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COVID-19 cases are growing faster and faster by the day, and so are the numbers of those who are dying from it. As a result, a growing number of states in the U.S., like California, New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, are asking most businesses to shut down and every citizen to "lockdown" or "shelter in place," except for very limited "essentials" like running out for groceries, medicine, etc. Interestingly, or maybe not, increasing at the same time as the above, are what will be more and more law enforcement crackdowns on city-wide curfews and other citizen restrictions.
The questions I have are these:
If the need for citizen confinement grows, and the restrictions increase, where does it end? And what excessive burden are we then placing upon law enforcement to corral even half of Americans (150 million)? And if even the smallest transgression of confinement restrictions ends up being a misdemeanor, how will officials handle tens of millions of them? And do we not think cops, who have to enforce confinement rules, will not come in closer proximity with those infected with the coronavirus and contract it themselves? And if those numbers continue to grow, won't we end up with the same shortage of law enforcement as we will hospital personnel? And wouldn't it follow that our courts become overloaded and burdened with misdemeanor cases just as our medical facilities are with COVID-19 cases?
And most critical of all, as I'm sure it is being pondered in the rooms of the White House as well as the corridors of Congress: How long can we allow Americans, who are a freedom-loving people and patriots, to be under "lockdown" in their own homes without working? Many scientists and specialists are even now calling the federal government to a five-week national lockdown? Do we expect the majority to simply comply? Will they have the resources and wherewithal to go the distance without resistance?
Comment: Good questions we all should be asking! Brings to mind the warning: 'Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' -Lord Acton, British historian. Are Americans willing to submit to authoritarian dictates without protest or reaction? Our 200 year+ history says otherwise, our recent history - not so much. But that could change on a dime.