Dear editor,
I never thought I would see the day when the American people would be put under house arrest, denied the right to operate their businesses, go to their jobs, or even attend their place of worship. Until recently this type of tyrannical rule wouldn’t even be considered socialism; these are major hallmarks of communism.
Our founding fathers and countless American soldiers gave up everything to preserve our liberty, and yet many Americans are gleefully giving it up, often in exchange for the bribe of a check from a government checkbook that is already woefully overdrawn.
Should our government be warning us about COVID-19? Absolutely. Should they be advising us on how to avoid contracting or spreading it? Absolutely. Can they then decide for us what we, as informed, intelligent and free Americans must do about it? Absolutely not! A pillar of our constitutional rights is personal responsibility, not authoritarian rule.
Is COVID-19 serious? It is. It is in fact one of the more serious viruses that have spread around the globe in the last 100 years, although certainly not the only one. It is highly contagious and has a death rate of a couple percentage points higher than most other recent viruses; although even that percentage, especially among otherwise healthy individuals, was overstated to begin with. In fact, almost all of the models and projections of the seriousness of COVID-19 have now proven to have been greatly exaggerated. Whether intentional or unintentional, now that more facts are available, one would hope that those in authority would acknowledge their “emergency” reactions were largely overzealous. But instead, we have power-drunk governors doubling down, trying to outdo each other in how much they care about their citizens, while destroying people’s lives, ruining our economy and absolutely trampling all over the constitutional rights of every American.
At first, we were all told we must flatten the curve. At the time it was stated by many scientists and news outlets that flattening the curve wouldn’t necessarily reduce the number of COVID-19 cases, it would simply spread out the contraction of the virus so that our hospitals and health care units wouldn’t be initially overwhelmed. We accomplished that. In fact, many hospitals now have fewer patients than ever and are trying to increase elective surgeries to fill some of the empty rooms.
The American people aren’t stupid. With good information we are perfectly capable of making good decisions about taking care of ourselves, our families and our neighbors. That is how our republic was designed. We don’t need, and hopefully don’t want, a nanny-state government to make our decisions for us. Most business are absolutely in the best position possible to determine how to safeguard their employees and customers from all threats, including COVID-19. Those who don’t won’t be in business for long.
But instead we have bureaucrats in far off cities pompously deciding what is best for us while they jockey for future votes or try to damage political rivals, all at our expense.
It is a sad day for America.
Mike Brust, town of Stettin
Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly accepts letters to the editor from residents, officials, and candidates for local offices. The views of our readers are not necessarily the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, send to [email protected].
