Before I begin, I want to give some context and background to my personal situation. As I write this, I am not trying to change your opinion about Covid-19, what is best for you and your family or anything other than asking some of the questions I have been thinking about. I think in all situations, having a learning mentality opens our minds to the truth more often than not. So, let’s talk about Covid-19.
To give you some perspective and background before starting, my wife suffers from an auto-immune disease and receives infusions about once every couple of months that suppress her immune system. So, she is particularly susceptible to all types of diseases and viruses. My youngest child had open-heart surgery at 1 year old and has down syndrome which in theory makes her more susceptible as well. So, when we first heard about Covid-19 we took all the appropriate steps. And fortunately for us, we were already blessed with a lifestyle that allowed us to make these minor adjustments with little inconvenience to our day to day lives.
And the rest of the world did the same thing. Not just here in the US. Around the world, we all braced for the pandemic of the century that was going to take out millions of people. Do you remember some of the predicted numbers of deaths by this time? We were told to flatten the curve. So, we did. All of us. And while I took these steps, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable with what I saw, heard, and most importantly felt.
A long time ago I used to listen to a local radio personality, Neal Boortz. He was a great host who cut through a lot of BS on both sides of the political aisle. I enjoyed that about him. Being a libertarian he not only aligns with my personal political views, but being libertairian gave him the freedom to attack both sides without the usual bias when one of the sides attacks the other in a typical divisive manner. But what I appreciated the most about Neal was that he would tell you outright, that he will lie to you. Yes, I know that sounds odd at first, but his point was that all the media is constantly lying to you and it is up to you to verify the information for yourself or already having a working knowledge that you know to be true. His point beyond that, was that even when we think we are telling the truth we can be lying simply due to lack of information. So, he would constantly remind us to use our own research, use our best judgment about what is going on around us, and weigh that against other things you are being seen or told. This is how I try to live my life every day regardless of what is going on in the world or what I am being told by friends, news, media, web site, stats, graphs, or social media.
So as the weeks turned into months and things were being handled in a variety of different ways, I began to have a stronger and stronger sense that things weren’t right. And as I watched and listened to people I love, trust, and look up to, they continued reinforcing and agreeing with the general consensus, I found myself wondering what was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I get on board with everyone else, especially when it’s the people that I have always trusted and relied on? What was I missing?
I am used to being in the minority. I am a contrarian by nature. My motto is to question everything. That is what keeps me in a little hot water and why I can be hard to get along with at times. This non-conformist attitude usually serves me well, but on occasions like this, my contradictory opinions can hurt feelings and cause loved ones to feel offended, so I make a conscious effort not to share my opinions too adamantly. Primarily because (and if I said this once I’ve said it 100 times) no one cares about your opinion. No one really cares about my opinion. And most certainly no one cares what my shortsighted uneducated opinion is about Covid-19.
But in an effort to better understand this disease and knowing the potential harm it could bring to my family. I started asking questions. Questions I will ask you now. These are not questions that need an immediate answers. Quite the contrary these are questions to ponder and consider overtime. As you observe the world around you, your immediate surroundings, your immediate family, and friends. I only ask you to spend some time thinking about these questions.
If you had no access to media, news, social media, or information about Covid-19, what would your day to day activities tell you about the current state of this pandemic?
Where is your closest hospital if you were to get infected? How full are they?
Could they provide for your needs if you were to get sick today? How full are they?
Why is this disease being marketed? Not just educating us on potential risks and concerns but actually marketed like any other commodity?
Are the measures we are being told to follow actually preventing the spread of the virus? And if they are, how long are we going to be expected to follow them?
Are we going to live in masks from now on? Are we going to stay 6 ft away form strangers indefinitely?
Why do we need to social distance AND wear a mask?
Why don’t we call it anti-social distancing?
Would we be less willing to wear a mask if we didn’t think it made our selfies look cooler? How many times do you think you caught an illness from coming within 6 feet of someone?
How have you gotten viruses in the past?
What has changed with this virus compared to any other we have dealt with in the past?
Is Covid-19 spread by any new/different means of transmission than any other viruses we have dealt with before (i.e.. Flu)? Does is act differently than other viruses?
So why weren’t we implementing any of these procedures before? Even if this virus is as deadly as we first thought, what have been the results of all our efforts? We shut down our economy, we went into hiding for months to flatten the curve. And if you listen to any media or news outlet, they will be the first to tell you we now have more cases than ever before. If you believe their line of reasoning things are just as bad now and expected to get worst. Despite the majority of our population doing exactly what we were told.
And what about those who haven’t done what we were told to do? What about those who don’t wear masks? What about the millions of people in India and China who live and work in conditions where masks and social distancing is not possible much less hand sanitizer and sanitary conditions? Those who can’t afford to buy masks or social distance? The people living in the shack slums of Brazil or Venezuela where the economy was already in shambled? Why aren’t they getting sick? Why don’t we hear about them dying? Is there a massive cover-up? Or is this virus not what we thought it was? Or are there other factors at play? Factors that have nothing to do with an actual pandemic. Is it ok to say we got it a little bit wrong? Why can’t we say we may have overreacted? Why can’t we be grateful that this was more or less a false alarm and be grateful for it? Why can’t we breathe a collective sigh of relief that Covid-19 is not as deadly as we thought it was going to be? Why has this become such a political issue?
What role does politics play in how we are dealing with this disease? Does it even play a role? What role is the media playing in all this? Why do they feel the need to propagate a false narrative? Why do they spread fear instead of facts despite claiming to do the opposite?
Why are reporters wearing face masks when reporting the news when they already set up a perimeter that would not only prevent someone from possibly spreading the virus but more importantly ruining the shot? If the NBA players are all in a bubble and all tested negative, why are they wearing face masks? Why are those reporters quarantined with them wearing masks? Why are any of them still social distancing?
What would the media talk about if they didn’t have Covid-19 to talk about? What would be the lead story on the nightly news? If there were to be another major story hit the news, how long would Covid-19 be an issue? How important would it be if North Korea had a successful missile launch or better yet if we put a man on a rocket to mars? Would Covid-19 still be such a problem?
Listen, some of these are tongue in cheek and others are pretty petty, but as I continue to try to get my life back to normal, I am continually be-fronted by a narrative that does not ring true to me. And as it continues to impact me albeit, in minor ways, I am frustrated by what seems to be a lack of intelligence, information, and quite frankly a little bit of common sense. But like I said before, what do I know? I am not an expert. Ultimately the reason I chose to share my feeling on this issue is that I see the negative effect it is having on me and those around me. I have always been a touchy-feely person. I like hugs, handshakes, and personal contact in general. I know many of you do not feel the same. And thankfully I have a house full of family that I am constantly interacting and connecting with. That personal touch is important to me. That social connection resonates with my soul. I don’t know if it is right or wrong, but it feels right to me.
We are social creatures, and we need that in-person connection whether we want to admit it or not. When you ask kids what they would prefer they want to be back together they need that social development. We were not meant to be alone. We were not meant to be isolated. When we do that, we create fear and that fear is used against us. I don't know or claim to understand why there seems to be a concerted effort to keep us isolated and divided and maybe its a simple as petty politics, but all this feels different and none of it feels right. I am not a conspiracy theorist and I consider my self an incredibly reasonable person at the end of the day. And that's probably the biggest reason I felt like the need to write this. So take it for what it's worth and if you are happy and healthy and not affected in a similar way, God bless you for it. But for me, something has to give.
Thanks for reading,
Thanks for just being you,
Nate G.