- I agreed with the lockdown initially, especially given the lack of preparedness, data, and information we had at the time.
- I disagree strongly with the notion we must remain on some form of lockdown until there's a vaccine or successful treatment.
- I disagree strongly with the notion we must continue to lockdown almost entirely due to protecting the at-risk and elderly. This does not mean I want them to die. What it means is they should quarantine, and so should anyone who wants to see them, while the rest of us get back to rebuilding. We don't quarantine the healthy...we quarantine the sick.
- I am not financially impacted by the lockdown in any way.
- I think masks are stupid and ineffective, but if that's what it takes to start re-opening, then I'll play along with the game.
- I believe this is not just another flu and that it's highly contagious. I also believe the risk of death to the vast majority of the country is incredibly low. So when I say we should re-open, it's not that I think I won't get COVID, but rather I'm strongly confident it will be nothing worse than a terrible two week ordeal.
- And finally, short of a vaccine, I believe ultimately the number of deaths and cases was always going to be the same regardless of our measures. The difference would be how long it took for the virus to run its course.
But this isn't a post specifically about the virus. This is a post for why maybe it's not all bad we've gone through this the past two months. This experiment, the likes of which we've never seen before, has served to expose a great deal about who we are, what we care about, what we've taken for granted, and what an extreme version of government control means to our lives.
Let's be real about who we are. We are not all in this together. We are not a nation that comes together when there's an emergency. We are not a nation that ultimately puts others before ourselves. Certainly pockets of the nation and like-minded people are acting this way, but as a nation we are more divided than ever. And those never-ending commercials where giant corporations are telling you how much they care and want to support you and your community? Well they still just want your money. That's it. We've hoarded toilet paper and other grocery items. We have a raging social media battle on how to deal with the virus where vitriol is spewed on a daily basis between family and friends. We have some saying, "who cares, let em die", while others are saying "who cares about 36 million people now unemployed". We don't really care about the people outside our circles and now at least we know it. We know that if there's a true national emergency you won't be able to count on your fellow man to just take what they need and leave the rest for others. You won't be able to rest assured our government will come together as one to do what's best for the nation. And sadly, you likely won't be able to rely on the empathy and support of those on the other side of the debate from you...the idea of winning the debate is far too important for us to take a second to care for those we fight against. So now we know who we are and we can all stop pretending we are something different. Or maybe, just maybe, we can all use this as a time of self-reflection to see who we are and start to change. Trade anger for empathy. Trade selfishness for selflessness. Trade singularity for unity. It's never too late.
But it's not all bad news. I think and hope many of us have a much greater appreciation for what we care about and what we've taken for granted for so long. Yesterday I noticed the local Starbucks had re-opened. Yes, there's loads of restrictions, but damnit it's open!! It filled me with momentary joy and made me realize how spoiled we are in America. There's coffee all over the place and for the past two months I've been annoyed the one I like isn't conveniently close to me? Or how about our stores? That slight pang of anxiety when you walk in and whether your favorite item is in stock. Then the wave of relief and even excitement when it's on the shelf. We've grown accustomed to never having to be without a single thing we desire. And now that a tiny fraction of what we want is a little hard to get, we are outraged? Millions of people around the world don't know where their next meal will come from and our biggest worry is whether we have to get canned tuna in vegetable oil instead of canned tuna in water. We are spoiled and have been for decades. Maybe, just maybe, we will have a little more appreciation for all we have instead of the little we are doing without. My wife did a mission trip to Haiti where she met a local pastor. When talking about being poor he said something to the effect of, "Poor? Your poor have shoes." We live in an amazing bubble of alternative reality called America, and while not perfect, it's so vastly better than what so many other people have to experience on a daily basis. You are free to argue with your neighbor and government without being thrown in jail or killed. You aren't waiting in line for the last loaf of bread, which will be your only meal for the day. And virtually all the time we don't even need to leave the couch to buy the next thing we desire and have it show up on our doorstop, with Amazon Prime free shipping, two days later. Yet, we feel the right to complain because we've been marginally inconvenienced for two months when other countries have been in civil wars for decades? I'm not asking for people to stop pressing for a return to normalcy, but maybe we should check our outrage at the door for a bit.
And lastly, I think we've all seen a healthy dose of what over-reaching government control can bring. Regardless of your political affiliation, you should be alarmed at how easily and swiftly federal and local governments were allowed to control how you live. You should be alarmed at the unilateral power Governors have seized for such an extended period of time. You should be scared about how easy it was to turn one of the best economies in history to rubble in a matter of a week. You should have second thoughts about nationalized medicine when we can't even agree on how to handle one virus. For the past two months our lives and livelihood have been at the mercy of our elected officials and the effects have been profound and drastic. I simply don't understand why people continue to vote for officials who tell you how to live, how to think, and care more about the few than the many. I don't know why people continue to put into office the candidates who are running their regions into the ground. But maybe now those elected officials have also been exposed for who they are. Maybe, just maybe, those who are still waiting for a stimulus check in California will be outraged by Nancy Pelosi's desire to protect marijuana over their jobs. Yes, that's right, did you know in the Democrat's latest proposed stimulus bill the word cannabis is mentioned 68 times which was more than the words job and jobs combined? I can only hope people treat their right to vote and their voting choices far more seriously going forward than they've done in the past.
You see, the freedom and choice we've taken for granted for so long has never been free. We are an entitled and spoiled society that has long forgotten the sacrifices of those who came before us. We need to be kinder to each other, regardless of whether we agree or disagree with each other's views. We need to be more thankful for what we have instead of focusing on the little which we lack. We need to be more serious about our privilege to vote and elect those who allow us to live freely instead of telling us how to live. And we need to understand that change starts with ourselves and not with our neighbors. If you want a different and better world, it starts with you. Do you make the lives around you better or worse with your actions? In this time of crisis are you throwing gas or water on the fear, anger, and anxiety flames? There's been a raging virus of antipathy and discord in our country for many years. It's highly contagious and has been slowly killing the fabric of our nation, our mental well-being, and our relationships with others. Are you part of the virus or part of the cure?
God Bless America and God Bless You All.
