Two weeks to slow the spread.
That was the original rationale for the lockdowns, masking and social distancing: Prevent transmission of the coronavirus so that Americans could be assured that we would not overwhelm hospital capacity, causing needless death.
Wait until a vaccine is available.
That was the next goal post: an admonition to continue to take precautions to avoid spreading the coronavirus until a vaccine could be developed. Despite the warnings of COVID-19 pessimists that a vaccine would take years to develop, despite the unjustified alarmism of figures like Vice President Kamala Harris that the Trump administration would skew the vaccine protocols to achieve political ends, vaccines were miraculously developed.
Wait until every adult has a chance to get the vaccine.
That was the final rationale for caution. And as states began to tranche out vaccines by the millions, every person above the age of 12 in the United States was given the opportunity to get vaccinated. As of today, over 90% of adults over the age of 65 — the most at-risk population in the United States — have been vaccinated, and more than 70% of all Americans over age 18 have been vaccinated as well.
And yet.
We are told that we are experiencing a massive COVID-19 crisis. We have been told that the vaccinated must mask up again; that the unvaccinated should be barred from public establishments; that children must be masked in school. We have been told that America faces doom and death on a daily basis and that we’re seeing a crisis akin to the last wave of the coronavirus in January. We’re masking up and checking vaccine cards in Washington, D.C., in San Francisco, in Los Angeles, in New York.
The statistics simply do not bear this out. According to the seven-day rolling average as calculated by The New York Times, fewer than 400 Americans per day are dying of COVID-19; at the height of the pandemic, well over 3,000 were. In Washington, D.C. (total population: 692,000), that number is 0; in San Francisco County (total population: 875,000), that number is 0; in Los Angeles County (total population: 10 million), that number is 9; in New York City (total population: 8.4 million), that number is 3.
The current delta variant spike has resulted in a massive case count, particularly in Florida, but deaths are not following cases — and if the United States follows the pattern of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, we’re likely to see the case count begin to crater in the next few weeks. Those who are vaccinated are not dying of COVID-19; their death rate is minuscule. Those who are unvaccinated have chosen not to vaccinate; they are independent adults capable of determining their own approach to risk and reward.
All of which requires us to ask the question: When are we done?
When are we done telling children to mask up to protect adults who don’t want to vaccinate? When are we done telling businesses to close up or bar customers based on vaccination status? When are we done with mask mandates (data suggests that mask mandates are ineffective, even if masking is sometimes useful), with evidence-free social distancing rules (six feet is pure conjecture), with the ever-vacillating, Delphic pronouncements of Dr. Anthony Fauci? We have hit the goal posts; every adult now has the capacity to protect himself. There are no other realistic goal posts: Zero COVID-19 cases was never a realistic goal.
When is the job of government done?
And yet.
Our public health “experts” continue to promote more and more outrageous restrictions. This week, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins went so far as to recommend that vaccinated parents mask up in their own homes around their own children . There is no limiting principle to this, no end goal. There is only a bureaucratic and political elite unwilling to treat citizens as adults, recognize their own limitations and leave us all the hell alone.
And if we accept that, we deserve nothing less than subjection to their paternalistic control.
Ben Shapiro, 37, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “How To Destroy America In Three Easy Steps,” “The Right Side Of History,” and “Bullies.” To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
Politically or healthwise?
It will not end politically until people recognize the control game being played upon them and finally say enough is enough. The Liberals are enjoying every minute of this because it sets the stage for greater control down the road irrespective of COVID.
Healthwise, this thing should have been left alone and allowed to run its course like any virus. We have all been handed so much bull—and we are still being handed a steady diet of bull even now. The “experts” preach that our salvation rests in the vaccine—which is proving not to be so, but that is the line they have chosen to use. What is not being told is all of the preventative things we can do to greatly reduce our chances of getting the virus. There are a number of anti-viral supplements that can be taken to boost the immune system. There are a number of safe and effective drugs that are being used but are also being downplayed because the powers that be want the vaccine to be the answer.
Tracy Beanz at Uncover DC is coming out with a very informational and helpful database in the near future that will provide people with unbiased information regarding COVID. Go to Uncover DC and sign up for their free subscription so you can be in the know when this info comes out.
IMO even IF we stand up and say “HELL NO, we are not going to believe you anymore”, the dems in charge, the CDC etc will STILL TRY TO PUSH this insanity on us…
COVID is not the reason for panic, it never has been in the real sense. The real panic is the political response irresponsible and often senseless mandates, conflicting informatiom often protrayed as misinformation. Government official at odds with each other and often with truth and common sense. Too much interference with normal human activity created suspicion, hostility, unhealthy atmospheres where there should have been none.
I’m convinced the mask & vaccine mandates by Dem Party & enforced by China / foreign nation dependent Corp globalist profiteers & a neo fascist teachers union is just a trial run to pave the way for Dem total control & domination over US working class population, which is only class of citizens they have to worry about.
Our freedoms, our civil & private property rights, national security & sovereignty & even the sanctity & integrity of voting are all being eradicated by Dem Party & their acolytes under the guise of public health emergency.
If they get away with this they have already identified the upcoming “public health emergencies” they intend to use to further abuse, bankrupt & oppress the working class re: gun ownership & the hysterical unfounded claims that US is responsible for & must be forced to submit to govt & Corp oppression to eliminate climate change & racism.
Am especially ticked off at govt & Corp dictatorship requiring mask / vaccine, which don’t seem to apply to criminals, illegal aliens or homeless since they can only enforce them against the law abiding working class.
I’d love to speak to WW2 vets who are still alive, and ask them all
“SO Seeing how our nation has literally turned fascist/communist.. DO YOU FEEL You made the right choice like so many others did, to “fight for freedom”???
This has all to do with politics and control.
Covid will live forever IF we are dumb enough to believe the hype and lies and obey the orders of our new socialist masters.
Rebel now while you still have a few options open to you. Refuse to take the shot. Refuse to wear the mask. Live your life freely in open violation of the endless useless mandates. Act like you are free…or you are a slave.
Better to DIE free, then live as a slave.