featured photo credit: Photo by Antonio Prado on Pexels.com
post contributed by Richland County party member Charlie Whitener
It’s becoming increasingly popular right now to talk about bringing back mask mandates, but why?
People tend to believe that the choice they make is the best life choice and will argue that others should follow suit. Vegetarians will argue that eating red meat is not good for your body and will question why you make the terrible choice to eat a delicious steak. I agree eating red meat is not the healthiest choice, but I also reject the idea that others should regulate what I eat because a certain tribe puts forward legislation to restrict red meat consumption. Does a state house representative really know what is best for your diet?
For whom exactly do we wear these masks? Who are we protecting? Multiple reports suggest that if you are vaccinated, you have a low chance to fall deathly ill. Infected vaccinated individuals (so-called “breakthrough cases”) only suffer mild symptoms while those that don’t choose the vaccine run the risk of possible death.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men and women, killing about 650,000 Americans each year. COVID matched that number in 2020, but heart disease is doing it every year. I do not eat a lot of fast food because I know that it’s not good for me, but I alone choose not to. I don’t need a rule, policy, mandate, or law to make that decision for me.
If mortality is that important, why stop with the masks? Let’s control fast food consumption. What if you were only allowed to eat fast food two times a month? Imagine all the lives we could save!
The government, with the support of the media, is pushing a fear factor and a centralized narrative that they will save us all if we would just comply. I chose to get the vaccine not because I did what the government said, but rather I thought it was the right decision for myself. Some people believe that not taking the vaccine is the right decision for them. Just because people are not following your footsteps and are going down a path that you think is idiotic doesn’t give you the right to force your beliefs on them. I think people forget that others have the right to make dumb choices (ie. no helmets on motorcycles).
Who is at risk right now? This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. This is not a crisis. This is not something that can’t be prevented. Aside from those under 12 (for whom the Delta variant infection symptoms have been mostly mild) and those who are medically compromised (although the vaccine is safe for most underlying medical conditions), the remaining unvaccinated chose not to get the shots. They are taking the risk.
As we have seen too many times before, the government will use fear to centralize ruling matters.
For example, the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has seized authority in areas it was not built to influence. Because of the situation at the border, exacerbated by the Biden administration, the CDC has been put in charge of immigration so the administration wouldn’t look bad turning COVID-infected immigrants away. Further, the CDC is now being used to centralize federal eviction moratoriums. The agency does not have the power nor was it given this extension of power to affect if, when, or how landlords collect rent. They just took the authority upon themselves and started doing it. Government will always overstep its authority until it is challenged.
So what is this really a pandemic of? What liberties are people willing to give away?
If you can scare people in the right way, they will give any amount of power to the government. This is a pandemic of fear. We must challenge the government’s authoritarianism and the media’s fear factor narrative, or risk a continued surrender of our liberty. Mask mandates are a dangerous precedent, and I like my steaks.