Nehming Names (@ShemNehm)

The Correlation Tactic One tried and true method that authoritarian governments use to oppress their political enemies is something we can perhaps call the correlation tactic. This tactic involves three steps. The first is to identify those habits or behaviors that are significantly correlated with those whom the government seeks to repress. The second is to absolutize the criminal penalties or political consequences of those activities, even if they are relatively innocuous. The third is to give the government significant leeway in how those penalties or consequences may be applied. The idea is that it provides a means of persecuting one's political enemies with plausible deniability that the goal is not political oppression, but rather strict governance for the "public good". The last element introduces a large element of arbitrariness that creates an atmosphere of fear for anything that the government might even remotely consider to be criminal behavior. This tactic was the stock and trade of the Bolsheviks. The crime of counter-revolutionary activity was at once vague and absolute for this reason. The accusation of counter-revolutionary activity could mean a death sentence and could be applied to something, as Solzhenitsyn pointed out, as simple as carrying a pocket knife. Any politically suspect person could be charged and sent to the gulag under the counter terrorism accords for just such an incident. What is shocking is the extent to which the Biden regime is employing this tactic. Clearly, they intend to cut off at the knees the America First agenda as well as the deplorables who support it. But, they can't exactly criminalize voting blocks directly. So, they find correlated activities that they can criminalize. One such example is the vaccine hesitancy. The whole weight of the government seems to be placed upon those who insist on their rights for bodily autonomy and informed consent. This includes the potential for "quarantine camps" and mandatory military administered vaccinations. This is done for the purposes of "public health and safety". Another example is the discontent with left-wing school boards and their plans for implementing Critical Theory and other cultural Marxist programs. This has the stated aim of cracking down on "domestic terrorism" or "White supremacy". In short, this tactic enables the government to oppress their political enemies in significant numbers by criminalizing adjacent behaviors. If the overlap between those engaging in certain activities and their political enemies is significant enough, they will have effectively succeeded in their primary goal of political retribution.