The Evolution of the American Police State

With the unconscionable persecution of the January 6th protesters, the unabashed government censorship of speech, the weaponization of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the egregious abuse of presidential executive orders and emergency declarations, the American police state is no longer a hypothetical possibility but an increasingly indisputable reality.

While imperceptibly evolving over many decades, the emergence of the American police state was significantly accelerated with the overreaction to the September 11, 2001 terror attack. Even more important was the Covid 19 pandemic that dramatically increased the momentum toward a police state as once a people are terrorized it is easy to impose a police state on them.

When societies lose their freedom, it is not ordinarily because autocrats or tyrants have forcibly taken it away.  It is usually the result of the population willingly surrendering their freedom in return for protection against an external threat.  While the threat is oftentimes real it is invariably exaggerated.

In both 911 and Covid-19, the general public was stampeded into demanding action from their elected leaders.  The politicians responded and did not pause to ask whether the actions undertaken would work; just do something was the mantra.  They were unconcerned about the unintended consequences or the financial and societal cost to the nation.

Any student of history and human nature would recognize that these are the classic symptoms of collective hysteria.  Hysteria is contagious.  This nation turned itself inside out as the media and unscrupulous politicians grossly exaggerated these threats and did not stop to ask if the cure would be worse than the disease.

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