An Emergency Indeed

This article was published on the Campaign For Liberty website. I usually love everything Anthony Gregory writes!

An Emergency Indeed

By Anthony Gregory

The White House has declared Swine Flu a "national emergency." In the last year, at least 5,000 have died worldwide from H1N1, according to the WHO, making this an "epidemic." Contrast this with the 250,000 to 500,000 — 50 to 100 times as many — who died of the regular flu. Then consider that the great majority of swine flu diagnoses in the last year turned out not to be the flu at all.

The real national emergency is the threat to our liberty. When the president declares a "national emergency," he typically martials the heavy hand of the state in ways unseen when there is no "crisis." Today we have so many "crises" — terrorism, economic collapse, health care, global warming and now swine flu — that no area of our lives is safe from government meddling. This particular "emergency" could lead to despotism: Mandatory vaccinations, quarantines, government control of transportation and so forth.

Be on the lookout in the next couple days for a new piece by Dr. Adam Murdock on swine flu hysteria in our featured articles section.