It’s important for readers to understand that in addition to the perceived public ‘threat’ of the coronavirus and COVID 19, they should also understand how the psychology of mass panic is influencing the collective social and political response to this crisis.
Indeed, some psychologists believe that mass hysteria can be a form of groupthink. In some cases, group members can rapidly develop a common fear which more often than not – spirals into a mass hysteria and panic. In this situation, members of the public feed off of mainstream media hysteria and exaggerated government announcements, but more importantly – feeding on each other’s emotional reactions, causing panic to escalate.
Incredibly, New England residents have taken measures into their own hands by cutting a tree down in order to block a road to protect their homes from ‘out of state’ carriers of coronavirus.
Doha Madani from NBC News report…
A group of Maine residents apparently tried to forcibly quarantine their neighbors by cutting down a tree and blocking a roadway out of fear they might have the coronavirus.
A man who lived on Cripple Creek Road in Vinalhaven on an island off Maine left his residence to check on disrupted cable service when he came across a downed tree in the road, according to a Facebook post Saturday from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. He told police that when he got out of his car to inspect the tree, a group of people, some with guns, gathered around him and told him he needed to be quarantined.
This news story by NBC introduces the novel concept of ‘crowd sourced surveillance’, in effect encouraging members of public to deploy their own drones to ‘monitor’ their own neighbors:
The three roommates called for help and then used their drone to keep an eye on the group outside until authorities arrived. Law enforcement officials found that the tree had been cut and dragged into the roadway.
The story goes on the reiterate that inhibiting one’s freedom of movement is in fact illegal (for now):
The sheriff’s office statement reminded residents that anyone infringing on another person’s free movements is violating the law. It also urged anyone who fears that someone may have contracted the coronavirus to contact authorities first.
“We want everyone to be informed about Covid-19 and the rules around it,” the office said. “We also want everyone to be safe and not overreact in this time of uncertainty as it could end poorly.”
ABC News added:
“Several law enforcement entities arrived in the area and found the felled tree but no group of people,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “It was apparent that the tree had been cut down and dragged into the roadway to block it.”
If the government continues to ramp-up quarantine and ‘lockdown’ measures, then it will almost certainly lead to more scenes like this one.
21WIRE readers may already know that scenes like this which set neighbor against neighbor will often attract government forces to intervene, all of which are common precursors for civil unrest.
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