My late father was a US army officer in London during World War II and I remember best his stories of the stern old air raid wardens of the day. According to dad’s stories their power was absolute. If an air raid warden told you to stub out that cigarette, you did it, no questions asked, lest an eagle-eyed German aircrew from on high blow up the whole neighborhood. If he told you to draw that shade, you drew it. Bottom line was, if the air raid warden told you to sh*t, you asked what color. These wardens were a crusty old lot, past prime military age, to free the younger men up for the front. They were effective because the British people of the day believed in something called truth. One example of truth was that the Germans were the enemy who needed to be defeated. There was no equivocation so they all pulled together.
How come we don’t have our own version of air raid warden to help us out in this time of corona panic? Put that mask on, you can hear the old guy shouting. And If that didn’t work, he might take the scofflaw off by the scruff of the neck off to the local hooscow.
But, in order for the air raid warden to wield authority, the people would have to believe in something. Like the Brits of WW II, they would have to have a shared understanding called truth. No, I’m not talking about the kind of truth that philosophers deal in, like how many angels can dance on the head of a nuclear bomb. No, I mean a plainer, more practical concept of truth; like can you believe our president? The congress? How about the MSM? Surely you believe the MSM? Right? But, don’t forget that most of the stuff the networks carry comes from right- wing or left- wing think-tanks. Sometimes it seems like an original thought is a thing of the past. Truth, today, is manufactured in the bowels of the corporations. Some call it the deep state.