I have never been an advocate of conspiracy theories, because they violate the rule of parsimony known as Occam’s Razor — loosely, “the simplest explanation that accounts for all of the data should be preferred.”
Too often conspiracy mavens advance “enormously complex coordinated malfeasance” as an explanation for that which is far more easily explained by simple stupidity. Take the 2008 fiscal crisis as an example. There is no need to invoke a vast government conspiracy to explain it. The crisis had its roots in the cratering of the subprime mortgage industry, which in turn was caused by the government dictating lending policies to achieve goals the government deemed more important than sound lending practices. Stupid? Of course. Nefarious? Probably not.
I submit that preface to what I am about to say, because I want you to know I am saying it tentatively and reluctantly.
On Wednesday Colorado Governor Jared Polis said that some social distancing measures will remain in place until there is a cure or vaccine, and the “new normal” will last for many months to come. I am not sure what he means by all of that, but if he means he is going to continue some form of lockdown until there is a cure (an event that we hope for but which may never happen), then that sort of willfully destructive policy cannot be laid at the feet of mere stupidity. Jared Polis is not the only Democrat leader who appears to be bent on destroying the economy. He seems to be following a playbook the Democrats are implementing from coast to coast.
And that is why I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that at least some Democrats are intentionally trying to destroy the economy.
Why on earth would the Democrats want to plunge the country into misery, destruction and chaos you might ask. I have two answers. First, Democrats know that under normal circumstances they have exactly zero chance of getting Joe Biden — an octogenarian political hack who should be seeking treatment for incipient dementia instead of running for president — elected. And so they are happy to run us through a wringer of economic destruction, hoping that the people will demand a change in November even if that change entails taking a flyer on Biden.
The second answer I am less certain about, and even if it is true it is something that I believe may be circulating only at the highest levels of the progressive movement. It is no secret that progressives since Woodrow Wilson have chafed at the Constitution’s constraints on both unfettered government action in the domestic sphere and multilateral action with other countries in the international sphere. I fear that some progressives at the very top will seek to use this virus to cause chaos and destruction with a view toward dismantling Constitutional constraints in both areas. Their end game may be removing all limits on the power of the federal government and the surrender of our sovereignty as they meld the U.S. into a new global order.
There is precedent. FDR’s enlargement of the federal government’s powers beginning in 1933 would have been unthinkable even four years earlier. If the Democrats are successful in escalating this crisis into another great depression (or worse), who knows what action that is unthinkable now will be law next year or the year after that?