Comply or die
It’s good to be back in the good ole U.S. of A.
I just spent seven months in Vietnam nurturing my relationship with my beautiful wife, and it was well worth it. We’re hopeful her visa will finally be approved and she’ll get over here before the end of 2021.
I’ve got a few quarantine and lockdown stories to share. Those who have been reading this newsletter since the first of the year know a little of what I’m talking about, but I’ll just say that as concerning as things may be here in the U.S. regarding the coronavirus, pending inflation from all the lockdown bailouts and what not, it pales in comparison to what I saw over in Lockdownistan.
I’m talking about a culture of absolute terror of the authorities.
You comply, or you die.
Maybe not getting disappeared and sent to the prison camp, but people lose their businesses if they have people sitting outside their restaurant to have a meal.
The guy or gal in charge of a province declares a mandatory lockdown and you comply. It’s just that simple. There are no protests outside the state capitol. Posts on Facebook criticizing the policy are “strongly discouraged.”
Here in the U.S., if a mayor were to announce a lockdown to the scale of what has been the norm in Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere for the last 18 months, he or she would be fearful of their lives. Over there, it’s just the way it is. The vast majority of people don’t take even 2 seconds to consider if this might be a bit of overkill because one person 30 miles away got Covid.
You just do as you’re told, comrade.
Even in more or less normal times, Vietnam is a rather stressful place to live. You go into Hanoi, and just about everywhere you look you see red flags with the gold star, or the hammer and sickle proclaiming the inherent goodness of the common man.
I don’t know this for sure, but I would bet the color scheme is intentionally designed to invoke a stress response in the central nervous system. Be constantly fearful for your well-being going it “on your own”, be reminded that the state will take care of you and bring that sense of security you crave.
I got off the plane in Dallas and on the tram ride to the next gate, I saw a huge American flag flying in the distance. It was really nice to see it. This country has its issues, to the point that it probably creates the same stress response in the nervous system for many people across the world. That’s unfortunate, and perhaps the recent drama in Afghanistan will make more Americans think twice before supporting the next overseas intervention that is deemed vital to “national security”, whatever that means.
But I can still start a business here and more or less be left alone. I chose a specialty (podcasting) where people are allowed to just be themselves and not worry too much about censorship, invasive policing from the government, or thought police from “civilians.” No, it’s not the wild west of 2012.
But so long as you don’t say anything injurious to someone’s character or reputation — or claim to have a cure for Covid — it’s pretty much fair game. It’s what makes podcasting so attractive to so many people, and why I chose to build a business servicing others who want to share their message with the world with the medium.
If you’ve been thinking about getting into podcasting, or if you have a show that you think could be doing more, then consider what Podcast Artistry™ has to offer.
You can setup a free 15-minute consultation so we can both decide if it will be a good fit for the long-term.
Or you can just spend some time reading the copious writings I’ve shared on the sales page.
Either way, it will be time well-spent.