The State Of Exception

Let’s take it apart for a moment, shall we?

Aus Nahme — no, that’s not an exotic name from an African baby book.
It simply means “exception.”
And Zustand means “state” or “condition.”
Put them together and you get one of those glorious German compounds that can sound both bureaucratic and slightly dangerous.

So what does it really mean?
Essentially, when a government declares an Ausnahmezustand, it’s pressing pause on the rulebook.
The normal order — law, rights, civility — is set aside, “for the sake of safety.”
A temporary fix, of course.
Always temporary.

Usually, this happens during wars, natural disasters, or large-scale unrest.
The state flexes its muscles, grants itself special powers, and tries to restore normal order.
And once the crisis fades, the state of exception is supposed to go back into the closet.
End of transmission.

Here in Canada, we’ve seen it before.
Remember when the trucker convoy brought Ottawa to a standstill?
The government used emergency powers to clear the streets around Parliament Hill.
Temporary, they said.
And for once, it really was.

South of the border, however, the “temporary” tends to last a little longer.
The United States has kept its state of emergency alive for a long time  — officially to fight drugs from Mexico, Venezuela, and even (oddly) Canada.
Immigration, too, serves as a convenient excuse.
Some “temporary” measures just don’t know when to leave the stage.

When exception and state meet for coffee, citizens should start paying attention.
Because that’s when civil rights quietly shift to the back seat, while “security” takes the wheel.
Police and agencies get extra powers.
New laws appear faster than you can say constitutional review.
And once those emergency doors are opened, they’re hard to close again.

This isn’t just a legal puzzle — it’s an ethical one.
Yes, ethics — remember those?
The state of exception carries a built-in risk of power addiction.
Because power, once tasted, rarely checks itself back into rehab.

Some of the “temporary” measures from 9/11 are still active today.
Funny how that works, isn’t it?

There are, of course, other kinds of states of exception — the ones we don’t vote on but simply grow into.
Like aging.
It comes with its own emergency clauses: chronic pain, fading memory, mental fog.
No government decreed it; Mother Nature did.
And yet, this too deserves a few “special provisions” — more compassion, more patience, more listening.
Because those who drift out of our fast-moving world still deserve to feel at home in it.

With a bit of creativity, empathy, and respect, even a state of exception can feel almost… normal.

How refreshing would that be?
Hopefully — not the exception.