The not-so-hidden Costs of COVID
So what do you do when things aren’t working out? Cut bait, re-group, look at different options, give up & start over? I think over the years I’ve done all of those. I certainly don’t feel like giving up in these confusing days of COVID, government edicts, and socialist agendas. But all of it has contributed to a malaise that has made the past two years feel like five. Limited travel, cancelled and restricted events, and what I consider ridiculous ‘safety’ protocols that seem designed more to test political power than practical safety. For instance, having to wear masks while standing in ski area chair lift lines in 25 degree weather.
It’s unknown how many lives have been saved with mask mandates. I’m sure some of you will disagree, but I believe assertions to their effectiveness for the vaccinated are overstated. Oh, and whatever happened to all the assurances about observing the effects of herd immunity? They somehow seem to have completely vanished. Unless you’re just accepting everything on blind faith, it’s all quite confusing. Worst of all, like many others I’ve stopped paying attention.
I don’t pretend to be keeping up on all of the science, but as with the nature of all viruses, variants will always be a concern. Hell, that’s why we have flu shots every year. But they are not mandated and the flu kills an average of 50,000 people in the United States every year. The vast majority of those people are immunocompromised in some way, so they are vulnerable. Although it is more viral, the same is true of COVID – most people who die from it are either obese or immunocompromised. Healthy people do not die from the flu or COVID.
Before we go too far, I’m fully vaccinated. I’ll probably get a booster shot. I’m doing it because I think it’s the smart thing to do. It’s consistent with my behavior of getting immunized against other things. To me, it’s not a big deal. But being told I have to be vaccinated or I will lose my job or not be allowed to do certain things is a whole other issue. At first, it seems over the line. It eliminates choice, but it’s essentially the same thing as children having to be vaccinated against known diseases in order to attend school. So who is right?
We can only speculate as to why all the fuss continues to be made. I think a fair amount of it stems from people in power who have a habit of telling others what they need to do about everything. They are the all-knowing, the all-seeing and we must obey their commands. They sound a lot like benevolent dictators. Being raised to think independently in a country full of people who believe they have the right to choose, this comes as a shock and raises my indignation against any edict to subvert that right. Why do people need to be so heavy-handed? Why can’t we seek to educate people instead of circulating propaganda, mis-information and inaccurate statements that only serve to heighten distrust? I’ve always felt you get more out of people by serving a dose of sugar rather than vinegar. Mandates do not promote easy compliance, and impact every aspect of life and those who want to actively live.
I’m going to posit these mandates are now doing more harm than good. Because of their extended abuse we have a world-wide disruption of the economy, shortages, spiking prices and government debt; knee-jerk legislation designed to make citizens more government dependent and less productive, resulting in a shortage of job candidates and the threat of recession and lengthy inflation.
I also think the impact upon the mental health of all of us has been substantial. Increases in murder, violent crime, suicide, drug addiction and overdose, alcohol consumption, anxiety, heart attacks and strokes, and social unrest on any number of subjects have been substantial. People are not happy. We are social animals, and we have not been allowed to socialize or even wander freely about. The idea of keeping people, and children in particular, isolated, out of school, and forced to work alone is unhealthy.
People are pushing back. I go to football games where a mask mandate is in force. Fat chance. No one wears a mask during pre-game tailgate socializing and no one wears a mask once they’re inside the stadium. Put one on, show your vax card to get through the gate, and then immediately remove it. Seen any real outbreaks from this behavior? I haven’t. Oh, and by the way, whatever happened to the HIPPA health privacy law? I haven’t heard much, if any, talk about how that has been conveniently ignored. To my mind, the kind of hate and ostracizing going on for not being vaccinated is just the kind of discrimination the law was meant to prevent.
This is a big deal. The effects of hasty and ill-advised actions will probably trickle down and through our society for years. Media outlets irresponsibly sensationalizing the facts, repeating them ad nauseum and issuing conflicting reports continues to be a serious public disservice. We’re more sophisticated in our yellow journalism, but it still exists in a fully unhealthy form today. Unfortunately, it’s also a never-ending fact of human nature to panic, devolve to our basest level of behavior, and ignore measured, rational judgement and action in favor of mob rule.
Particularly at this stage, I think vaccination and other protective protocols, like wearing a mask, should be left to the individual to decide. You know whether you are at risk or not. You know if you are in a high-risk profession, liking nursing. If you are, take the precautions necessary. Limit your potential for exposure. Please don’t make healthy individuals with low risk of any long-term effects be required to protect you from yourself. It is up to you to protect you. It is not the government’s duty to protect you by subverting the rights of its citizens. It is government’s duty to educate and inform, not to color the message, propagandize facts, withhold information or limit access. Unfortunately, we know governments generally practice the opposite. Spin and messaging are more important than truth.
The next question then naturally becomes, what is the real purpose of all this? I wish I knew, but my inclination is to think government is using this as an opportunity to gain further control of our lives, to make each of us ever more reliant on their will. Power and control. Human nature hasn’t changed much, so why should the desire for power and control?
They’ve made me suspicious. I want to be able to make my own decisions. I expect to be truthfully informed. I don’t think we’re getting the whole story and I know I have less freedom. It’s disappointing and the length of it has pretty much tapped out my patience. What do you think?
