Don's Tuesday Column

           THE WAY I SEE IT   by Don Polson Red Bluff Daily News   2/07/2023

Big Gov to Plebeians: We Know Best

We now have de facto separation of classes in America, a nation created as the first place in the world where people are free to rise—or eventually fall—based on their own abilities, skills and merit; no permanent stratified governing class. The term “plebeian” goes back to the Roman Empire and its concept of “citizen,” meaning “of Rome,” a far greater stature than a foreigner, or even someone born into areas governed by Rome. The plebeian was, nonetheless, never allowed into the ruling, or patrician, class.

Google: Among many English-speaking nations, “plebeian,” or pleb is “someone considered unsophisticated, uncultured, or lower class.” While America remains a place where anyone can run for office, and even influence local, state or federal government (at least until voted out), the areas where even such elected officials have sway is increasingly proscribed by the highest levels of state and federal bureaucracy, Congress and the judiciary. You might call it the “illusion of self-governance.”

The Founders of our nation, and the Framers of our Constitution, had such faith in the intelligence, knowledge and common sense of Americans that, from the farmer to the businessman, the documents “constituting” our form of self-governance could be read and understood. More importantly, it was left to our “citizens,” unlike in ancient Rome, to know when those elected to govern were crossing the lines limiting their powers, or even abusing their constitutionally limited authority.

An appointed bureaucracy—that could formulate rules, then interpret them, mandate compliance, and prosecute and punish citizens for noncompliance—was anathema to the Framers of our representative democracy. They foresaw a populace holding ultimate power to rein in any attempts to evade accountability. It was nigh inconceivable that an entire economy could be manipulated into quasi-impoverishment, or forced to comply with so-called climate change mandates, or put under health restrictions so onerous as to be ground to a halt.

And yet, those are the realities: Massive spending—with borrowed, printed money to the extent that our national debt exceeds the worth of our nation’s products, services and assets—has directly caused inflation that’s exceeded the growth of wages and products, and makes workers poorer by the week.

Americans are “gaslighted,” or lied to while being told it’s their own failure to believe the spin from leaders like Joe Biden et al. Biden proclaims: 1) Inflation is “down” while it remains 11 to 12 percent for food, the cumulative diminishment of paychecks and livelihoods will never be recovered, and gas is still up 50 percent;

2) Some 517,000 jobs were “created” in January, and 12 million since he took office. While 25 million jobs were lost during the pandemic, most of the recovered jobs were in “red,” Republican states. Employment is less than 1.9 million above pre-pandemic levels, not 12 million, but the working-age population is 6.3 million higher and we are several million workers short of pre-pandemic “labor force participation.” (Tim McMahon)

Full-time workers declined by 10,000 from March, 2022 to January (132.587 million vs. 132.577 million), while part-time workers increased almost 1.5 million. The “Household survey” (calling people to ask job status) has recorded 2.7 million fewer jobs than the “Payroll survey” (establishment review of large/medium businesses). The household survey finds a net gain of 12,000 jobs over the last three quarters. Which do you suspect is manipulated/adjusted to make Biden’s economy look better? (ZeroHedge, Forbes) We didn’t go from sub-average 200,000/per month holiday hiring to 500,000 new jobs in January, period.

3) The intentional imposition of COVID mandates, unprecedented in America’s constitutional history—shutting down businesses, churches, travel, schools, family visitation and military and private sector employment—were not only without legal authority but were also never scientifically justified.

“The Cochrane Library contains high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. It includes reliable evidence from Cochrane and other systematic reviews, clinical trials, and…brings you the combined results of the world’s best medical research studies, recognized as the gold standard in evidence-based health care.”

“The Cochrane Library has been reviewing the use of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses since 2010 (meaning masks, shields, gowns, hand-washing, etc).…The pooled results of RCTs (randomized controlled trials) did not show a clear reduction in respiratory viral infection with the use of medical/surgical masks (nor N95/P2) …” (Dr. Robert Malone, TheEpochTimes.com)

Moreover, the vaccines were never clinically tested against transmission and infection, as admitted by a Pfizer executive to Congress. Effectiveness was observed for initial waves in the most vulnerable populations but there was never scientific support for vaccine mandates for the vast non-vulnerable age groups like the young. Our health and governing elite have never admitted their errors and will reimpose mandates without hesitation.

Space limits being able to apply the same analysis to the imposition of global warming/climate “crisis”-predicated policies. Manipulated data (see: gas stove bans), economy/energy-killing anti-natural gas measures, indefensible tax subsidies for electric vehicles, “renewable” solar and wind boondoggles, intentionally jacked up electricity rates while eschewing more economically available nuclear energy (under 10 cents per kwh)—it’s madness.

This is all they’ve got: Pseudo-science, manipulated computer models, and insatiable lust for controlling the population to fulfill “patrician” aspirations to rule the “plebeians.” Utopianism has driven totalitarianism every time it’s tried.