Today is simply venting about the absurdities I have witnessed over the course of the last few months. Feel free to comment and add to what amounts to a lengthy and admittedly far from comprehensive list. I could care less if you agree or disagree. This is simply an exercise in mental health.
To start my list, I am tired of the idiotic retort of “the coronavirus is not really bad because (fill in the blank) kills (fill in the blank) people each year.” This comparison logic is void of any understanding of the logarithmic spread of a contagious disease. A fair analogy of this logic would be an officer on the first day of World War I and telling his soldiers that it’s absurd to worry about this new device called a machine gun because only a few people have been killed by them. How about this instead? In a matter of just a few months, the COVID-19 has wiped out more Americans than all of America’s senseless wars in the last forty years? These are thousands of people that would be upright and walking and talking had a very nasty virus not hopped from China to the United States. All deadly diseases start by killing a single person. The point isn’t that only a single person has died; it’s how many people could die if it isn’t prevented.
I am tired of talking about “peak” infections. Does it really matter if 977 people die instead of 983? Can we agree that its horrible either way? As long as we have the virus in our communities it will rapidly spread. Remember we started with zero infections and within weeks, absent social distancing, we had thousands of infections. As such, I am curious how it is okay to start with, say 1,300 infections, and think that the result will be any different.
I am tired of people who can’t “deal” with reality. Get over it snowflakes and toughen up. Newsflash, you don’t have a right to the world being perfect. You wanted to socialize everything else, so why not risk and hardship? After all, that is the result of socialist policies so take good notes. No matter how much you deny reality, you are not immune from the consequences of your denial. In fact, it’s healthy your normalcy bias was shattered. Look at it as being cured of a state of chronic mental illness for free. Oh, and yes, it is possible you are faced with nothing but bad options. A statement comes to mind that many grunts can appreciate, “welcome to the suck.”
I am tired of the Left race baiting and trying to politicize the suffering during this pandemic. The disease is not racist contrary to the absurd proclamations from these divisive subversives openly operating in the United States. The disease kills irrespective of race, gender, or class much to the chagrin of these radicals. Further, whether they like it or not, it kills unhealthy people at much higher rates. I hope this wasn’t a big surprise. In particular, if you are obese, chances are you have a pre-existing condition that will be exasperated by this disease whether you are a fat white person that smokes in Appalachia or a fat black person that smokes in the inner-city. If you don’t like it, I would recommend accepting some responsibility and living a healthier lifestyle.
I am tired of over-zealous police acting as if they are Gestapo agents demanding “your papers.” “Voluntary” recommendations should be the operative term. Going about your life…as in traveling, recreating, eating, working, visiting, etc. is not a crime. Only in the worst of authoritarian regimes would a human be stripped of what amounts to one of the most basic human rights…the right to pursue the means of subsistence. How exactly is jailing a person for walking down the street helping to prevent disease spread? Our bureaucrats do not understand the most basic relationships between cause and effect. These newly imprisoned people not only present a serious risk of bringing the disease into to the isolated prison population, but also acquiring it and then being released soon thereafter and spreading it back to the public. Ironically, the unnecessary contact exposes our police and judicial officials to a far greater risk of infection, which may be a form of poetic justice. The mounting number of government abuses from fines to outright imprisonment of citizens is intolerable.
I am tired of neighbors ratting out each other as if they are informants for the East German Stasi. I am all for outing these loyalists to the Crown. What kind of self-respecting American calls the police on their neighbor for cooking out or playing catch in their own backyard? Further, how stupid are these people? Do they not know even the most basic facts about viral spread? This is chilling. Please do everything you can to shame these “Karens” into a bit more old fashion anti-establishment American rebellion for the good of everyone.
I am tired of releasing prison populations into unprepared communities. Don’t get me wrong, I believe many thousands of people are unjustly imprisoned every year and many never should have been jailed. I am not debating that point. What is of concern is that thousands of convicted criminals are suddenly being released from jail with no money, no job, no place to stay and no hope of finding any of the aforementioned necessities under the current circumstances. A thinking person would recognize this is rather destabilizing and could quickly lead to a spike in crime for any community victimized by a sudden dumping of inmates in their backyard.
I am tired of people that have spent their entire lives supporting anti-gun measures suddenly racing out to buy a gun. If you don’t own a gun yet, you should be prevented from purchasing a firearm until this crisis has passed. The only background check should be to see if you have previously purchased a gun and are in good standing with the Second Amendment. For once, the anti-gun advocates should have to suffer the consequences for blindly stating their entire lives that there is no reason for a person to own a gun. Further, these people truly don’t know what in the hell they are doing with a firearm and epitomize everything they feared about reckless gun owners. Now that these hypocrites are forced to admit that security could quickly deteriorate and the government cannot protect them, we shouldn’t let them off the hook before their lesson is learned.
I am tired of the term “worker” as if we are some type of Bolshevik slaves. Terms like citizens, employees, managers, business owners, or even a generic statement like people recently unemployed would be fitting, but President Trump unthinkingly taking his talking points from Bernie Sanders is a bridge too far. Workers of the world unite!
I am tired of how people reflexively turn to the government for an immediate “fix” even though the government’s failures are to blame for the spread of the virus within the United States. Why would anyone expect the organization most responsible for this colossal failure to have the solution? Do people not realize hundreds of billions of dollars and entire organizations within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security (FEMA) as well as our intelligence agencies and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are specifically tasked with preparedness, early warning, defense, resilience, and recovery in the event of a biological threat? Further, where are all the open borders activists and globalists demanding we produce everything cheaply overseas? At what point will these organizations and their leadership be held to account? At minimum, considering the time and money spent over the decades, the government should have stockpiled personal protective equipment for healthcare providers and the population. It is simply inexcusable that our nation was caught unprepared and by surprise considering the massive amount of money dedicated to intelligence. This failure is on par with Pearl Harbor.
I am tired of global corporations and financial institutions that made reckless risk decisions getting trillion dollar bailouts. These corporate executives are making millions running unprofitable failing companies, but the taxpayers get what? A bill? Hell, we don’t even get stock options in these lousy companies. Let them fail. Instead of stock buybacks, perhaps they should have built some savings. How is it that Joe the Plumber is responsible for bailing out a company like Boeing, which was failing long before any pandemic? Boeing has horrible management made up of former career bureaucrats, quality control levels so poor they are producing aircraft with debris in fuel tanks, and have been producing aircraft more unsafe than jets designed decades ago while charging astronomical prices. The company should fail or have to radically clean up its act. Nonetheless, somehow their gross mismanagement is the problem of the taxpayer through a system of cronyism and socialist government policies. This cannot end well.
I am tired of hearing how we have the “best economy in history” even though that statement is based on incredibly manipulated numbers and what amounts to complete revisionist history. We have known for years that we have been living in one of the biggest bubbles ever created. The financial markets have soared to record highs as a result of manipulation by the Federal Reserve, but are underpinned by nothing. Anyone with sense knew this bubble would burst sooner or later. The only question was what would pop the bubble. Admittedly, this is the subject of an entire dissertation so I will leave it at this. If it truly was the best economy in history, why did it collapse in a week and if it didn’t, why did it need (as of this week) six trillion in tax dollars to bail it out?
I am tired of how our government conspires with the Federal Reserve to conjure trillions of dollars out of thin air and then pretends that there are no negative consequences. Are Americans really so naïve as to believe the middle class isn’t going to get stuck with the bill? The poor can’t pay and the rich don’t pay. Put another way, I will be happy to give a two thousand dollar check to any sucker willing to give me ten thousand dollars in “taxes” to pay for me giving them the two thousand dollars. This is literally what the government is doing to “help” and it appears Americans are truly dumb enough to think this is beneficial.
Finally, I am tired of people’s apathy and immediate acquiescence to even the most draconian government dictates. Do we honestly think Google has our best interests in mind volunteering to help track us for the government? This sounds an awful lot like what China does to control its population. For once, many of the “workers” don’t have to be at work. There is no excuse why we all shouldn’t be marching on our state capitals demanding our Rights instead of sheepishly ignoring the draconian precedents being set daily. It’s true; no good crisis should go to waste. However, rather than allowing us to be manipulated by fear into giving up more Rights, let’s use this chance to take back the ones we have lost.
By Guiles Hendrik
April 11, 2020
