The Totalitarians Among Us
How Leftists Are Using the Coronavirus Pandemic to Turn Citizens into Subjects
For as long as I can remember, people toward the left end of the political spectrum have called conservatives “authoritarians.” According to the New Oxford American Dictionary (2010), an authoritarian is someone who “favor[s] or enforc[es] strict obedience to authority, esp. that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.”
Totalitarianism is authoritarianism on steroids. The same dictionary defines “totalitarian” (adjective) as “of or relating to a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.” A totalitarian (noun) is “a person advocating such a system of government.”
Who are today’s totalitarians? I submit to you that they are people of the political left. Two days ago, Washington governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, issued “guidelines” that, among other things, limit the size and composition of “Indoor Social Gatherings.” Here is his diktat, which covers all 7.6 million of the state’s residents:
1. Indoor Social Gatherings with people from outside your household are prohibited unless they (a) quarantine for fourteen days (14) [sic] prior to the social gathering; or (b) quarantine for seven (7) days prior to the social gathering and receive a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 48-hours prior to the gathering. A household is defined as individuals residing in the same domicile.
This diktat is effective from 16 November to 14 December, a period that includes the Thanksgiving holiday.
The ostensible reason for Inslee’s restriction is “to slow the spread of rapidly increasing COVID cases in [the] state and ensure that hospital and medical systems are not overwhelmed.” This is a good end, without question, but one might reasonably question the means chosen to attain it. Are there alternative means that have less of an adverse effect on individual liberty? Or, to put it in legalese, is there a “less restrictive (but equally effective) alternative”? Did the governor even ask himself this question before issuing his decree?
Most citizens are judicious, conscientious, and responsible. They are willing to make decisions that protect themselves, their loved ones, their acquaintances, and even strangers. Nobody is prevented from wearing a mask, for example. Many people freely choose to do so while out and about, and would wear a mask even if they were not being advised to do so by public officials or health authorities. The same is true of what is called “social distancing.” People have learned that they can interact with others while standing at least six feet away from them.
In a free society, shouldn’t decisions about the nature, scope, and frequency of family gatherings be left to individuals? Thanksgiving is an important holiday for most Americans. They congregate with far-flung family members (and friends) to thank their god or their good fortune for the blessings they have, one of which, not coincidentally, is living in a free country. Thanksgiving is a time of rest, reflection, recreation, recovery from the rigors of work, and communion with loved ones.
Governor Inslee’s restrictions are not unique. Public officials in other states (such as Michigan) and localities (such as New York City) have adopted similar measures, in some cases with considerable opposition by the citizenry. Is it overly cynical to think that these public officials enjoy bossing people around? Is it an exaggeration to think that at least part of their motivation for restricting work, play, entertainment, worship, movement, and commerce is to control adult citizens?
To be fair to leftists, it may be that everyone, of every political stripe, has a totalitarian instinct. Everyone, in other words, has an urge to control others. Most of us either resist this urge or find that we lack power to act on it. But some people who have power over others are unable to resist the urge to control. These are the incipient totalitarians among us, and it is my sense that they come predominantly from the political left, not from the right.
Here is another example of the totalitarian instinct. According to a CBS News report of 29 October 2020,
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has recently voiced support for a national mask mandate. In interviews, Fauci has said that masks are effective, and that Americans should do basic things like wear masks if they don’t want to shut down.
When pushed by CNBC’s Shepard Smith on Wednesday about whether or not we need a national mask mandate, Fauci said, “We do.”
“If we don’t get one, then I would hope that the governors and the mayors do it locally, if it’s not done nationally,” Fauci said during the televised interview.
You may recall from our definition of the word “totalitarian” that totalitarians advocate “a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial.” This describes Dr Fauci precisely. He is unwilling to leave decisions about face masks to governors, mayors, and other public officials, much less to the people themselves. He wants the federal government to dictate that all Americans wear masks, on pain of punishment. (It’s not clear what the punishment would be, but presumably the mandate would be enforced in some way, perhaps by fine.)
As far as I know, Dr Fauci has not disclosed his political affiliation or ideology, so it would be unfair to call him a man of the Left, even if one suspects that he is. But his proposed national mask mandate has been endorsed by none other than Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden. Here is a report from USA Today:
WASHINGTON—Former Vice President Joe Biden said in a Thursday television interview he would require wearing face masks in public to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Asked by Pittsburgh CBS affiliate KDKA what he would do to help halt the surge in coronavirus cases, Biden said he would “go back to making sure that everyone had masks.”
“The one thing we do know—these masks make a gigantic difference,” Biden said. “I would insist that everybody out in public be wearing that mask.”
When asked if he would use federal powers to require the wearing of masks, Biden said, “Yes, I would. From an executive standpoint, yes I would.”
“I would do everything possible to make it required that people had to wear masks in public,” he added.
President Donald Trump, a member of the party (Republicans) that is routinely referred to as “authoritarian,” is opposed to a national mask mandate and has not, to date, used his executive powers to implement one. According to a report by CNN,
President Donald Trump said he would not consider a national mandate on mask wearing in a new interview with Fox set to air on Sunday.
When asked by Fox News’ Chris Wallace whether he would consider instituting a mandate, Trump responded, “No, I want people to have a certain freedom, and I don’t believe in that, no.”
I do not have the space in this column to make a case that leftists want “complete subservience to the state,” which is another part of the definition of “totalitarian.” I would simply ask you (the reader) to think of other cases in which public officials seek to control their constituents, and take note of the officials’ political affiliation. I think you will find, far more often than not, that the controllers—the would-be totalitarians—are proud members of the Left.
Sometimes the control being sought is justified in terms of protecting citizens from one another. Sometimes the control being sought is justified in terms of protecting citizens from themselves. But control is control, whatever its rationale. If people allow it, they are well on their way to becoming subjects rather than citizens; and should this occur, it cannot be said that they don’t deserve it.