Remember COVID-19 lockdowns? They started with “15 days to slow the spread,” and they were for our own good. Then they lasted a lot longer than 15 days.
Georgia opened up first after about a month, and a few other states followed, but some states and other countries went back and forth between lockdowns and cautious freedom. Most recently, Shanghai locked its population down for two months this spring, leaving millions without the ability to buy food or take care of other basic needs, and at one point, the government even considered locking people down in factories.
This is because too many government officials get drunk on their own power. Sure, they may think they’re acting out of benevolence because they condescendingly think that they know better than the peons in their city, state, or country do. We’re currently seeing this in France, where a heatwave has led the government to ban outdoor events.
“Outdoor public events have been banned in an area of France as a record-breaking heatwave sweeps across Europe,” reports the BBC. “Concerts and large public gatherings have been called off in the Gironde department around Bordeaux. On Thursday, parts of France hit 40C [104° F] earlier in the year than ever before, with temperatures expected to peak on Saturday.”
That’s a helluva heatwave. Here in the South, we’ve had temps in the 90s and even topping 100° at some points over the past week, but our governors haven’t banned outdoor events, thank God.
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Here’s the funny part: authorities have called off events celebrating the French Resistance.
“Outdoor events – including, ironically, annual ‘Resistance’ celebrations – are banned until the officials declare the heatwave is over,” reports the Counter Signal. “They’re even restricting some indoor events that don’t have air conditioning. However, private weddings are still allowed.”
Remember, all of this is for the good of the French people, who authorities don’t think have enough sense to take care of themselves.
“‘Everyone now faces a health risk,’ local official Fabienne Buccio told France Bleu radio,” according to the BBC. “The French interior ministry warned people to be extremely careful and not expose themselves to the weather.”
Granted, Europeans don’t have air conditioning as much as we do here in the U.S., partially because they don’t often have heat like we do in parts of the States, but also in part because of the prevalence of the climate change movement.
Still, the French government could have left the choice in the hands of the French people.
“Nonetheless, rather than let people take responsibility for themselves – to hydrate or stay home – French officials are comfortable deciding for them,” writes Mike Campbell at the Counter Signal. “Indeed, democratic governments seem comfortable stripping citizens’ freedoms for safety as of late.”
Time and time again over the past couple of years, we’ve seen governments act in ways that prove how drunk on power they are. And while this heatwave lockdown may not last more than a few days, it would be nice to see the people of France stand up and become “a people who will not be slaves again.”
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