I Was a Lockdown Fanatic and Now I Feel Like a Fool
"Living your life based on the inconsistent messaging of the WHO and the CDC is a recipe for disaster"
Since the pandemic began, I’ve been described as a so-called “COVID warrior,” which makes some sense. After all, I’ve defended the shutdowns of large gatherings. I’ve insisted that it’s wise to temporarily close churches and postpone funerals and other ceremonies. I’ve argued that extreme caution is necessary—that to do anything else would be to blatantly and selfishly ignore the scientific information at our disposal. I’ve held the opinion that, although it has caused irrevocable harm to the economy and caused millions of people to suffer, business owners who close up shop for fear of spreading contagion are in the right.
Now I feel like a fool.
By no means am I a coronavirus denier—more than 100,000 and counting have died from the COVID. But with conflicting reports about everything from wearing masks to the spread of the virus through surfaces coming out of the World Health Organization and the CDC almost weekly, my head is spinning. Nothing seems to make sense anymore.
For fear of spreading the virus, health experts have consistently recommended shutting down and avoiding public spaces, including schools, playgrounds, public pools, and public transportation. They’ve also advocated for limiting large gatherings and closing anything that might draw crowds. It’s advice that’s been repeated for months—to the point that those ignoring it have been reviled and accused of experimenting with “human sacrifice.”
That’s because asymptomatic carriers of the virus, though they may feel all right themselves, can become mass spreaders of the deadly contagion, especially in large groups. This is why Michigan residents protesting their state’s lockdown in Lansing were deserving of shame—they likely caused mass immiseration and sickness, right?
Wrong. Turns out, health officials didn’t really believe any of that.
Just last week, the WHO announced that it’s extremely rare for asymptomatic spreading of the coronavirus to occur. If you feel fine, then you’re probably not a grave threat to anyone, especially if you’re wearing a mask and gloves. Then the WHO backtracked on that statement, ultimately arriving at the completely unhelpful determination that “this is a major unknown.” Health experts simply don’t know to what extent the disease is transmitted by asymptomatic carriers—yet they still feel confident that the risks of the coronavirus shouldn’t impact our protesting of police brutality.
One rightly wonders how, within a span of weeks, we went from shaming people for being out in the streets to shaming those who won’t join the crowd.
What’s more, contact with infected animals and surfaces is unlikely to cause COVID-19 to spread, and chlorine kills the virus upon contact, so clean pools are also safe. But of course, many schools, playgrounds, pools, and businesses were forced to close.
Livelihoods have been destroyed, children are paying a high price through a loss of time and key social-educational development, and mental health across the country is on the decline.
And now some journalists from prominent publications—the same ones that have been demanding oh-so-extreme caution—are performing breathtaking gymnastics in an effort to backtrack, explaining that there’s no evidence of outdoor coronavirus spread. Now, it’s “prolonged indoor close contact” that we have to worry about.
They may be right. Maybe protesters really shouldn’t worry (though they probably should). But that doesn’t excuse what seems to be a disgusting hypocrisy that trampled on the livelihoods of more than 30 million Americans. Understandably, many are outraged and have lost all faith in the experts.
Health advice can’t shift with politics—COVID-19, cancer, and the flu don’t know party lines. The virus is either unmanageable or manageable. That’s it.
Now, with Trump aiming to restart his so-called “MAGA rallies,” we’ll inevitably have—and already have had—another round of tut-tutting from the media about how horribly irresponsible it is to gather in crowds. But who can possibly blame those who shrug these warnings off? MAGA rallies very well could spread COVID-19, but in the event they do, the George Floyd protests will be equally culpable. Expert credibility has been lost.
Maybe we should, as many of my more classically liberal friends have been saying all along, allow people to make their own choices, take their own risks, open their own businesses back up, hold their own protests against injustice.
Whatever the case, given the whiplash the public has experienced over these past few weeks, we certainly won’t be running to health experts as readily as before. Certainly, social distancing practices have helped flatten the curve, but living your life based on the inconsistent messaging of the WHO and the CDC is a recipe for disaster. If a second wave does appear, it will be cautious individuals and community innovation that provides the solutions—not those who have done nothing to earn our trust.
Source: The American Conservative
Oh you are much more than a fool – you are a fully vested idiot. 100,000 dead – that’s a load of crock. People die all the time, but not from covid – the questions is did they did from it or with it – and the answer is obvious – we just do not know.
When health experts have connections to big pharma and they speak Big Pharma and twisted facts … they are not health experts … they are talking heads. Fauci is a Bill Gates crony and Bill Gates has interests in both the CDC and WHO besides many Big Pharma companies. The entire country went Fauci on Bill Gates command. CV19 is just another killer flu and nothing else. I believe all Government officials who pushed this crap on the people of this country need to resign and go lock themselves up for plain old ignorance or stupidity.
Looking at everything “supposed authorities” are handling then when the going gets tough
they say “youre on your own” OK THEN WE ARE ON OUR OWN…that means ALL YOUR BULLSHIT LAWS AND POLICIES you come out with on a regular basis IS NOW VOID
He’s not a COVID denier! 100,000 have died! He’s in USA land mindset.. only US deaths count.. Very many Americans still only recognize the 58,000 US fatalities.. when over 3,000,000 died over there from Vietnam and Cambodia.. mostly civilians. They still suffer the long-term effects of US chemical and biological war crimes. But at least he is waking up.
It was all worth it, the price you have to pay to obtain the blessings of communism.
Hey MORON just wait for the next INFLUENZA SEASON and enjoy the s h i t show!
Yes you were a fool. Thanks for admitting it.
As shown in this article, a widely available and inexpensive drug has been proven to reduce symptoms in COVID patients who are severely ill:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2020/06/saving-sickest-treatment-option-for.html
This study is particularly interesting because it offers hope to COVID-19 patients who are severely ill with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS, a condition that occurs in profoundly ill patients whose immune system is attacking their lungs. Unfortunately, use of this off-the-shelf drug will not make Big Pharma even wealthier.
Vitamin D3 has been widely available for as long as it has been an essential nutrient for human beings.
It seems that the Herd of Morons prefer to waste MONEY on other type of remedies!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cd07c6195eba3908c601431c430dd8e8ff80126c40b45bcc411b499df8f5c6b2.png
I respect a person who can admit they’re wrong. We need more people like this.