Hypocrisy: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or believes to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.
Tyranny in the time of COVID-19 is highlighted with acts of startling hypocrisy by the American ruling class. After ordering their constituents to “stay home,” it soon became apparent that staying home was actually optional for those making the rules.
In one of the most blatant cases, a mayor of a large American city-- after incarcerating the population and shutting down beauty parlors--was caught at one of those establishments. When pressed she unabashedly informed the people that because she is the mayor and “the public face of the city,” she is more important than the average citizen.
While this shows a complete disregard for the people of her city, it fits well into the definition of tyranny and reflects the do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do mentality that possesses many of our leaders.
In another troubling instance, a member of the elite media was found outside his house after he lectured his viewers for weeks to “stay home.”
Even though he had tested positive for COVID-19, he was seen with several other people and was not wearing a mask. When confronted by a concerned citizen, he swears at the man and tells him to mind his own business. The hypocrisy is startling.
And then there are the other annoying examples. These are not necessarily startling to the public but just tend to make people mad. For example, the governor of Michigan banned the use of motor boats, yet her husband was found at a local lake doing exactly that. Meanwhile, the governor of California closed down all the wineries in the state, except for the winery he owns.
As the American people suffer through unprecedented events, a murderer in uniform killed a black man in Minneapolis. This single event sets off nationwide protests and even riots and murders in some cities.
However, what is truly startling to the locked down population is the absolute silence by the ruling class in condemning the protests for violating the stay-at-home mandates, social distancing rules, and masks edicts.
Why is no one stepping up to point this out? Why is no one condemning the actions of the protestors based on the COVID-19 inspired rules alone?
And finally, why are some of the ruling class actually participating in the protests, walking arm-in-arm with demonstrators who are sometimes unmasked?
Equally surprising is the fact that mayors of major American cities have actually denied that thousands of people marching in close proximity might explain spikes in their COVID-19 cases, as if the act of protesting somehow gives immunity from the virus.
To date, only Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles acknowledges that protesting has contributed to a spike in infections. Embattled Mayor Bill DeBlasio of New York, against all logic, continues to state that there is no connection between the spike his city is experiencing and the protests.
At a time when the public is told they cannot attend a wedding, participate in a church service, or have a funeral for a loved one, they watched thousands of unmasked people attend three different funerals for Mr. Floyd.
The net effect of all of these examples of hypocrisy (and there are many more) is the erosion of trust in the ruling class.
In order to be relevant, laws must be accepted by the population. One of the most common ways to make them irrelevant--and thus unenforceable--is for the political class to violate their own edicts.
When this happens so often, we can see that tyranny is alive and well in our culture.
