Back in 1987 I had the opportunity to tour parts of the Soviet Union during its waning days as an empire. The experience contributed greatly to the political outlooks I hold today. There is nothing like a good dose of seeing extreme socialism firsthand to develop an aversion to that broken ideology..The creaking, groaning Aeroflot jet deposited us on the Moscow airport runway with a slam. While the jet was serviceable and Aeroflot’s safety record was safe — as far as we were allowed to know — it was truly a no frills ride. The service was gruff, the interior dilapidated, and the flight rough. It was much like everything else in the Soviet Union. You got the bare basics in service and had no other provider to compare the service to..Customs were typical and thorough as all of our bags were searched. What was unusual was the contraband the customs agents were searching for. Rather than drugs or weapons as is typical at borders, what the Soviet agents sought were books, magazines, and cassette tapes..The top priority for Soviet customs agents was the prevention of outside information getting to the eyes and ears of the citizenry..Citizen defections were growing along with general unrest against the state. As news from the outside world trickled in, people in Soviet Russia began to realize they didn’t need to live as they had been..Nobody was starving when I toured Russia. People weren’t homeless or unemployed. It was indeed a socialist paradise as far as providing basic human needs was concerned. Life was drab and miserable though. Everything from the endless rows of apartment towers to the dull standardized clothing was unremarkable and depressing. Food was plentiful but it was bland and without variety. You ate to survive, not to enjoy yourself..People in Soviet Russia had become accustomed to having their lives controlled. They accepted the reality that the state would tell them where to work, how to live, and where they could travel. They all shared fear of all authority figures. Police carried no weapons as nobody would dare defy them for fear of the repercussions from the state later..People in the Soviet Union were not living; they were surviving. The only thing keeping the empire from crumbling was the maintenance of the illusion it wasn’t better anywhere else. As long as citizens didn’t know how life was outside of the Communist Bloc, they remained content, though unhappy. This was why the government worked so hard to ensure the populace never knew any better. In the German “Democratic Republic” (East Germany), the regime did its best to block the radio and television signal from just a few blocks away..Eventually, the dam broke. Information and consumer goods continued to leak into the Soviet Union despite the best efforts of the government. Pressure from within finally brought the USSR to an end as citizens realized they no longer had to live this way and a better world existed outside of their borders..While Canadians are hardly living in conditions as miserable as those of the Soviet Union, we are living under severe restrictions and within a fear-filled and unhappy existence right now while many, if not most, don’t realize it doesn’t have to be this way..I just returned from a 10-day road trip throughout the United States. Aside from seeing the sporadic and voluntary use of masks, it was hard to tell that to the north governments acted as if it was a wartime emergency. People were relaxed while dining together, events were at full capacity and conversations are actually being held on matters unrelated to COVID-19. Life is damn near how it was two years ago down there and their world isn’t ending because of it, at least in the states I visited..COVID-19 still exists in the United States and they are still experiencing challenges due to it. Infections are being watched and health care facilities are under pressure. Political battles between authoritarians and libertarians are going on and some people are still fearful of the virus. Overall though, people in much of the United States have moved on with their lives and are no longer letting the COVID-19 pandemic dominate every aspect of their existence. It was so refreshing to live like that again, if only for a scant 10 days..Canada remains in a state of absurd regulation and government/media induced panic. Legacy/mainstream media continues with the most negative of headlines and works its hardest to maintain a state of induced terror. Governments jealously cling to the control they have taken in the name of controlling COVID-19 and maintaining the narrative of doom and gloom. They cling to the fiction COVID can be defeated like an enemy state signing a treaty of surrender..The dreaded Omicron variant has thankfully turned into a dud. It hasn’t overwhelmed hospitals and fatalities are at a level akin to the common flu. The way Canada is responding, though, one would think leprosy is making a reappearance among the public. The population is divided while the hysteria, prejudice, and even hate against the unvaccinated have reached appalling levels..Much of why the government and its authoritarians backers are getting away with this in Canada is because the public doesn’t know any better. They don’t realize a free, enjoyable world exists but a short distance away..Border restrictions at this point are downright useless. Omicron is spreading like wildfire and no restrictions or vaccinations are doing a thing to hinder the transmission. What the border restrictions do accomplish, however, is keeping Canadians from bothering with traveling outside the country. The testing requirements are a pain the ass and a person could find themselves quarantined at their own expense for a variant that has proven itself to be quite mild. What information Canadians do receive from south of the border, is framed by the government’s proxies in the media as a selfish frenzy built atop a mountain of dead bodies..There were no restrictions going into the USA by the way. That exchange at the border only took a couple of minutes and vaccinations or testing never even came up. It’s only in coming back to Canada where all the grief is occurring..So why haven’t the border restrictions been lifted?.I suspect the government wants to keep the number of Canadians going into and returning with news of the outside world as limited as possible. Yes, we can see the packed football stadiums in the USA and can find out just how unrestricted they are down there with even some cursory internet research. Nothing beats having a friend or family member tell you directly how nice it is to live free again though. Those sorts of exchanges between people foster discontent..Things won’t change until Canadians stand up for themselves. Governments never willingly relinquish the control they have taken. We can’t allow ourselves to fall into a docile existence plodding along through a mediocre life under government control as people in the former Eastern Bloc did..Canadians need to know it’s better outside of the borders. Even the UK is dropping restrictions while we aren’t even discussing easing our own..Ignore the government statements. Turn off the mainstream media and reach out to a family member or friend who is or has been outside of Canada lately. You will hear the same story I’m telling..It doesn’t have to be this way..As soon as enough Canadians get that message, we will be able to start fighting our way back to normal living again..Cory Morgan is Assistant Opinion & Broadcast Editor for the Western Standard.cmorgan@westernstandardonline.com
