Happy Birthday, COVID! You have been exploited as the reason for crappy laws and private sector abuses. People will probably recover from 3 years of insanity. But our children are broken.
I repeat: Petty tyrants and Karens ruined our kids. They are permanently damaged. We do not know the extent of impact on children’s phsycological, social, intellectual, and spiritual development.
We know that toddlers born in 2020 have never legally seen non-infant faces in Hong Kong and China outside their own homes and certain mealtimes in public. We know that consitutional protections were ignored as governments imposed lockdowns, mask + vax mandates, travel bans, speech and assembly restrictions on the flimsiest of pretexts.
We know that social media perma-banned people for mentioning inconvenient facts just weeks beore governments accepted those same facts as demonstrably true. We know that politicians politicized the practice of medicine making some treatments mandatory and revoking medical licenses of doctors who prescribed common medication “off label”.
We know that there is a big impact on culture, and it’s probably bad. We haven’t traveled as much. The masked and unmasked formed tribes and judge each other harshly.
You probably have one of two kneejerk reactions:
- OMG! You’re a covid denier and conspiracy theorist!
- Totally agree! It’s been crazy since day one!
I disagree with both. First, I am no denier. COVID is real. Early variants were far deadlier than recent Omicron strains. More importantly, the true risk was not known. The “Precautionary Principle” applied. ie “Better safe than sorry.” I was fully (too) on board with “two weeks to slow the spread”.
At the time, my brothers reminded me of Reagan’s words, “Nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program.” Alas, they were right. Whatever temporary benefit, the permanent of civil liberties (+ rule of law) is worse for mankind. (The benefit is also dubious at best.)
LET ME BE CRYSTAL CLEAR ON MY VIEWS ON COVID POLICY:
- It’s appropriate for governments to protect their own people from outside risks. When an epidemic exists outside the borders, it’s OK to restrict outsiders temporarily and/or put controls on incoming travelers. Any restrictions must be sceince-based, reasonable and minimalistic.
- Domestically, it is a VERY slippery slope to restrict the movement, activities & speech of citizens. Any quarantines/restrictions need to err more on the side of freedom. All restrictions should be temporary, no longer than 14 days UNLESS approved by an elected legislature every 14 days. Any politician who misses that vote is immediately put into quarantine until the end of his/her term.
- Citizens should be trusted to manage their own risk as they see fit. We are free human beings, not housepets or prisoners.
- It’s good for governments to fund/push research on vaccines & treatments.
- It’s bad for governments to force you to take pills/injections or wear masks/burquas.
- Politicians and bureaucrats are FAR WORSE at figuring out what is best for you than you are. These are the same people who gave us the USA Tax Code. Minimize their impact on your family. Push back hard.
- Disobey bad laws. Good people do bad things when “just following orders”. For the past 180 consecutive days I broke the laws requiring the masking of children. I will not stop.
Bottom line: ENOUGH ALREADY. It’s been almost 3 years. We get it. Mask yourself, take more shots, do whatever YOU think YOU need to do to manage YOUR risk. But stay they hell away from me and my family. Don’t bother other people, either. It’s time to LIVE.