COVID-19 Is Not Done with "Real" America

Wishing for COVID-19 to be over doesn't make it so

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

- The Dalai Lama

We hear a constant clamor for rights, rights, always rights, but so very little about responsibility. And we have forgotten God. The need now is for selflessness, for a spirit of sacrifice, for a willingness to put aside personal gains for the salvation of the whole Western world..

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I don’t want people to die from COVID-19. I don’t want people in blue states to die, and I don’t want people in red states to die. I don’t want White people to die, or Black, or Yellow, or Red, or Pink, or Green. I don’t want Americans to die, or Canadians, or Spaniards, or ANYONE else to die.

I’m tired of people dying from a disease whose consequences we could easily have mitigated. Instead, we’re living a nightmare in which one in 500 Americans have succumbed to COVID-19.

In a few days, we’ll cross the 700,000-death threshold, though the actual number of deaths is likely far higher due to poor reporting during the early days of the pandemic. Nevertheless, we’ve already lost more people to COVID-19 than we did in 1918 to the Spanish Influenza pandemic, and the worst is nowhere near being over.

So much of the suffering and death is self-inflicted, and, as President Biden has said, each death means an empty seat at the table. Yet, despite this, some refuse to accept the counsel of scientists and public health professionals, people whose knowledge could help us survive this terrible time.

I realize that Donald Trump politicized virtually everything about the pandemic during his tenure in the White House, but even he chose to be vaccinated. The talking heads on Fox News who oppose the vaccine- they’re all vaccinated. There’s a cottage industry that has sprung up around peddling misinformation and deadly propaganda. The deaths of those they don’t know are of no consequence to them.

Some folks have gone so far down the rabbit hole that they will do ANYTHING but wear masks and get vaccinated. Even though face masks have proven to prevent the spread of aerosol droplets in study after study, some still insist MASKS. DON’T. WORK. What they’re basing their conclusions on besides prejudice and wrong information is never really made clear, but they KNOW what they KNOW.

As for vaccines, millions still believe that they’ll alter DNA or result in all manner of other phantom side effects. Where this information comes from is hard to know, but it’s certainly not from reputable scientific and medical sources. But, hey, a friend of Nikki Minaj’s cousin said his testicles swelled up after he got the vaccine, and his fiancee dumped him. So, do your research, eh??

While Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) says that “real America” is done with COVID-19, you’d do well to keep in mind that COVID-19 is nowhere near done with “real America,” whatever or wherever that is. The number of cases and deaths are every bit as awful as they were last summer when America was locked down. Yet here we are, going to sporting events and public spaces without a care in the world and pretending that COVID-19 is behind us.

COVID-19 is so NOT behind us that every hospital in Alaska and Idaho is now on “crisis standards of care.” The short explanation is that some people who might otherwise live if they receive proper care quickly may not live because there won’t be space for them.

The reason for this is simple; it’s because of people who are too selfish, arrogant, and, yes, ignorant to get vaccinated. You see, your decision whether or not to get vaccinated is not a “personal medical decision.” That decision has impacts extending far beyond yourself and your narrow self-interest. It comes down to your decision reflecting whether or not you give a damn about something bigger than yourself- your community.

If you refuse to get vaccinated, you can carry the virus without even knowing it and transmit it to others with whom you come into contact. Thus, one person can transmit the virus to dozens or more in a short period while having no idea they are doing so.

Your decision, then, is about responsibility, caring, and compassion. It’s not a “personal medical decision.” Far from it. What you choose to do or not do can have a ripple effect throughout your community.

I don’t want people to die, but I’m tired of Americans dying because of the selfishness, arrogance, and stupidity of others who insist on making poor, self-interested decisions. No one’s asking anyone to storm the beaches of Normandy or to run through a minefield. It’s two shots four weeks apart and wearing a facemask when you’re in a public setting. That’s it. That’s all.

It’s time for all of us to remember that we really ARE our brother’s keepers, especially when thousands are dying because of the carelessness and selfishness of so many.

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