Losing Steam

The law of inertia is pretty straightforward. An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion, with the same speed, in the same direction, unless acted upon by an external force. What the fear mongers never accounted for when they sat down to do the math and figured it would be loads of fun to play at being dictator were the external forces Newton refers to.

If the tyranny were uniform, then the pockets of ever-growing civil disobedience would be nonexistent. There would be nothing to point to, nothing to compare oneself to, and you’d conclude this was what everyone else was going through, the new normal for a season, and just go along. It’s the same reason Communist countries, both former and current, are sticklers about controlling what their populations see and hear.

Back in the day, people would gather around their radios and listen to radio free Europe, because it was the lone voice in a sea of misery that whispered of hope, of something better, of something more. They got a vision of the lives others were living, and it either fueled their desire to swim across rivers or run across borders, or rebel against the iron fists of impotent despots.

All those people that get on rafts, dinghies, inner tubes, and makeshift floating devices to come to America don’t do so out of a spirit of adventure. They are not a modern-day version of Christopher Columbus; they know exactly why they want to come here, and why they risk their lives in trying to get here.

There are a handful of people still trying to keep the momentum of fear going because it’s beneficial to them in some way. Either they like the newly acquired power, it’s good clickbait, and they make more money, or they just like the idea of fewer cars on the road as they drive to their essential jobs. Whatever the case may be, because of the aforementioned external force of seeing neighboring states open up without calamitous repercussions, the people are no longer having it.

The fear porn is losing steam, and it’s not for lack of trying. We went from flattening the curve to finding a cure, from two weeks to going on three months of self-imposed quarantine, from over two million dead to a fraction of it. With each new data point, the average citizen’s willingness to just shut up and take it is dissipating. Fear has given way to frustration, frustration has given way to anger, and soon anger will give way to rage if all these pretend dictators aren’t bright enough to read the tea leaves of this particular situation.

No matter how it goes, things will never be the same again in this country, and I’m not talking about the silly sheep wearing masks in their cars with the windows rolled up. The reason civil society can exist is that, for the most part, people believe that their elected officials have their best interests at heart, are there to represent them and their needs, and would never dare exceed their authority. That illusion has been irreparably shattered, and even every day, ho-hum, milquetoast, suburbanites are adopting a combative attitude toward government. The more they are pushed, the more they will resist, and if not this go-round, at some point, maybe second wave, third wave, sixth wave, it won’t be a sea of people just voicing their disagreement. 

With love in Christ, 

Michael Boldea Jr.