Charles Battig, M.D. and electrical engineer: Social and political responses to the fears of the Corona-19 virus pandemic are news headlines, but do they deserve headlines? We have been repeatedly warned about the destructive power of fear. Making themselves virtually unassailable, at least initially, politicians embraced the pandemic and associated public health fears it has engendered, and assumed near dictatorial powers in the name of protecting the public health. Unmasked and unhindered, some politicians’ actions have validated the descriptive term of “the ruling class.” The 1972 cult film by the same name gave one view of the dysfunctional life-style of a fictional British nobleman whose aspirations were quite noble and infused with a sense of god-like powers, not unlike some of our governors and mayors.
