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plague journaling
Mar. 24th, 2020 05:40 pmI got a letter today, provided from somewhere substantially upstream in the company I work for--it covers company locations across the country. It's a statement of employment in a critical infrastructure industry and therefore exemption from the shelter at home orders active in the state. If I get stopped by cops on my way to and from work, I can presumably show them that and be allowed to go on my way.
This is the weirdest fucking experience I have ever had.
And I'm aware that aspects of this--the threat of being randomly stopped by police, the need to carry documentation to prove I'm allowed to be here--are not wild new experiences for many POC and immigrants. It is still a real wild ride. I have papers. I might be asked to show my papers.
Moment of levity: I am reminded of this scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade--
My disturbing thought of the day, though, is: what if they just...don't end any of this? I think of the invasive surveillance and security policies that arose following 9/11, which came under the banner of emergency action, which simply never went away again. Those things became normal parts of everyday life, regardless of whether they were still necessary or beneficial. What policies are we seeing put into place as part of crisis response that could linger, depending on how those in power choose to define "crisis?"
One consolation on that count is that President Tang is obsessed primarily with the economic impact of all this. Hell, he's apparently just been talking today about wanting to ease the restrictions on activities because he doesn't like the slow down in business. So the prospect of him enacting draconian restrictions on public life seems unlikely. I mean, he'll probably use this as a chance to severely limit movement across our borders, because fucking of course he will. Those policies will probably prove to be ~weirdly long-lived~ as covid-19 itself might recede.
My apologies for the grim outlook. It's been a weird day.
This is the weirdest fucking experience I have ever had.
And I'm aware that aspects of this--the threat of being randomly stopped by police, the need to carry documentation to prove I'm allowed to be here--are not wild new experiences for many POC and immigrants. It is still a real wild ride. I have papers. I might be asked to show my papers.
Moment of levity: I am reminded of this scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade--
My disturbing thought of the day, though, is: what if they just...don't end any of this? I think of the invasive surveillance and security policies that arose following 9/11, which came under the banner of emergency action, which simply never went away again. Those things became normal parts of everyday life, regardless of whether they were still necessary or beneficial. What policies are we seeing put into place as part of crisis response that could linger, depending on how those in power choose to define "crisis?"
One consolation on that count is that President Tang is obsessed primarily with the economic impact of all this. Hell, he's apparently just been talking today about wanting to ease the restrictions on activities because he doesn't like the slow down in business. So the prospect of him enacting draconian restrictions on public life seems unlikely. I mean, he'll probably use this as a chance to severely limit movement across our borders, because fucking of course he will. Those policies will probably prove to be ~weirdly long-lived~ as covid-19 itself might recede.
My apologies for the grim outlook. It's been a weird day.
