Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Before the lockdowns, I used to think the most dangerous threat to liberty was democracy, that people would eventually vote away their liberty a piece at a time, but to my utter surprise, people surrendered their liberty, virtually all of it, to the pandemic without so much as a whimper; and were seemingly resigned to continue like that indefinitely. It's especially worrisome how few people were willing to speak against the tyranny: apparently, surrendering liberty is easy but defying authoritarianism is difficult; that sanctimonious mocking, scorn & ridicule from the neighbors is an effective deterrent against standing up for your rights.

But perhaps the true cause of our capitulation is indeed democracy because of the nature of the leaders that emerge? A large faction of the political candidates who get elected have authoritarian impulses, needing only the opportunity to unleash them. It's unclear what these demagogues want: is it power? Defeat a president they don’t like? Destroy Capitalism? An entire political party surrendered their liberty without hesitation, doesn't seem to want it back; and wants everybody else to surrender their liberty too, which in fact, we did, almost instantaneously.