“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
– Ben Franklin
Across the country businesses are being closed, and livelihoods are being destroyed all because of an illness that, chances are, won’t kill you. I’m not talking about a 51%-49% chance here. The Wuhan-Flu has somewhere around a 99% survival rate (it’s higher than that, but I’m rounding down so we can stick with whole numbers). If you get the virus, odds are you’ll be fine.
So, with that knowledge, why are people so afraid of a statistical improbability?
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 23:4
There are many answers to that question, but all of them stem from ignorance, fear, or a combination of the two.
I’m not a scientist, so I’m not going to talk about the way a virus works, or “herd immunity” or any of that. Instead, I am going to talk about freedom, and how we should ALWAYS choose freedom when at a crossroad.
Currently, there is no law in place that demands you to go to Walmart, or Starbucks, or… anywhere really. People are completely free to make these choices themselves. At least, that used to be the case. Sadly, we are seeing people in positions of leadership demanding that businesses be closed because we the people are just too stupid to save ourselves (in their view).
This sentiment seems to be shared with a lot of our fellow citizens as well. You don’t have to look too hard to find people praising the actions of governors who call for small businesses to remain closed. “To hell with business owners,” they say. “We don’t want you to be able to feed your family!”
Where did this sort of thinking come from? How have we gotten to a place as a nation where a LARGE group of people think that freedom should only be allowed if the circumstances permit?
FEAR DISGUISED AS VIRTUE
There’s no denying that a huge swath of the population are in a lot of fear at the moment. You see parents and teachers crying over the possibility of schools opening, as though it’s some sort of “death sentence” (seriously. People are using the phrase “death sentence” when talking about “back to school”). If you ignore the data, then I suppose their fear makes sense, however… I like data.
Rather than coming to grips with their own fear, these people push their insecurities onto others under the guise of “doing the right thing”, or some BS along those lines. They attempt to come off as virtuous, but in reality they only want to have their fear affirmed. They want to feel less alone in their fear. Tragically, many of our leaders are in this crowd and are using their positions to make everyone else play along.
There’s nothing virtuous in telling a small restaurant owner “you can’t do business because someone who comes in on their own free will might get sick”. Forcing people out of work to combat a virus is flat out wrong. There’s nothing right about it at all.
If masks work, why would a business have to remain closed? If social distancing works, why can’t I go to a bar and sit a few feet away from someone?
You’ve probably heard all the talking points by now, but here are a few of my favorites that those living in fear tend to use:
“I wear a mask because I care about others.”
“We need to stay locked down until there’s a cure.”
“Businesses can’t open because what if someone goes in and brings the virus home?”
“Kids can’t go to school because they might get sick from someone else.”
“Think of your grandma!”
Perhaps these people aren’t aware of this, but with freedom, nobody is forcing them to do anything. If they want to stay home, and keep their kids from going to school, freedom says they can do that.
The thing is, these people don’t care about our freedom. They would trade some false sense of safety for everyone else’s ability to provide for their families, and make their own decisions. The people living in fear are not good people at all. These people are bad, and most don’t even know it.
“Oh, you think the virus is a hoax,” many will say, but nothing could be further from the truth. I personally have been talking about this virus since December of 2019, but most people thought I was crazy for thinking there was about to be a huge health crisis in our country. The whole “you think it’s not real” rhetoric is just one way for the scaredy cats to dismiss what others who oppose them say. The virus is real. Period. Freedom should still prevail.
The people who are afraid of catching the virus are totally within their rights to stay home, and live in a bubble. With freedom, that’s always an option. However, these people don’t want freedom. They want you to be forced into living in fear just like them. They want you to feel trapped, so they feel a little less alone.
The worst part is, a lot of these people are responsible for educating our kids. What do we think is going to happen to future generations if they are being taught by the fearful? They too will live in fear, and believe that doing so is a virtue.
We need to squash this right now. We need to speak out for freedom, and let others know we will no longer play the fear game. We won’t give into the fear porn they insist we go along with.
Make your own choices. Be a good person. Don’t tell others they can’t provide for their families.
Most importantly, pray for our country. Be blessed today.
Conservative Daily Update 