It’s interesting how the experiences of 2 different events, 9/11 and this one, have felt so different from a top down control situation and who controls personal freedoms. In 9/11 it was the Patriot Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and a huge buildup of the military. It felt like everything was happening at the Federal level.
With this situation it has all been about the Governor of my State. I never gave much thought to what my Governor did on a day-to-day basis. But in something like this the Governor of a State becomes a very powerful figure and can basically do whatever they want. And they can use the National Guard, which is the military, to enforce it. Fortunately the Governor of my State has acted quite well in all of this, and we have not had an outbreak at the level that some others are experiencing.