Throughout history, emergencies — or the threat of of them — have served as opportunities for ambitious individuals to seize power from the people, allowing them to impose their own despotic will on a believing populace. This pattern can be traced back to ancient Athens, where emergency powers paved the way for a succession of tyrants, usurpers, and demagogues to rise to prominence. Notable figures such as Pisistratus, Draco, Sulla, and Julius Caesar are just a few examples from antiquity of those men in positions of power who capitalized on the apparent imminent onset of emergencies to assert autocratic authority over the people of their respective societies. Contemporary Americans are all too familiar with the lingering of extraordinary political power long after the threat (if there ever was one) has past. The government’s handling of the Covid-19 “pandemic” in early 2020 resulted in a significant expansion of state power, rivaling even the unprecedented and unconstitutional swelling of government witnessed after September 11, 2001 through the enactment of the grossly misnamed Patriot Act. Governments across both red and blue states, with few exceptions, issued unheard-of mandates arguably aimed at curbing the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Governors, influenced by key figures in the Donald Trump administration, particularly Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, forced the shuttering of businesses deemed “nonessential,” with any resistance to such decrees threatened with prosecution. Almost without exception, these actions were carried out without consideration for constitutional implications or the individual rights of citizens.
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