To say these are both interesting and perilous times would be an understatement, so I won’t waste time before stating the obvious. We’re under permanent arrest. Everywhere you go from now on there’ll be a sign directing you how to behave in that environment. Entering some of them will be so strenuous they’ll border on paranoiac frenzy and test your willingness to comply. Others will be more inviting, but whoever controls them will still be watching you like a hawk. Our appliances spy on us already, so inviting more monitoring devices into our homes only strengthens outside control of our lives. Every interaction we have with a debit or credit card is recorded, thus we’re signed, sealed and delivered. Big Brother is perched on every shoulder because we surrendered our right to privacy a long time ago in order to belong and make a living. Fortunately, most of us are so unimportant that our transactions and movements simply become part of the mega-database. Our lives are only strenuously examined if we become someone of note.
Here are some of the questions floating in the air around me. Can you survive having the water to your house turned off? The human body requires hydration, so have you stashed any water? Is there a river or stream nearby? Do you have the means to purify water you glean if that’s even possible? What if there’s no electricity for months? Are you prepared for darkness and our rulers forcing us into deprivation? Can you get by without your medications? What if your kid gets sick and insurance won’t pay? What if the pharmacy won’t accept the cash you hoarded? Now that meat processing plants are closed, should you be growing vegetables? Will you have to live on the street when the landlord kicks you to the curb? What if the car runs out of gas and there is none? Are you strong enough to walk to work? What will you do if there is no work? Doubt surrounding despair and uncertainty, leading to utter confusion. Who really knows what’s going on anymore? Can we get to the root of one issue before being embroiled in another?
Purposeful obfuscation has been the nature of our current administration from its onset. A group of people set out to rob an entire population of its wealth and freedom–not only plundering its savings, but compromising homes, livelihoods, and dignity. From my point of view, they’ve achieved their goal. We now stand in line to face shortages and further regulation, then become grateful for being given meager portions. Movement is strictly regulated. Are checkpoints and roadblocks next?
Instead of worrying and losing sleep, I take small steps to ensure myself the greatest possibility of survival and focus on being happy and healthy. I’ll roll with whatever punches come my way. The big question for me is how long it will be until it becomes illegal to post my thoughts and stories. One of the steps every dictatorship takes is to silence intellectuals (not that I am one) and any creative endeavor that doesn’t meet the new standards. Feeding the populace flavorless pablum gradually erases their ability to think for themselves.
Facebook already decides who of our friends can view our content. Recently, a woman I know asked, “Why have hundreds of friends if you can only interact with the same twenty over and over?” This form of censorship will eventually expand to our use of all electronic communication. Dialing the number of a friend, you might get a message that their phone is no longer in service or have undeliverable email because the filters found unacceptable verbiage. By keeping us in our homes and segregated, we won’t know that the person’s devices are fully functional unless we make the effort to go see them in person.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep working and hoping that I don’t get arrested for being a social rebel whose rights are constantly under attack by evangelicals, assorted bigots, and our government. On a sunny day I can work in the yard, tend my beautiful flowers, and wear a pretty spring dress to the store. It would be nice if I had enough face masks to go with each different outfit, but, oh well, maybe I can learn to sew. Last week, a beautiful friend ordered me some new shoes for my birthday and I hope to wear them the first day the bar opens, along with the wig I’ve never unwrapped. Until then, as long as the liquor store stays open and my ice machine keeps working, I can party on.
Wherever you are, I hope you’re taking the high road, not floundering and contemplating suicide. Bailing out and reducing the population allows those seeking to dissect and imprison our society to achieve their goals. Only by staying strong and doing everything you can to survive will we ultimately undermine this menace and make these people a bad memory. I’m not nostalgic when it comes to music, but I am a veteran of the hippie era and remember the poignant compelling lyrics that came from that period of protest. When our youth finally decide to quit being insolent underachievers, there will be another upheaval against the status quo. I may not be around to see it, but I know it will come. Every monster holding a population in slavery eventually succumbs to the ravages of time , and seeds we sow today become the flowers of tomorrow. I love you my friends and wish you well. Mizeta.