As we move through the weeks and months ahead, we will never know how many lives were saved or not by the lockdown. What will become much clearer as time passes, however, is how many people in Western North Carolina and across the country have lost their employment, their businesses and their housing due to decisions made by government and unelected health officials. This lockdown has put more people in physical, mental, emotional and economic jeopardy than the virus ever could have.
What will also become clearer with each passing day is how our civil liberties and freedoms we once enjoyed and took for granted have been restricted and curtailed right before our eyes.
All to keep us safe. We are still being told we cannot gather together for church, school, sports and other social occasions, despite the computer projections being wrong over and over again and the virus’s peak having passed. (But what about the second wave?!!) Stay safe, stay home.
We need to open up our society again and get back to work and play. We need to gather with our loved ones again and enjoy the sports, music, theater and dance that give us hope and lift our spirits. Hugs and handshakes are a thing of the past only if we choose to live in fear. Those who are elderly or with compromised immune systems should certainly take precautions. But for people to live in fear, isolation and under lockdown because the “experts” order us to is no way to live in the land of the free.
— Gardner Hathaway
Asheville
“In the land of the free?” Which land are you referring to? Certainly not the USA – where we might as well switch “United” with “Divisive.”
It takes effort to pack that much wrong into a short letter.
Viruses don’t pay attention to fear or bravery or hope. They just want to make more viruses. It’s also presumptuous to tell us what “we need.” Who is this “we”? Does the author think “we” have somehow forgotten about these things? The Mothlight is closing its doors — the last place I saw a show before the lockdown — and it breaks my heart, but small concert venues are superspreader events waiting to happen. So are churches. So are large family gatherings.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/superspreader-events-offer-a-clue-on-curbing-coronavirus/ar-BB14mzoD
Do what the heck you want. Set up a Facebook group for like-minded people if you want. Just don’t assert that “we need” to validate your impatience. And keep your distance: we don’t know where you’ve been.
If anyone thinks we are truly free here in Murica; they both drank the koolaid AND swallowed the blue pill!
“ Those who are elderly or with compromised immune systems should certainly take precautions”
And those are the very people who are most vulnerable when they HAVE to go out, say to the grocery store, from those people who think they have a right to expose others because of “freedom” or something.
Just what is the letter writer willing to do to protect the very people he acknowledges are vulnerable?
And if we are going to talk about courage and fear, let’s talk about the people being paid sub-living wages to work in care homes, which. And, frankly, talk about senior care in a much broader way, whether it’s in residential settings or in the home. Let’s talk about health care workers. Let’s not talk about the exquisite agony of missing out on a dance recital at the Diana Wortham.
Damn gubmint.
Is there any research to back up these claims?
This lockdown has put more people in physical, mental, emotional and economic jeopardy than the virus ever could have.
I, for one, have not heard of any suicides within my social media circles due to the lockdown, of course I’m not omnipotent.
Secondly, it will take several months of looking at the data to determine if there has been an uptick in suicide rates attributed to the lockdown. Source – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/health/pandemic-coronavirus-suicide-health.html
As far as economic stress; while I’m am now back to work, during the time we were closed I made nearly twice my weekly salary in unemployment and Federal compensation. So did many people in my social group. This is why social safety nets are important when we’re faced with times of uncertainty like we are now.
Yes, there were times that I was bored, and tired of staying in, but honestly overall I’ve felt a decrease in stress in the past couple of months. Again I know I don’t speak for everybody. Also I do wish I could get back to working in the theater, or seeing a concert with a group of people, but when we are negotiating uncharted waters, as we are now, it’s best to proceed with caution. We will get back to those things eventually.
What will also become clearer with each passing day is how our civil liberties and freedoms we once enjoyed and took for granted have been restricted and curtailed right before our eyes.
So where were you when the government actually did take our right to assemble, and redress our grievances? When a curfew was imposed, and protesters doused with tear-gas? When medic stations were overturned, and water bottles destroyed? I would wager you were not on the streets then. I bet you felt pretty safe locked down at home at that moment.
This Tea Party/Libertarian “they’re going to take away our rights!” battle cry is a dog call for the tin-foil hatters who think their personal freedoms outweigh the health and safety of society as whole. It’s a narcissistic thought pattern and shows a lack of stewardship for your fellow human beings. It’s the antithesis of “we’re all in this together.”
My answer to this author? Okay Trumper! We are so sick of hearing this pandemic politicized. What is wrong with you people? Are you really THAT privileged and totally unaware that lives are being lost daily, others are falling apart? Seriously, under Trump, we have lost all dignity as a nation. We are now on our way to being a third world country. Congrats Repubs! Good work totally destroying the nation.