Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (right) speaks about opioid addiction at a news conference Monday, Sept. 18, 2017 at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. At left is West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. (AP Photo/John Raby)

There’s an annoying trend starting to crop up amid the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not quite as egregious as the Democrats’ and the media’s constant politicization of the virus. It may not be as ridiculous as AOC getting mad that the stimulus bill won’t give money to illegal immigrants. But it’s still irritating, intrusive, and potentially dangerous.

Last week, Californians began calling the police to report neighbors who were coughing. The New York Post reported that “multiple police departments in Southern California say they have been receiving more 911 calls from residents concerned that their coughing neighbor may have the coronavirus.”

Unfortunately, the snitching virus managed to spread 3,000 miles across the country to Kentucky, where the state’s government recently set up a hotline for the express purpose of allowing residents to rat out their coughing neighbors. On Monday, Democratic Governor Andy Beshear announced the creation of the hotline, which allows residents to report individuals and businesses who they believe to be violating the state’s social distancing orders.

When you dial the number, you are first treated to a recorded message from the governor:

“By working together and by being good neighbors, we are going to get through this. I want to thank you for calling the covid-19 reporting hotline. The purpose of this line is to report observations of noncompliance with restrictions on workplace and public gatherings that Kentucky has taken to stop the spread of the Coronavirus and keep your family safe.”

On the recording, the governor also tells the caller, “if you are aware of an establishment or gathering that isn’t complying with the state’s orders, work from home instructions, or social distancing procedures, please stay on the line to speak with an employee in our labor cabinet.”

The hotline will be open from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm for your snitching pleasure, but if you prefer to do your tattle-telling late at night, you can leave a message. According to the report, a Labor Cabinet employee will be present to answer each call.

However, it appears that the state is having trouble fulfilling its promise. How do I know? Because I tried calling the line myself, hoping this was just some brilliant display of mass trolling. But when I called, I got a message informing me that all of their agents were busy serving other stool pigeons. That’s right, dear reader, there were enough coronavirus narcs in Kentucky to tie up the line used for squealing.

The coronavirus outbreak is certainly a serious issue. But the pandemic has already brought about drastic changes to the lives of many Americans. Do we really want to create this type of culture? Is it truly necessary to live in a society in which we’re all suspicious of one another?

The last thing we need is a cultural paradigm shift towards an environment in which individuals run to Big Brother whenever they see someone else seemingly breaking the rules. Americans are already concerned about the spread of the virus — it would not be beneficial to introduce outright paranoia into the equation.

This trend will likely create a similar societal atmosphere to that which one experiences in countries under the rule of totalitarian governments. When one has to fear being turned in by one’s neighbor, it’s only a matter of time before Americans grow even more divided. If we allow this to happen, then it will be true that the reaction to the virus is worse than the virus itself.

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

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