Remember how this year began; that is the year 2020? Wow! 20 – 20 the year of perfect vision. What could possibly go wrong? But then we started to hear about something very ugly happening in Wuhan, China. Some how it seems a small thing, invisible to the human eye. a virus we soon learned was being called the Corona Virus and it was making many people in Wuhan, China ill, some even dying, That is truly bad news but it quickly got worse as we discovered that this new and sometimes fatal virus was expanding all across the world. Many, if not all of the governments of our world, began taking protective measures to reduce the spread of the Corona Virus. Travel restrictions expanded rapidly, as did the spread of Covid-19. I know this very well because my two daughters had planned a trip to Italy but very quickly there was a travel ban on Italy, so they switched and went to Greece and darn near got stuck there. Happily, they got home. However,things were getting very bad very fast and then came the lock down orders.
This would only last a few weeks we were told, just enough to “flatten the curve.” Well that turned out not to be the case, because even now much of the United States of America remains in lock down mode. Other nations such as Sweden took a different approach and allowed their citizens to remain free which brings me to a few other observations I offer for your thoughts and consideration.
One very basic thought is the simple and undeniable fact that every single person living today will someday die of something. To me that suggests that quality of life is at least as important if not more important than length of life. I offer two wild extremes to illustrate my point here. At birth you are given only two options. Well actually at birth you are too young to make any choices so lets say upon reaching the age of 18 years you are given two choices. The first choice is from that day forward you will enjoy excellent health, have an abundance of money and travel to as many places on earth as you may desire and all of it in luxury. The down side is that if you choose that path you will die on your 45th birthday. The second choice is life guaranteed to age 90 but with constant pain and a requirement that you reside alone in a room in a dark basement from which there is only one escape and that is your death on your 90th birthday. Ponder that and then decide which option you would choose. And yes, I know these are wild extremes but I offer them to illustrate one critical point and that is for most people quality is more important than quantity,
So that lock down remains mostly with us far beyond the suggested few weeks we began with and there are plenty of predictions that it may well continue for many months ahead. Making matters worse, to me at least, it seems abundantly clear what we are being told to do is precisely opposite of what we should be doing. The vast majority of Covid=19 spreads occur in closed environments such as your home or in a nursing home. Outside on a bright sunny day UV rays kill the Corona Virus and being outside also helps to increase herd immunity reducing the risk of infection significantly. Yet even with these upside down orders death from the Corona Virus has dropped BUT death by suicide is beginning to spike. And then there is the ongoing utter obliteration of our Constitutionally guaranteed rights as American citizens,
We do have many rights guaranteed to us by our Constitution but one that is undeniably being trampled is the very first Amendment which guarantees freedom of religion, assembly and speech all of which have been trashed by the lock down orders. There have even been several cases where people attempting to practice their religion have been cited and fined.
I would actually like for Americans to stand up against the what I see as tyranny being thrust upon us from far too many Governors in many states. If returning to a more normal life seems somehow a bad idea take a look at Florida which reopenned several weeks ago now recreating a pleasent environment with no apparent spike in Covid-19 . There is also Georgia and Alaska that seem to be managing well.
And then there is my home state, the once Golden State of California under the pathetic leadership of Gavin Noose-him. But perhaps bad attempt at humor not withstanding this is NOT about Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative. Our challenge now is as it was in 1776. Do we submit to tyranny or fight for freedom and liberty? That is the real issue and not the virus.
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I don’t know how anyone can disagree with you Ron.