“We’ll come down on you like a ton of bricks!”

The title quote is the wisdom of our honourable BC Premier John Horgan pertaining to rule breakers. Apparently, our glorious leader has decided that the province’s number one threat was dissent and that a crackdown was in order because COVID.

Well, I take exception to that. This is a most undignified thing to hear from the mouth of a head of state. I say the worst threat we face isn’t COVID, and it certainly isn’t dissent: it’s the erosion of public discourse, and if we don’t reverse it now it will kill far more people than any virus.

Erosion of civil discourse always comes from the top, and Comrade Horgan isn’t the only offender. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a shot at inflammatory rhetoric too, by claiming that Canadians are ‘angry’ and ‘frustrated’ with the unvaccinated. Which is of course a self-realizing statement since the mob always looks up to their leaders for guidance.

Some even get quite blunt on the topic: for example, French President Emmanuel Macron openly admitted to resorting to bullying to get people vaccinated. This is no longer about COVID, or safety; this is about criminalizing dissent, period.

Let’s put aside what we think of “rule breakers” or “anti-vaxxers”. Singling out a group for ostracism is simply not okay, period. Would you replace these terms with “immigrants”? “religious minorities”? “ethnic groups”? “gays and lesbians”? “AIDS patients”? “homeless people”? If you would, then we will never reach an agreement.

And if you think it’s far-fetched, you haven’t been following the news; after all, violence against Asian Americans has skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s largely been fuelled by former US President Donald J. Trump.

This quickly degenerates into escalating threats toward the targeted group, with opinions like denying medical treatment to the unvaccinated going mainstream. Indeed, now people clamour for mass murdering the unvaccinated. What’s next? Martial law? I’ve heard ordinary people with jobs, families, and pets voicing that very opinion in my face, and they’re not my friends anymore.

Fear always brings the worst out of people. Fear begets hate, and hate must have a target. The pack looks up to its leader, who directs them toward whoever is deemed inconvenient. This is how segregation and violence start. This is how war and genocide start. Suddenly this is no longer about safety, but compliance. Pack mentality in a nutshell. Ask aboriginals right here in Canada how they feel on the topic.

And this is not okay. That’s why civil liberties are a cornerstone of civil society; without them a society goes down the way of ex-Yugoslavia. And never presume it could never happen here, because that’s exactly how it does happen. Hell, Trump happened because nobody outside the conservative bubble thought it could happen. January 6th happened for the same reason.

Allow me to prove my point by turning it around. I am a chess player, and my goal is of course to capture the enemy king. So let’s extend to society a preemptive offer to disband, on one simple condition: that we be allowed to come down on BC Premier John Horgan like a ton of bricks. I’m dead serious. Come on, all the rest of you have to do is sacrifice one person for the greater good. Everyone would be safer and happier this way; the zombie horde would scatter and the living could go on with their lives, in return for cutting off one pesky weasel. Of course if Mr. Horgan fails to comply then any ensuing collateral damage shall be his fault and you should come down on him like a ton of bricks (just leave some for us). Sounds like a good deal, right? I look forward to hearing your response.