“Flatten the curve” was a lie. I didn’t want it to be a lie, but it clearly was. It was clearly untrue, clearly something that was said to people like you and me. You know, fools who actually believed that our job was to limit the number of cases of coronavirus happening at one time so that hospitals could stay ahead of the game.
To paraphrase former Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry, the “you know what” set me up.
Well, it’s no longer about that now It’s about keeping lockdown orders for forever. While all states have lessened their lockdowns, some cities have continued them on in even greater draconian fashion, including statements that there will be no full-fledged re-opening until we have a vaccine or a treatment.
Well, we might be here for awhile. Sure, they’re working hard on vaccines. You got the push on Remdisivir from Gilead. You’ve got Moderna with their vaccine. Pfizer says maybe they will have something by the fall. Great. I only hope that they do. But what if they don’t?
But let’s return to the subject at hand. What’s with moving the goalposts?? They changed the entire scene, taking us from “flatten the curve” to flatten your wallet, because you can’t go back to work. They went from, “Be responsible!” to, “Accept our authority!”
It’s authoritarianism at work. But, of course, they don’t even see themselves as authoritarians. They never do. Rather, they just have some secret understanding of the world, they know better than you and they’re only trying to save you from yourself. We have a word for people like that: Elitists.
It’s not a good feeling to feel like you got played. It’s not a good feeling to feel like we’ve had the rules changed on us mid-game. Not to benefit lives and livelihoods, but to attain and maintain power.
I never thought I’d see America willingly go into lockdown, and then see so many Americans wanting to stay there, all the while berating those who want to open their businesses and care for their families. The anger from some, against those who don’t think healthy people should be quarantined, is palpable. To paraphrase my brother, the good Dr. Katz, nothing angers the prisoner more than seeing others walk free.
What we’re watching – the police state antics, the non-scientific slow-rolled re-open policies, the call for indefinite lockdowns in Durham, NC and ongoing restrictions in Los Angeles, CA and other cities – is awful. And I’m as frustrated as you are. But it’s really possible that you’re more frustrated than me. I’m still working. What if you’re not working?
Who the hell am I? I know that as I sit behind a microphone. I write. I still have a gig. Don’t get me wrong, I own my syndication company, lock, stock and barrel. I’m working it hard, but take a look at how down advertising dollars are on radio and TV. Holy cow, it’s rough.
But I’m still here. I still have the ability to go to work. That ability wasn’t taken from me. I sometimes ask myself how lockdowns aren’t cruel and unusual punishment?
A vaccine? It’s possible. The scientific community has been moving at an absolutely incredible pace, but it’s possible it may not come to some level of efficacy for another year from now, or two, or three. What are we doing until then? Do nothing? Don’t open our businesses? Just sit at home, wear our government-issued grey garb, take the government handouts that increase the debt that gets loaded onto our children and grandchildren and await further instructions?
The authoritarians – sorry, the Elitists – say yes. They’re saying it clearly; that there will be some levels of lockdown, some levels of ridiculous rules, like 50% occupancy in restaurants, that have no scientific basis. (The CDC most recently came out to say that coronavirus does NOT easily spread on surfaces!) There will be debt, mountains of it. And they do so without any level of introspection or remorse.
They told America that we have to shut things down in order to flatten the curve. I’m sure some experts believed that to be true, and had no other intentions. But the Elitists stepped in, and changed gears into bogus concepts of “new normal” and forever lockdowns. When people ask, “Why in the world don’t you trust government?”, you can point to flatten the curve. It should have been a point of American pride – engaging in sacrifice for the good of our fellow citizens. Instead, Elitists turned into just another power grab.
It didn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way.
