NOTES FROM CAPTIVITY: IS MANDATORY MANDATORY?

“Fear Your Government”. Perhaps the best advice my Father ever gave me. But his runner-up – “Never eat anything bigger than your head” – has saved me some problems over the years.

In addition to C19 burn-out, I fear we are also suffering from Government/’Expert’ burn-out. And it hasn’t just started with the CDC providing weird and contradictory advice: You don’t need to wear a mask. Wear a mask. Don’t wear plaid with a mask, after Arbor Day. Eat your salad after your meal. Eat things bigger than your head. And perhaps the weirdest: Dr. Fauci, dressed as Darth Vader, warning us to not travel for Thanksgiving.

It didn’t help that modeling experts told us that 2 million will die! That all of us will die! Every one whose last name begins with B will die!

And going back a generation, the ‘expert’ who told us not to feed our kids peanut butter. Because. It. Sounded. Like. A. Good. Idea. A contributing factor to Mr. Peanut’s recent death (suicide?)…

And it doesn’t help that evidence of governmental over-reaction abounds. Now that winter is approaching, local authorities will be cancelling school at the drop of a hat (Literally. “You could trip over that hat, or put your eye out!”), making one wonder if there will be snow days for virtual school.

And how about mandatory evacuations?  We were recently told to evacuate, just so “we wouldn’t forget how”. But I really can’t blame the man my captor calls “The Governor” for ordering us to evacuate – real power is being able to make both sides of the highway go in the same direction!

But if they can’t make us leave, what is mandatory about mandatory?  

Heading into the ‘mandatory’ breach is mask wearing, which we’re told should be mandated  by mandates (from the Latin mandatorius); I visit retail outlets where masks are mandatory yet there are people bare faced, and wearing plaid. When is mandatory mandatory?   

And going way back, how nervous did we really need to be about our permanent record? There were school days where I actually behaved because of that threat. Where is our permanent record stored?  In the cloud? Or in a massive shoe box at FBI HQ? Is it more threatening to our reputations than social media? I was Altar Boy of the Year in 8^th grade – doesn’t that count for something?

Think about the odd things that have occurred –or haven’t really happened – and in all likelihood are the work of the Government:

Michael  Stipe begins to enunciate late in his career. Speech lessons, or the CIA threatening his family?

The Pittsburgh Pirates winning the 1960 World Series. Right.

Chick-Fil-A closed on Sundays. Religiously motivated, or the FBI in McDonald’s pocket?

And is Mr. Peanut really dead, or just on an island with JFK?

Fear your Government. When my Dad was right, he was right.

And  I only bring this mandatory thing up, because my idea to build readership of these posts is to make readership mandatory. Good luck with that, I guess.