Why Do You Get to Do That?

There is a lot of talk about human rights these days.
Genocidal wars, governmental repression, and atrocities occurring in this country and around the planet have the good citizens up on their soapboxes.

Law-abiding citizens halt at red lights and stop signs, drive on the right side of the road, pay their taxes, and obey most of the rules and laws designed to keep people safe and maintain some sense of order.

 No one questions those things.

But what happens when you throw a pandemic into the mix? Then a few simple requests like wearing a mask, staying out of crowds and taking modest steps to protect your health cause the entire country to erupt in a volcano of disobedience and ugliness. The rule of law is thrown out the window.

All of a sudden a few reasonable precautions become a call to arms. Violent reprisals against the “dictatorial, oppressive government” ruthlessly trampling on the “freedoms” that make this country great become widespread.

Ideology and poorly supported beliefs rule the day. A wildly irresponsible response on the part of governing bodies to stop the spread of this virus, a wildly irresponsible media disseminating misinformation, a wildly irresponsible response by citizens has allowed COVID to spread nearly unchecked through the United States and the world.

The development of vaccines cannot keep up with the variants that mutate with impunity in an unprotected, oblivious, and unconcerned population.

A huge percentage of the citizens of this country are united in their persecution of anyone who would have the temerity to suggest that maybe we should continue to take this virus seriously.

It’s getting very difficult to be around people, even those that supposedly care about you or claim to take COVID seriously.

They don’t.

That’s a hard pill to swallow.

No matter how many times I tell people that I am uncomfortable with going to their church or their parties or a concert or a bar they seem to forget all about it by the time they offer another invitation.

I guess rights and their application are subjective and open to interpretation.

Your right to “live your life” evidently supersedes my right to not get sick.

Your right to mindlessly ignore a massive body of research supersedes my right to take that research seriously.

In almost every situation the rights of callous, indifferent, and cold-blooded people supersede the rights of the ever-dwindling numbers of people who merely want to avoid infection by a virus that could negatively impact the rest of their lives.

I have never had a very high opinion of people and their capacity to do what is right for others but the world that COVID introduced me to has brought that opinion to a new low.

Even knowing what I know I still have a hard time comprehending how people could have sunk to such lows.

It’s like people who say,

“I think black people should be treated equally, but…”
or “I believe in women’s rights, but…” or “I think climate change is a problem, but…”

 It leaves me in awe.

An entire country that has universally decided to abandon compassion, concern for others, and a belief in the teachings of whatever god to whom they claim allegiance all in the service of their “freedoms.”

COVID appears to have achieved an honored place in the pantheon of disasters that are facing us in that it, alone, is consistently disregarded or marginalized.

Water shortages, those are bad.
Extreme weather events, those are bad.
Wars, they’re bad.
Food shortages, they’re bad.
Societal unrest, that’s bad.
Political unrest, that’s bad.

A worldwide pandemic that has, according to some estimates, killed over 25,000,000 people, it’s not so bad.

There are a few doctors and groups still holding on despite being dismissed or ignored that continue to sound the alarm bells. People like Dr. Anthony Leonardi, Eric Topol, T.A.C.T. and The People’s CDC go largely unheard.

So now we enter the 3^rd holiday season with COVID. Things as far as precautions, testing, and treatment are worse than ever and almost no one cares. For every person who does, there's four who don't. Some people are slowly waking up, but at this rate it's going to be too late for a lot of people before they finally get it.

To anyone who reads this who thinks that those of us who are still concerned are being overly fearful of a “mild virus”.

To anyone who asserts their right to behave irresponsibly over my right to stay healthy.

I would ask, why do you get to do that?