MISES WIRE

Stephen Rowland
* Chungnam National University Visiting Prof
* Mises Institute Korea Visiting Scholar

Governments are, at their core, as Murray Rothbard put it, a criminal band.  As such, they act in a manner that would be illegal if done by regular people. Murder is called “war,” theft is called “taxation,” kidnapping is called “incarceration,” etc.  The euphemisms abound when it comes to the actions of the state.  Let’s get into one of the ways that the government practices slavery, to a lesser extent than the draft, but more visible in the last couple of years. 

First of all, the US government has finally lifted the federal mask mandate on public transportation. Great news. According to this Reuters article (which makes the point that the judge was a Trump appointee because everything is partisan): 

"Judge Mizelle said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had exceeded its authority with the mandate, had not sought public comment and did not adequately explain its decisions." 

This means the government broke the law for 14 months! They forced people to buy and wear something that, if the individuals thought it was necessary, they would wear (or not). There is another name for forcing people to do something against their will- slavery.  Just like with the vaccinations where they don’t just force you to wear a piece of paper over your face, so you don’t get enough oxygen or sunlight, but they force you to take a drug that has not been adequately tested for a virus that has a 99% survival rate.  So far, the government has not been holding people down and sticking the needle in their arms, but they make it so you cannot work or go to most public places without showing that you got the shot. You can look at the areas with high vaccination rates and there is not a great difference from areas with lower vaccination rates.  Korea has one of the highest rates and is just coming down from a record spike. 

So, the Biden administration said they would go along with the court’s ruling, but: 

"A U.S. administration official said while the agencies were assessing potential next steps, the court's decision meant CDC's public transportation masking order was no longer in effect. The administration could still opt to appeal the order or seek an emergency delay in the order's enforcement." 

Thus, they may try to bring it back, which is what happens when a too-powerful government is under the control of the pharmaceutical industry and their bought-and-paid-for bureaucrats.  

In response to the mandate being lifted, Medical journalist Liz Highleyman tweeted a graph showing that areas with and without mask mandates have had the same results.  She stated in a thread “I was an early mask adopter -- & they make intuitive sense -- but a growing body of evidence shows that mask mandates don't appear to make much difference at the community level.” And “If it were clear that mask mandates saved lives & reduced disability, I'd feel different about them. Lowering transmission would be worth considerable inconvenience & political cost. But we have to know whether they work before those considerations come into play.” 

We will not get too deep into whether masks even helped here.  I think the missing story is, as usual, the government does something they believe in, gets called out by a court, and is simply told to stop doing it.  There is never any punishment or compensation for the misery, destruction, or inconvenience caused by the government and its illegal actions.  

There are countless cases of government making a law, punishing people for breaking said law, and then the law being struck down by a judge.  One would hope they would release anyone arrested for the no-longer-crime. However, if the person evaded arrest, or struck a police officer, they would still be on the hook for that, even though they would not have been approached by police if not for the illegal law. The point is the government has no incentive to stop making illegal laws because they just stop enforcing it if it is stopped and keep on going about their business as if nothing happened.  From the same Reuters article, in the last 14 months, over 7000 passengers have had incidents, 70% regarding masks, resulting in thousands of people put on “no-fly” lists for not wearing a mask!  One airline, Alaska Airlines (not flying with them ever), said some of those people will still be banned even though the policy is now illegal.  Maybe they got unruly after being told repeatedly to wear a mask or get off the plane, but this is like punishing Harriet Tubman for working on the Underground Railroad because it was “against the law.” 

Look at the Biden administration’s attempts to force the COVID vaccine on various groups.  Some of the mandates were struck down but they still got one through because of the unconstitutional-but-not-ruled-unconstitutional government agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  That agency was able to impose a vaccine on health care workers, but not employers with more than 100 workers. Government pushes and pushes and when it gets pushed back, it moves in another direction, never stopping. Government, to paraphrase the 1984 classic Terminator, is out there, it can’t be bargained with, it can’t be reasoned with, it doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear, and it absolutely will not stop... EVER, until (your liberties) are dead! 

On that note, let us look at South Korea, where I live.  Korean President Moon lifted all other restrictions except for the mask mandates on the 18th, so for now, at least, the only way to take off your mask outside is by puffing on a cigarette.  The above-linked article points to a problem that helps government continue to harass people for their “own good.”  Some Koreans stated they wore masks before the mandate of 2020 because of Springtime pollen and yellow dust from China, pollution, or even to avoid doing makeup.  This is where you point out that lack of a mandate doesn’t mean you cannot wear one if you desire to.  That’s the point of freedom, you do you. My 4-year-old has cuts on his ears from constantly wearing a mask at school and while playing outside.  

Incoming President Yoon Suk-yeol, of the conservative People Power Party, is said to be for ending the mask mandates and will be inaugurated on May 10. He is the one who put former President Park in jail for her crimes (think a day at the office for many American politicians), even though they were in the same party, so I have to give him credit there.  Of course, his presidential transition committee chairman is a former presidential candidate and Korea’s Bill Gates, Ahn Cheol-soo.  He’s closer to John McAfee in that he founded a popular antivirus software company, but I don’t want to besmirch John McAfee. Mr. Ahn is against lifting the mask mandate and wants to go all-in on forcing vaccines and further quarantines. I have a hard time believing any good promises of politicians, so I will not hold my breath that the end of mask mandates is near. 

In conclusion, government, in a democratic society, is supposed to be the Vox populi, the voice of the people. That means the government speaks on behalf of the people, but instead the government acts on its own whims and desires, often to the detriment of the people in and out of the country they control. By the way, this is one reason I don’t want a “democratic” government.  We didn’t even get into the illegal and immoral actions of the US government upon other countries that get white-washed because the media is in league with them.  That is a topic for another day.  The government is a band of criminals, and they get away with their actions because they are the court system and the media. The coercive state government system is not reprogrammable like the second Terminator, instead, it needs to be demolished and never put back together. 

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