A nation of control freaks
Americans have not simply in the past six months become trapped in terror and fear over a relatively low-level virus, they have compounded that fear with a strong and ever-growing desire to tell everyone else what to do.
The conservative internet has been pushing the term “Karen” to apply to any busybody who wishes out of outrage to wield petty power over everyone around them. I find that term too vague. A much more apropos term would be to call them what they are: control freaks.
And sadly, there now are a lot of them, many of which are downright insane in their demands and willingness to commit violence to impose their will.
Want to hold a small wedding in Hawaii near the beach, with maybe no more than ten people attending? Nope, you can’t, because someone will arrive to harass you rudely and demand you be arrested. The Democratic state government there has declared the beaches closed, public weddings illegal, and private enterprise under strict control, all over a virus that appears only mildly more dangerous than the flu.
Want to sing in church and you live in California? Nope, you can’t, because Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of that state has declared such singing and chanting dangerous. It will spread the Wuhan flu! (He doesn’t have a problem with leftist Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters chanting “Death to America” slogans however. Leftist protesters are immune from the virus.)
It isn’t just the rules imposed over COVID-19 however. What if you want to use a picture of President Donald Trump as your virtual background during a zoom class? Nope, no can do, because if you do other students will file complaints against you with the school authorities, claiming they felt
“offended, disrespected, and taunted” by the Trump imagery, according to the complaint report, which did not identify the complaining students. The unnamed students added that the Facebook post in question smacked of racism and potential violence.
The school will then file charges against you, trying to destroy your life.
Want to post a picture of a new gun that you can’t wait to take to the range? Nope, you can’t do it, and worse if you do you will be arrested and charged with a crime!
The Wuhan virus however continues nowadays to be the prime excuse used by these petty dictators. Consider Albion College in Michigan, which is requiring its students to download a phone application that will allow the college to track their location and private health data at all times.
The school is working to create a “COVID-bubble” on campus, and asking students stay within the school’s 4.5-mile perimeter for the entire semester; if a student leaves campus, the app will notify the administration, and the student could be temporarily suspended.
…In addition to downloading the app, students must undergo a mandatory three-day quarantine after they move back to campus. They will be given a list of “approved businesses” to frequent, and must fill out an online form five days in advance if they plan to leave for “approved” activities, such as medical appointments, religious obligations, and “significant family obligations.”
The college’s administration however is not requiring the same from its teachers or administrators. They can go as they please, because obviously they are immune from the Wuhan virus. Only students can get it.
Then there is the guy who has invented a gun that attempts to shoot a mask on to the face of anyone daring to defy the rules.
It hasn’t exactly been easy convincing the American people to mask up, so [Allen] Pan decided to take an approach that leverages one of the things most Americans love above all else: guns. Using parts of a car’s brake line, a pistol grip from a spray paint can, some custom electronics, and a solenoid valve for controlling the flow from a pressurized CO2 canister, Pan created a handheld blaster that looks like something straight out a Mad Max film—but hopefully this weapon will help stop the apocalypse.
If you watch the video at the link it is hard to tell whether this guy is serious or making fun. It does appear however that he completely believes in the wonders of masks, and desperately wishes he had the power to make people wear them.
Nor is he alone. The number of snitches in America is rising exponentially. In Houston the fire department had found itself overwhelmed with calls from people reporting violations by businesses of that city’s odious lock down rules.
Even so, the fire department is proudly working hard to follow up every call in order to punish any business or person who dares defy its power.
“We don’t care if they don’t like us,” said [fire investigator Eric] Olivares. “We’re trying to help somebody. We’re in the game of helping people.”
They are the government. They’re here to help you.
Most of the examples I could cite of people harassing others over their behavior would be of leftists attacking conservatives, but believe me, people on the right are hardly innocent in this epidemic of control-freakism. For example, I have a very conservative friend who also would like to deny billionaires the right to bequeath their wealth to their children. “Why should those kids get a free ride? They should have to earn their own billions.” According to my friend, he’d want the law to require that the inheritance go either to the government, or to hand-picked charities determined by law.
We have become a nation of control freaks, whether on the right or the left. The left certainly wins the race, demanding rules of behavior in all things, from requiring what clothes (or masks) we wear, to how much we can earn, how we are allowed to spend our money, and how we will be permitted to live our lives and run our businesses.
The right though is far from pure, as my very very conservative friend above illustrates. It seems if you scratch the surface of far too many Americans these days you will quickly find beneath the patina a fascist screaming to get out, to tell others how to live their lives, but only in different ways.
It used to be different. Americans once thought it utterly shameful to try to force their ideas on others. You had the right to try to persuade others, but in the end you were expected to respect their right to make up their own mind. And if they were not convinced, that was fine, as in a free country people are never all going to agree.
We need to bring some of that shame back. We need to start telling these control freaks, to their face, that they should mind their own business. If more of us did this instead of bowing in fear to these bullies, maybe they might begin to back off and leave us alone again.
More importantly, maybe the culture would shift back to one where control freaks didn’t run things, with the right to tell everyone else what to do, or else.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
All is being revealed: https://youtu.be/Dy000ZX4ypo
I call the people who blindly follow these control freaks True Believers, because its almost like a cult, you cant question why they are following these orders, and they wont listen to studies or research that says otherwise. They are also unjustifiably scared to death of the virus. I almost pity them if they weren’t so arrogant.
The busybodies in California are ahead of the rest on the control of its citizens with a digital passport to enter whatever facility demands it. Designed to accompany you at all times. (probably download it to your cell phone or identification chip, as part of contact tracing and dating app) your compliance dictates you’re “social score” (like the Chinese model) as well giving you permission to do normal things.
Here’s an older article.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/05/no-california-bill-verified-credentials-covid-19-test-results
The evolving unfinished Bill:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB2004
Your vaccination and health information will be protected…
(Darn, another Russian hack reveals all)
Universities are hurting and the new rules are making it even more difficult.
BYU in Utah, Mormon church affiliated and supported, the university that comes in dead last on the party school list…. New mandatory rules that the students claim is nothing short of the mark of the beast. Petition circulating to stop it.
https://www.defendingutah.org/post/2020/08/27/petition-against-tyranny-on-byu-campus
The city board in Provo, where BYU is located, voted to make masks mandatory. The mayor refused to sign it. The board voted to override the mayor. Another petition is going to put it to a People’s vote on the November elections. (voting does not matter, we do not live in a democracy) A vote of the people cannot make or resend laws. That is the purpose of the legislature. The unpopularity of a law with the public has no weight as the representatives (Karens) know what’s best for you, and how you should act and spend your money because you are too stupid to do it for yourself.
Many rallies have been held against the mask wearing.
There’s even talk of medicating the water to control the unrest.
But then I guess there are problems in every city.
https://churchpop.com/2020/09/01/nyc-priest-leads-vows-against-white-privilege-during-mass-in-viral-video/
All kinds of Democrats are breaking the rules they are forcing on the rest of us regarding face masks and social distancing:
– Nancy Pelosi (1) went to hair salon and (2) didn’t wear a mask
– Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer violated her own executive order on social distancing while participating in a civil rights march with hundreds of demonstrators
– Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney dined inside a Maryland restaurant while he prohibited indoor dining in Philadelphia restaurants
– Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot went to a hair salon
– Democrat rioters and looters (aka “peaceful demonstrators) do not practice social distancing
It’s as if the Democrats know there’s nothing to worry about.
“The busybodies in California are ahead of the rest on the control of its citizens with a digital passport to enter whatever facility demands it. Designed to accompany you at all times. (probably download it to your cell phone or identification chip, as part of contact tracing and dating app) your compliance dictates you’re “social score” (like the Chinese model) as well giving you permission to do normal things.”
1) Back in the day, weren’t internal passports something the totalitarian countries imposed
2) https://memegenerator.net/instance/75736229/gestapo-4-are-your-papers-in-order
AMERICAS NEXT PRESIDENT?
You tell me America: https://youtu.be/Nzq8ZOE8Qvo ; 15 seconds
All it takes is 15 seconds to understand what will be. I have said much on the subject of Joe Biden as the Democrat candidate over the last several months and you know well my opinion, but there he is all the same. This 15 seconds says it all.
So the Democrats only remaining alternate strategy is chaos, doubt and “Never conceding” as per “president”, Hillary Clinton through mail in voting. Its just that simple now.
“Do as I say not as I do” Upper 1%, White privilege? …
There’s rumors now that Joe Biden had a minor stroke and is still recuperating.
Headline –
“Canada’s top doctor urges mask wearing during sex, no kissing”
It was bound to come to this
Bob, more control for you (and all of us) to fume at. This is from Fox news but I have seen it a couple places now. I’ll probably still vote for Trump, but WTF man? How is this even close to legal?
“Following an Aug. 8 executive order by President Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a temporary eviction moratorium and will impose penalties on landlords who violate the ban.”
Another site stated $100k in fines and a year in jail.
Here’s a crazy idea – let everyone go back to work.
ARR: I agree entirely with you, in every way. Trump is no saint. His biggest problem, to my mind, is that he doesn’t really understand (or care) about the ideological issues at hand. He tries to follow the Constitution, but he also sees nothing wrong with using (and overusing) government power in cases where his good intentions take him.
And we all know where good intentions lead.
By the way, I have strict rules forbidding the use of obscenities in comments on Behind the Black. You come very close at one point in your comment to breaking those rules. Your comments are welcome, just try to write like a civilized adult.
“At the time, the French people were fed up with the king, queen and the rest of the nobles in France. The taxes were high, and the money seemed to go towards funding massive parties at Versailles, rather than buying bread for the starving citizens.”
https://www.newswars.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/250919pelosi.jpg
“Eventually, all of this tension came to a head in the Storming of the Bastille prison on July 14, 1789. Revolutionaries stormed the Parisian prison, realising prisoners, setting fires, stealing gun powder and weapon, and causing havoc in general.”
Simply adjust the time frame and the names, what’s old is new.
Its coming.
Robert wrote: “The number of snitches in America is rising exponentially.”
Yikes! Don’t snitch on one of the dictators, however. James Street noted four of the dictators have recently broken the rules that they impose upon the rest of us. He concludes that the Democrats may know that there is nothing to worry about. They must be trying to fool the rest of us, and they either are succeeding or they have created a nation of busybodies who want to join in on the control-freak fad. Even the Democrat-supported rioters seem to be insisting on change as they ignore their dictator-friends’s rules, although they don’t explain the change that will satisfy them — because there is no change that will satisfy them.
Nancy Pelosi was caught breaking two of the rules, getting an indoor hairstyle and not wearing a mask. She is taking responsibility, though, and is blaming the hairstylist for snitching on Pelosi’s own outlandish/awful outlaw/scofflaw behavior. Hmm. She is responsible, but it is someone else’s fault? She must be leading by example. It is OK for her to scoff at the shutdown, but it is not OK for anyone to snitch about it.
Although she has said that leaders take responsibility, the context shows that she means only leaders with the name of “Trump” must take responsibility for their own decisions. Her own decisions are exempt, and it seems that any Democratic dictator is equally exempt. She and her fellow dictators get to do whatever they want while the rest of us suffer through their Great Oppression. This is what tyranny looks like.
These behaviors make her a hypocrite, but she is proud of her hypocrisy, just like a three-year-old. She and her fellow proud hypocrites have grown old, but they haven’t grown up.
These same dictators have accused us of not taking the Wuhan flu seriously enough, but I, for one, do not do business in closed businesses or loot businesses like the dictators and their crony rioters get to do, but then, they are the ones with the influence over the business owners or are willing to smash and grab. Either way, they are willing to break the law in order to pursue their own happiness. According to their own examples, I am the one taking Wuhan flu seriously. Far, far more seriously than it deserves, as they have shown.
Kyle wrote: “I call the people who blindly follow these control freaks True Believers, because its almost like a cult, …. They are also unjustifiably scared to death of the virus.”
But 80-year-old dictator — er — Speaker Pelosi, is not scared of the virus. Neither are 49-year-old Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 62-year-old Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, or 58-year-old Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The rest of us are supposed to be scared into cowering in our homes, including our zero-risk children, who can barely get an education. The dictators’s followers don’t stay locked down, as they are supposed to do, but go out and about and tell the rest of us how to live our lives. Are they really scared to death of the virus?
My neighbor seems to be scared of the Wuhan flu, but he should be scared. He is 90 and on oxygen and has the co-morbidity(s) that make him especially vulnerable. I haven’t seen him since the lockdown, but he is one of the few who should stay locked down. The rest of us should be able to go out and about in order to run the economy that supports his life, retirement, and pursuit of happiness.
Should the rest of us be afraid? Yes, but not of the Wuhan flu. We should fear American dictators and those who support them. As with communist, socialist, fascist, and other tyrannical countries, the tyrannical rulers get to pursue their own happiness, but the rest of us must obey, at the cost of our own happiness.
Welcome to Obama’s America, land of the formerly free.
WHY IS NANCY PELOSI ACTING SO DESPERATE AND INSANE?
Now I can understand if you are on the other end of having to deal with D.J. Trump, especially with him currently being the president of the United States and you being the Speaker Of The House, and finding yourself under some degree of pressure. I will grant that.
But Nancy Pelosi has been acting in such a what can only be classified as desperate manner that you have to ask: Why so crazy? And the moment of extreme change in her behavior began when she switched from no impeachment, should have never gone there, to impeachment. Is there more to her switch than the pressure from the Leftists that are now driving the Democrat party bus?
And that all being said we then look at Joe Biden and his activities of the last 45 plus years while in government and that leads directly to Ukraine and his son Hunter being recruited by the executives of Burisma energy. And Hunter conveniently being paid many millions of dollars for being on their board of directors. And we all understand that Hunter by his own admission knew nothing about energy and his position on the board was purely a function of the position in government that his father, Senator and vice president, Joe Biden held. That is plain to see.
The Ukraine I$ a common thread that RUN$ through the Democrat party. Why is that? (Don’t you find that fascinating? I know I do)
And then we see this story about the son of, Nancy Pelosi, who also has great interest in doing business in Ukraine in the field of energy. And what do you know, his mother just happens to be the Speaker Of The House in the United States Congress.
https://explainlife.com/after-pelosis-dark-secret-is-revealed-nancys-son-takes-center-stage-of-ukraine-scandal-16925/
Is Nancy’s son and some potential legal threat that exists related to his business involvement in Ukraine and other questionable business dealing he has been involved in one of the main reasons that Nancy has become so scorched earth? If Trump is reelected might the hammer fall on both “investors” and sons of privilege? And who knows how many more sons of the elite?
Seems like there could be a mighty powerful incentive for a mother, and a father, who are both powerful members of the United States government to desperately seek to end, D.J. Trump and his DOJ’s time in power. Mighty powerful.
Cotour–
it’s not pelosi’s son we have to worry about, it’s her husband.
There’s now a picture circulating this morning of supreme court justice who just got out of the hospital officiating at a wedding. Over 80, high risk, no mask, lawbreaker.
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/ruth-bader-ginsburg-holds-court-113401969.html
White privilege for the liberals and the looters. But I repeat myself.
I just watched this short video that Dwane “The Rock” Johnson made, he revealed that he and his family contracted Covid and how have now successfully cycled through it. Apparently they caught it from a close family friend.
https://dailycaller.com/2020/09/03/dwayne-the-rock-johnson-family-coronavirus/
A couple of observations. This is the first time that I have listened to The Rock speak as a person and not in the roll of promoting something, and he is very well spoken. He really connects, a real natural and he is genuine. He is sharp and is very likeable.
He spoke about Covid a bit and about being disciplined in his life, he apparently is very disciplined and it shows. Right now he is building a tequila brand, and its doing very well. He spoke a bit about how he and his family contracted the virus and how he and his family always were disciplined in wearing their masks.
And he also spoke IMO in the roll of providing a public service about wearing your mask to his fans and the general public. And I thought about the Zman, and then I thought, but Rock, you got it anyway even though you were disciplined and always wore your mask. Exactly how effective were your efforts?
It was a bit of a contradictory message and logic to follow, but he is the Rock and was speaking in general to his fans and the public. And I have no problem with that.
And I think you know where this may well be going in 4, 8 or 12years.
The Rock, if he had political aspirations would serve as a calming influence on the extremely polarized politics in our country in him having a roll in politics, possibly the presidency (?). In what party? The “New” Democrat party? Or, the “New” Republican party? Because after Trump and what we are going to go through in the coming years in the country both will be not what they are today IMO.
I suspect he is naturally more of a Conservative minded person and he might be an appeaser to some degree but he is very likable, he’s sharp and he is conscious. How he would navigate the political mine field is unknown to me, but I am fairly certain that he is not a big fan of Marx.
Just something to keep an eye on.
And at least we know one specific Democrat that he does not favor.
https://youtu.be/qZrxdDqqZIw
That was brutal, he is NOT a fan.
“Control Freakism’ has become an epidemic as of late. The reasons for it vary. Some are a misguided perception that people in general are too naive and ignorant to manage their own lives and therefore need outside assistance to guide them. Surely, in some cases this is certainly true, but overall, most are quite capable of handling their own affairs. Control freaks convince themselves that they know what’s better for you than you do, and thus pursue positions of power that enable them to weild control over others. They are literally hell bent in instituting their beliefs onto you. They consider themselves the “be all and end all” of authority of a certain issue, case dismissed. There can be no objectivity in their view, because they have meticulously considered and weighed all of the details and therefore have attained a moral precedent of authority over you.
So as a result, people are having to find ways in todays’ society to avoid circumstances where they are subject to such abuse. It’s causes many to plan a logistical discourse in their daily lives to avoid such people. Some just to choose to ignore them, but this often dosen’t work out well in cases where a control freak has attained a position of power. I think it’s time we rise up and shut these societal bullies down. Stand up for yourself. It’s your life, not theirs.