(1) The Pandemic State Is Here to Stay (The Pipeline)

“The state will continue to further corrode traditional liberties—privacy, assembly, mobility, communication, currency—towards the goal of citizen submission to a dominant citadel of power, an administrative panopticon.”

(2) Fed mightily at the trough of royal munificence…
Quotes from Henry VI by James Ross

“Aiscough had also amassed a substantial fortune in Henry’s service: when in 1450 he was hacked to death by a mob, the goods he was travelling with (and which were taken by the mob) were said to be worth £4,000, twice the annual revenues of his bishopric.”

“There was also a public perception that Henry’s bounty was distributed mostly to those around him, who had access to him and could most easily influence him or place petitions before him, and that many of the men advanced and enriched were so favored primarily because they were the king’s intimates, rather than receiving just rewards for diligent service.”