If someone told you in December 2019 that a virus would be unleashed on the world which would result in a shutdown of most of the world's economy, what would you think? Either the person needed psychiatric assistance or liked to engage in fanciful conspiracy theories. So here it is, trillions of dollars later, and the world is just starting to awaken from a self-imposed shutdown and get back to some degree of normalcy–or is it?
Most of us who remember the 1950s and 60s would remember the TV show, The Twilight Zone, The theme of the show explored the boundary between what is real and what is in our imagination, and that our perception of reality can indeed be blurred.
The shock of Covid-19 with the reaction to it makes 2020 a year that could play out like a Twilight Zone episode. The massive shutting down of most countries, involved not only international travel, but also movement within a country, or within a state with police patrolling artificial borders. Further exacerbating, the assault on people's freedoms was the mandatory closure of businesses. In some cases, small business owners were arrested for trying to eke out a living. There were cases of citizens turning on others reporting anyone who violated the new "rules". It was surreal to see these events, especially in America, the bastion of liberty.
Just when we got a handle on the virus, then came the horrible murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. What was stunning was the speed with which an avalanche of protests and riots engulfed America, and spread to many countries. What is worse is that seemingly overnight, an extremist group, Black Lives Matter became mainstream. Corporations, the media and politicians were on board with the mantra of "Black Lives Matter". The situation has become so egregious, that if you dare to state that "All Lives Matter", you could lose your job, be boycotted or more seriously, assaulted. It is like a whole shakedown of corporate and political America, all giving in to Marxists and anarchists.
There is a difference between black lives mattering and a group that wishes to overthrow social order in a country. Most people who were elevating The Black Lives Matter group were either ignorant of the group or unaware of the fact that this is a racist group which has espoused antisemitism and anti-police rhetoric. Let's remember the chant, "What do you want? Dead cops!", as they marched down the street during earlier protests.
The situation has become upside down with the push to defund or eliminate police forces, as espoused by leaders in some cities. It's like some collective insanity has struck a large number of people. Then we had the spectacle of a bunch of ragtag individuals taking over a six-city block area of downtown Seattle, calling themselves the new country of Chaz or Chop. The Seattle mayor said that she approved of the new autonomous zone as a "summer of love".
I am reminded of the 1960 Twilight Zone episode, "Eye Of The Beholder". In this episode, a woman is lying in a hospital bed with her face and head bandaged while receiving treatment for facial disfigurement. We never see the faces of the doctors and nurses for most of the episode. The climax comes when the bandages are taken off and we see the woman's face; it looks normal. The doctors and nurses express their alarm that the treatment didn't work. We then see the doctor's and the nurse's faces; they are all horribly disfigured. The point is that whether it's beauty or societal norms, it's in the eyes of the beholder. Right now extremists are seen in many circles as the virtuous ones while the rest are vilified as racists and privileged.
We don't know where this is all going. We have had race riots before in America however, rational people were behind the police, and law and order, because the violence only hurts those individuals who the rioters are purporting to support. This is what happens when peaceful protests descend into anarchy. What is different this time is that there are many supporting the tearing down of stable institutions.
If there is a bad cop, he or she will be prosecuted according to the legal system, the same as others who are violating the law. What is different in 2020 is that officials, who should know better, are discounting the rule of law and playing into the hands of the extremists. The hope is that the silent majority of people will demand a restoration of sensibility and take us out of this twilight zone.
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