Jeffrey Tucker, of the American Institute of Economic Research, has been the most eloquent critic of lockdown-ism during this entire charade. His recent article, “The return of the flagellants”, perfectly describes the phenomenon of a quasi-religious Doomsday cult emerging out of COVID hysteria. The exaggerated display of mask-wearing, superficial self-effacing behavior, and of course their neo-Puritan enforcement of COVID’s strictures.
From Tucker’s article:
“The lockdowns have disproportionately targeted fun. No house parties. No travel. Bowling, bars, Broadway, theater, amusement parks, all banned. Weddings, forget it. Restaurants, hotels, conventions, and even golf were all targeted by the lockdowners.
There is an ethos here. To beat the disease, you have to suffer. You have to eschew joy. You must sit at home and go out only for bare essentials. Even today, the great disease mitigator Andrew Cuomo, who already admitted in a phone call that the lockdowns were not science but fear, has warned New Yorkers not to travel outside the state except when absolutely necessary.
There is even a costume associated with the new national penance. It’s a long sweater dress, wool leggings, clompy sneakers, gloves, and the biggest face covering you can find. It’s not about safety. It’s about symbolizing your virtue, contrition, and allegiances.
The first time I saw this costume, which reminds me of women at a Taliban funeral, was back in mid-March. A hipster millennial, once living a carefree life, found new meaning in suffering for a cause, and quickly turned on anyone not dressed in dread while listening to the Dies Irae in one’s head.”
A disturbingly large number of people have back-peddled into a primordial religion, but one that has claimed the mantle of “Science”, and making use of a certain strain of scientists as a kind of priestly caste, shamans who give a mystical approval to the authoritarian politicians who need their seal of approval.
