Symbols and Body Language

Something encouraging happened during my walk today. I came across an old lady, coming down the street towards me. She was struggling with a heavy bag in her hand, and with a mask across her nose. As we got closer, she gave me a look. Then, she pulled her mask down under her chin.

That could have been pure coincidence, of course. However, a little later, on my way up the road to the local park, I came across a man, and the exact same thing happened. He gave me a look. Then he pulled his mask under his chin.

Apparently, we really can change people's behaviour by setting an example. No argument went into this. I simply chose to walk deliberately in a manner reminiscent of the gentlemen of old, when liberty still was a thing. Making it easy for people to follow my example, I wore my mask under my chin rather than not at all. This lures the marginal mask wearer over from the side of totalitarian submission to that of liberty and strength.

As things stand, we appear to be close to an inflection point. Full compliance with the mask wearing rules is barely 50%, and the minions on the side of the totalitarians are largely soy boys and their mothers. Walking down the street with my cane in hand and my mask under my chin, I'm not exactly shaking with fear. The marginal mask wearer has no trouble discerning where the power lies. Hobby fascists have all but disappeared, which might be why politicians have called inn their professional drones in order to stem the tide. But they too will be overwhelmed once the network effect kicks in.

It now seems certain that the politicians' serious discussion of the two sock mandate really marked the high point of the totalitarian push, and that things are going to go down hill for them from now on. However, their real mistake may have been the first mandate. Turning mask wearing into law put the politicians into a box from which they will find it hard to escape.

If they repeal the mask wearing law, it can only be explained in terms of victory over the virus, and hence a free pass for all to go back to normal. That would make it hard to push their totalitarian agenda any further. Why take the vaccine when there's no virus to worry about? Why accept the vaccine passport? Why worry about lockdowns? All these victories by the totalitarians will be jeopardized if they step back now. Hence, they must stay the course. The law must remain in place. But what if people simply stop obeying the law? That's an eventuality that they don't seem to have fully thought through, and the reason the elite is starting to freak out.

The elite brought the battle against liberty to the streets, expecting a few large scale protests, but nothing so violent that they can't control it. They were confident that everything would be managed and controlled. However, as is often the case, the generals were ready and prepared for the wrong battle. This war isn't being fought in the way that they expected. There's hardly any large scale protests. Instead, there are people walking about in quiet defiance, sometimes dressing up in ways that attract attention and a certain level of respect.

I live in a large European city, so I dress up as a cross between an RAF pilot and a Victorian age dandy. Other people, living in other places, can choose other styles. A key feature of liberty is that it isn't a uniform. Anyone can express themselves any which way they choose. But to make as big an impact as possible, some attention to fashion and the symbols of fashion is recommended.

We should also take this opportunity to push hard towards liberty once the inflection point is passed, and the ball starts rolling. Why stop at the old normal of yesteryear when we can go full liberty by pushing all the way back to the wild west and post-Napoleon Europe?

Civility