| Mandatory visitation of a government website still enables the opportunity to fingerprint, data match and warrantless wiretap (ie. FISA). How long until the only supported browser is Chrome latest and all the anti-privacy features it mandates? Will NITs be served to all those with a 'high risk' profile? The border has, after all, repeatedly been shown to be a place in which all rights, citizen or not, are 'suspended'. Covid has shown that democracy in the western world is exceptionally weak. Technology enabled authoritarianism is the overwhelming preference of those elected to 'represent the people'. Let's be honest - if you aren't that intelligent / experienced or hard working it's just easier to govern this way. Jacinda Ardern (New Zealand) - No life experience whatsoever other than politics - namely activist socialist youth organizations. Justin Trudeau (Canada) - No life experience whatsoever other than high school drama teacher and scion of a Canadian political dynasty. Joe Biden (USA) - No life experience outside of politics. Publicly exhibits signs of dementia / tiredness / laziness of thought. In all if the above cases (3/5 of the '5 eyes' countries' FWIW) the elected leaders are so far below the level of intellect and experience necessary to navigate something as intricate as a pandemic that it is little wonder they just attempt to short circuit democracy / oversight / discourse. Lockdowns. Mask Mandates. Covid Zero. Papers Please. Apps to cross the border. The rate at which 'rights' in modern democracies were suspended, in favor of policies which only have precedent in authoritarian states such as China, is breath taking. This Canadian border story is just another example that democracy is not nearly as robust or populous-centric as it may seem. |