By Rebekah Barnett
How do we live well through hard times, bad governance and constant fear mongering?
A subscriber commented the other day with a question that I feel is relevant to many of us.
Mike is a fellow West Australian, and he left this comment under a post in which I mentioned that, in WA, the government can legally force-inject us under state of emergency laws.
He wrote,
I am frankly terrified of the possibility that our WA govt could at any time, as long as this or any future state of emergency exists, without Parliamentary consent needed, or a warrant issued, allow the police to arrest me, and forcibly inject me with a substance that may kill or injure me.
And then if I’m still alive with induced injury, deny that I am injured from this injection.
Have I got any part of this wrong?
For me this creates mental torture NOW. How about you??
Then ultimately physical torture of a most malevolent nature.
Torture is defined as: The action or practice of inflicting severe pain or suffering on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something.
As in “the torture of political prisoners.”
Is it too outrageous to say that the citizens of WA are being tortured and already in a mental, emotional and political, virtual prison?
Folks if you have any daily practices that help you manage yourself in these times please share. I am having trouble living a normal life.
I very much resonate with this and I think anyone else around the world who is afraid of their government, for myriad reasons, will too.
Ever since I discovered that our government can force-inject us without our consent, I have felt permanent low-grade anxiety which amps up to medium-high when politicians signal irrationality and/or escalating ‘emergency’ policies. I no longer feel safe. Mike is right, it is a kind of psychological torture.
On forced vaccination
I’ve posted several times about the fact that in my home state of WA it is legal under emergency conditions for our government to detain you, remove any items of clothing they please, and forcibly inject you against your will with whatever substance they feel necessary in the name of public health.
This has been the case since 2016 under the Public Health Act state of emergency (SOE) powers, but it became a topic of renewed focus when the Parliament ‘rebranded’ its emergency powers to keep them in place on a rolling basis during the Covid pandemic.
Under that rebrand, the decision to force-inject citizens was transferred from the purview of qualified medical and health professionals to the Police Commissioner. So, a police state.
Under WA’s SOE laws, the Police Commissioner can also break and enter your home, business or vehicle without a warrant and without your consent, take control of your private property, forcibly detain you, forcibly close your business, and disclose your personal information to other agencies.
The government has never exercised its legal right to forcibly vaccinate West Australians, but I read a comment once to the effect of – why would lawmakers include this provision if there was no intent for it ever to be used? It’s a good question.
New Zealand was in the news recently for similarly aggressive SOE powers, whereby police officers may use force to detain, isolate, quarantine, medically examine and ensure the administration of preventative treatment (e.g.: vaccines).
Before the Covid pandemic, I don’t think there would have been public support for the government force-vaccinating the citizenry.
However, I personally believe that the harsh vaccine mandates during the Covid pandemic have primed the population for the implementation of such measures in the future, especially if the threat were more deadly, and if the vaccine could be shown to be sterilising or to at least significantly reduce transmission.
A shocking number of people in the West still believe the mandates were justified, or would have been had the vaccines been effective in controlling transmission.
The WHO Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations, which in conjunction could require nations to “implement isolation and treatment where necessary of affected persons” (Article 18 of the IHR), would further strengthen political support for forced vaccination, both abroad and domestically.
This is just one of the many things our governments can do to us that compromise our feelings of safety and stability. There are too many others, in these times, to list.
On fear
Mike asked,
Folks if you have any daily practices that help you manage yourself in these times please share. I am having trouble living a normal life.
On a practical level, I’m dealing with this by establishing a base overseas.
Since the Covid pandemic, I have not felt safe in WA (or Australia), and if another SOE is declared, my intention is to leave immediately, if it is possible (I have other ideas if it is not possible).
If I felt confident that enough people would not comply, I would stay and stand with them. But I’m not seeing enough clarity and conviction on this in the general populace for me to feel that this is a viable option.
At the same time, I try to stay in the moment. For today, I am safe. For today, I live in a beautiful state with great weather. I am not in a warzone, I have access to good food, water, and I have housing security. My fears are all related to the future – but if I stay in this moment, now, I am ok.
I also think that much, if not most, of the world’s population lives in insecure circumstances – be it the threat of war, violence, hunger, homelessness or otherwise. So in a way, the bubble of safety I enjoyed for most of my life was the exception.
And, I realise that a lot of the threats I now perceive have been brewing or in place for some time, and that the sense of stability and safety that I had was at least partially illusory.
Cultivating gratitude for the security I’ve enjoyed in my life helps, and acknowledging that the lack of security I now feel is somewhat universal makes me feel some sense of solidarity, or like I’m part of the flux of human civilization – which makes me go meta, which makes me take a more spiritual view…
Which leads me to the fact that personally, I could not cope with the fear without a spiritual connection to God. In the face of darkness, belief in a counter force helps me, spiritually and psychologically, to have hope, courage, fortitude, and most importantly, peace.
Spiritual peace, I find, can even transcend the need for security or any other thing I think I need to be ok. One of my favourite spiritual texts is Philippians 4:6-8 from the Bible:
(6) Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
(7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think on these things.
It is expressed in that famous hymn, ‘It is Well With My Soul’, written from grief and no doubt sung in dark times the world over. Music is incredibly powerful for shifting one’s emotional and mental state.
Friend of DDU, Matt from Discernable shared the tragic story behind that profound song:
Finally, I find that play, feeling useful, and humour are all important.
Things like joining a choir and goofing around with my nephew and nieces have been a source of joy and lightness, and the work I do to contribute my tiny part (in my case, this is mostly informing and documenting) gives a sense of purpose, which is obviously important for human thriving.
Laughing instead of catastrophising provides relief, too. The best tragedies are wickedly funny too – Shakespeare knew this. Does anyone else feel like their sense of humour got extra dark since Covid times?
West Australian Rebekah Barnett is one of the most talented young journalists to have come to prominence during the Covid era.
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