Lockdowns have produced immeasurable damage to our economy, our mental and physical health, and the emotional development of our children. They have failed to stem the spread of the virus and there is no discernible data to suggest they have accomplished anything worthwhile at all. Yet despite this undeniable history, there are those in government today considering a return to lockdowns!
Dr. Anthony Fauci – the often heralded, frequently misguided, often outspoken, but never remorseful infectious disease physician advising the Biden administration actually said he is considering advising a return to lockdowns. He recently admitted to CNN anchor Jake Tapper that they are considering requiring masks even for vaccinated individuals while in public.
The Washington Examiner editorial board says, “No. No. No. We believe in science. Therefore, we believe the vaccinated should not have to pretend vaccination doesn’t work – to live under the performative restrictions of public health theater, just to appease the insufferable mask-scolds among us and allay their pandemic era superstitions.”
It is true that the number of new cases of Covid-19 are rising, but the problem is the unvaccinated, not the vaccinated. The vast number of new cases and hospitalizations are occurring in low-vaccinated areas. Yet the CDC wants the vaccinated to resume wearing masks? The CDC justification for this change is an obscure study in India that has been harshly criticized in peer reviews and used the AstroZeneca vaccine, which isn’t even available in the U.S.! There is absolutely no justification for making the vaccinated continue to wear masks – anywhere!
Then there are the children. Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing young children wearing masks, even outdoors, despite volumes of data that prove such children are at little risk from the virus but at greater risk from the masks! (Do Children Need Masks and Vaccines?)
This boils down to a discussion of the proper role of government. The role of government is mainly to protect us from enemies, foreign and domestic, who threaten our lives. Government intervention made some sense in the early period of the pandemic in early 2020 when little was known about the virus and hospital facilities were threatened with overwhelming numbers.
But the advent of three successful vaccines makes government’s role now limited to dissemination of the vaccines and public awareness of their availability. Now that over two thirds of Americans have received vaccination, in part or in full, and another approximate third has already experienced Covid infection giving them natural immunity, the number of unprotected Americans is rapidly diminishing. Those who are getting infected now have mostly chosen to accept the risks of infection rather than the vaccine risks, or have been so advised by their doctors. This is a decision they have a right to make without coercion.
The real reason government and public health officials are contemplating a return to wearing masks is because they never want to give up control of the people. Big government politicians always believe the government is the solution to every problem. But Ronald Reagan said, “Government is not the solution. Government is the problem.” No truer words have been said.
This pandemic has provided government officials and politicians unprecedented opportunities to display their passion for the size of government. Democrats have repeatedly chosen heavy-handed government intervention in states like California, New York, and Michigan, while Republicans in states like Texas and Florida have resisted such urges and allowed the people to make informed decisions of their own.
There’s a reason why both Texas and Florida are seeing a massive inflow of people from blue states where they have given up on Democratic governance. High taxes, pandemic lockdowns, public school closures, rising crime rates, and intrusive government policies are forcing many to escape such enclaves of liberal policies for greener, and freer, pastures – and no lockdowns!
