Hello I enjoyed this post, and will respond substantively. I would like to start by inviting you to post in the Steem Salon community. I hope to foster discussions about topics such as this in that community.

My Response

A justly-ordered liberty is only approachable; not totally attainable, because man is neither machine nor automaton and that much freedom of action needs to remain well outside the limits of the law.

I have often wondered how this might change with blockchain. If it were a system of government, I believe that a proper blockchain would be the ultimate check on power because it makes public everything which is occurring, and everyone on the chain has the ability to validate "transactions". I wonder if there is a way to move government to blockchain, and turn its actions into "transactions" on the blockchain.

notice how the author of this little meme makes the massive leap from wartime to "difficult times" in a single bound.

Yes, they are comparing apples to oranges in this sense. I would argue that there is nothing wrong with the "pseudowars" if it is at a cultural level. The problem is, as you have stated, that many people (on both sides) take these pseudowars and try to involve the government. Problems should be solved most by individuals, and least by governments. That is the problem with this current epidemic. People take the concept of social distancing, a good and safe individual practice, and try to shove it down everyone's throat via government intervention. The effects of this will still be occurring many years after covid19 has been dealt with. Effects which could have been safely avoided had we just addressed the problem on a cultural level rather than through government intervention.

Thank you for this post! I hope to see you in the salon!