“Emergencies have always been the pretext on which the safeguards of individual liberty have eroded.” — Friedrich Hayek

When the shutdown happened, it was a panicked, random, sweeping irrational decision made by scared politicians responding to howling media freaks. Regular people were horrified. All these three weeks later, you can see people coming around and thinking oh-oh-oh we can’t possibly open up until the virus goes away, which is a preposterous outlook because viruses of one sort or another have always been with us and somehow civilization managed to cobble together the idea of human rights in spite of this. In any case, right now I’m shocked at the dearth of public voices calling for an immediate opening. And think about it: if you are not for an immediate shift from government controls back to freedom of association right now, you are de facto for shutdown. Consider that. Now think about the writers, pundits, intellectuals and other big shot voices out there who could make a difference for freedom RIGHT NOW but are declining to do so for fear of the social-media mobs or whatever. Moral courage is among the world’s rarest and most precious qualities. — Jeffery Tucker

“If you’re angered by citations for being in park with your nuclear family, or in your car or running on the beach — or, for that matter, if you’re angered by the “non-essential” goods roped off in stores — understand that these things have nothing to do with fighting the virus and everything to do with power-hungry politicians and law enforcement” — Ilya Shapiro, economist and lawyer.

“Distrust all in whom the desire to punish is powerful.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Here is another data-study which shows “virtually zero correlation between speed of shut down and expected death rates.”