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In 2008, I never thought an African American would win a presidential election in my lifetime.
If you told me 12 years from that historic day that post-Barack Obama America would be a nation paralyzed by fear and hysteria over a virus that kills less than 1% of the population, instead of developing new vaccines and cures while Americans go about our daily lives, I would have been even more shocked.
We have been told by the brightest minds and experts that draconian lockdowns, face masks and social distancing keeps people safe. To want to resume your life means you only care about money, while the lockdown crowd only cares about saving humanity.
But if this virus is so deadly why are you still able to still get a Big Mac or shop at Walmart or Amazon? In many Blue States you can buy liquor, but wanting to eat at your favorite restaurant is considered risky.
Recent data suggests you’re more likely to contract Covid-19 sheltering in place as the World Health Organization has praised Sweden for not doing harsh lockdown restrictions. Yet many of our largest cities are still refusing to lift these harsh measures while some, such as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, say they may not fully reopen until they have a vaccine — which may not be available until next year.
This shutdown has exposed two Americas. Conservative states have committed to freedom and free markets while Democratic strongholds force you to ask permission to go outside.
These authoritarian regimes remind me of the Flat Earth Society. In their opinion everything is certain and settled. Questioning doctors like Anthony Fauci or Deborah Birx makes you a heretic worthy of shame, scorn, and isolation.
“How dare you question us,” they shout. “We are scientists, we know more than God.” They show us a bunch of charts and numbers but their only priority is the coronavirus, and damn the economy and the ill effects of a depression. “We care about lives,” they say. But they won’t let us live our lives our protect ourselves from a deadly virus.
This virus has exposed the flaws of liberalism. Why do we need more government stimulus instead of trusting local governments and citizens to take personal responsibility in their lives? The left says we can never go back to normal — we must surrender individual liberty and defer to doctors for the rest of our lives.
Never in our period of American history were so many are willing to swap liberty for safety.
