A restless teenage girl needs to leave the house. With schools closed and being confined to the house all day, she needs some fresh air. She leaves her home to take a walk. A policeman stops her and asks, "Where is your mask?" The girl states it is not against the law to walk alone without a mask. The policeman lets her go. Shortly thereafter, another police officer stops and harasses the young woman for not wearing a mask. Again, the girl is in no violation of the law. The police squad car follows the teenager home.
A mother of six children stares into space. Her food supplies are running dangerously low. In normal times, her four oldest children would be at school. She would go to the store with her two youngest children. Now with the shelter in place order, she cannot leave home. Only one person is allowed in a vehicle. Children under 14 are not allowed to ride in a car to accompany a parent for essential goods. Moreover, children under 14 are not allowed into essential businesses. Her children must remain at home. Her elderly neighbors are too old and frail to watch the kids. All her options have been taken away. She lives in a rural area in which grocery delivery is not available. The woman's husband is working in a distant land to make money his family desperately needs. Neighbors and friends are not allowed to visit the woman and her family to deliver groceries due to the shelter in place order. Anxiety, fear and panic threaten to overwhelm the mother.
A gentleman arrives for work at an essential business. He opens up the facility. While working, police arrive. They systematically chase every patron off the property. Many customers take a stance. "This is an ESSENTIAL business! We are in NO VIOLATION OF THE LAW!" The police threaten to fine the patrons $500 each if they do not vacate the premises. The employee is issued a $500 ticket. When the police are asked about their actions, one officer replies, "It is not right this business is open and is charging money." (For what it is worth, this business is deemed an essential business by local, county, state and national guidelines. It was not in any violation for being open, but the police decided they needed to shut down the business because it was making money.)
As these stories continue to pour in, I feel like this must be the 1930's and 1940's in Nazi Germany, but this is NOT. THIS IS THE USA IN THE YEAR 2020!!!
When the coronavirus first entered my radar screen, a quote immediately popped into my mind, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste." This is a quote used by many extremists. The theory is when something bad is happening, make every effort to push forward a radical agenda and frame it in such a way that it is for the benefit of the people.
Day after day, I see this happening. First, we were given light guidelines. Stay home if you are sick. Restrict gatherings to less than 50 people. Then the rules increased in intensity. No gatherings larger than 10 people. Then, we were required to shelter in place, but we could go to essential businesses. Curfews were issued. Taxi services and mass transit were shut down. (Have a bike? You cannot ride it on public property in some communities.) Then children under 14 were no longer allowed to travel in the car or enter essential businesses. Next, we were required to wear masks, even when outside; we were advised to not have more than one person in the car. (Are you disabled or unable to drive? You can have two people in the car, but your car will be stopped and interrogated. If the police officer does not deem your travel essential or believe two people are needed for the trip, you may be fined up to $1,000 or thrown in jail for six months.)
I wish I could say I lived in some area of the country where the coronavirus was rampant so these insane rules and regulations may make some sense. But truth be told, there has been ONE case of coronavirus in my community. The person acquired it while traveling; the person has recovered. Move to the next community, there are zero cases. There are two cases in the adjacent city. And continuing on, there are zero cases in the next city.
The fear and panic in my area of the country is mounting. There has been discussion about limiting the days of the week when one can leave his house. Need an urgent prescription but it is not your day to travel? You may have to wait. Need to go to the grocery store, but they are out of the items on your grocery list? You may have to go home empty-handed and wait until it is your day to travel again.
Our hospitals are empty. Medical personnel are being furloughed because the medical systems are not making enough income to continue paying employees. Some medical professionals are having their pay cut by up to 75%. Our local officials scream at us this is a pandemic! They need to put more and more restrictions on us to keep down the number of cases. The media continuously reports erroneous numbers to support the need for stricter regulations.
I make every effort not to listen to the news and to not be informed about the latest violations of my freedoms. I try to stay off Facebook because my blood boils reading about the latest and greatest ways police and government officials are trying to create the biggest and best crisis possible. My one hope is for President Trump and his team to open back up this country. I pray our area is one place which is first on the list of places to reopen. I pray our local officials will stop creating this terrible crisis by continuing to push through tyranny...because you should never let a serious crisis go to waste.
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