also need to highlight and share human-interest stories on social media of those who suffer from lockdowns.

If these heart-wrenching stories go viral, the mainstream media is more likely to cover them and the politicians will begin to turn on their own experts.

In another week or two, the macroeconomic torpor will be on incoming president^* Biden's watch, and perhaps the narrative will turn.

The Sauer and Siegel essay is one of several essays recommended yesterday by Donald "Cafe Hayek" Boudreaux.  Just go there and keep scrolling and linking.