The land of the free and home of the brave has become a country of agoraphobes—people who are afraid to go outdoors. While our president continues to boast about the incredible American spirit and the courage of the American people, both his presidential guidelines for combating the coronavirus and his coronavirus task force have our whole country cowering in our homes. If you listen to all the confusing and contradictory information coming from our present-day politicians, healthcare professionals, and the press, you’ll be convinced that you’re imperiling your life every time you step outside your front door without a hazmat suit. 

Fear is the favorite weapon wielded by usurpers in the usurpation of tyrannical power over a populace. Throughout history, tyrants have come to power when a terrified people willingly forfeited their freedoms and embraced some would-be fuhrer as their national savior. You may vehemently protest at this point that our present president has no intention of being hailed as our fuhrer, but is only attempting to protect us from a worldwide pandemic. However, imprudent precedents set by a good-intentioned president can still lead to unintended and unfortunate consequences. As history plainly teaches us, tyranny is not always implemented intentionally and straightforwardly. Sometimes it is backed into unintentionally by a well-intentioned and overprotective government in a time of national crisis.

Consider a couple of consequences of our government’s current overprotective policies that possibly await our country just around the corner. First, shutting down our country and confining us to our homes, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus, may not just be unprecedented, but prove to be perpetual in the days ahead. Will we switch from a free republic to a police state at every future outbreak of a fatal pathogen. Furthermore, will any menace to our national security provide a pretext to our politicians to put us under Martial Law. For instance, will a terrorist attack on American soil instigate a shutdown of America for the safety of all Americans? Remember, the city of Boston was shutdown for the safety of Bostonians after two terrorists setoff a couple of crockpot bombs at the Boston Marathon. 

Another thing to consider in regards to our government’s possible overreaction to future terrorist attacks is the motivation it will give to terrorists. Knowing that an attack can possibly have reverberations all over our nation, by disrupting our lives and economy, how much more will terrorists be motivated by their malignity in their militancy?

Second, consider the fact that pastors currently being arrested under “safer at home” orders for endangerment—endangering their congregants and communities by holding church services during the coronavirus pandemic—sets a dangerous precedent empowering our government to make future arrests anytime a pastor conducts a church service that Big Brother deems endangering to any American. For instance, a pastor preaching against same-sex marriage or drag queens reading books to little children at local libraries could be incarcerated for endangering the LGBT community.

The political nightmare our country has been dragged through over the Russian Collusion Hoax was all made possible by unconstitutional measures taken by the Bush Administration following the 9/11 terrorist attack upon our country. After the attack, a terrified America acquiesced to the government’s unconstitutional invasion of our privacy in order to protect us from feared terrorists hidden in our midst. While we applauded these measures at the time with our trembling hands, they’ve now proven to be appalling, having been used by our own intelligent community in an attempted coup to overthrown a presidential election and undermine our democracy.

Once again a frightened America is applauding with trembling hands our government’s unconstitutional infringement of our rights and freedoms, believing it is all being done for the protection and preservation of our lives. However, what we hail today may prove to be horrifying to us tomorrow. Unfortunately, most Americans don’t have the foresight to see beyond the moment, nor the insight to see, as Benjamin Franklin did, that a people willing to sacrifice their freedom for security deserve neither and are doomed in the end to lose both.