This week Dr. Anthony Fauci declared the end of “the pandemic phase” before speedily reversing himself, as has been his Delphic custom for the past three years.
According to Dr. Fauci’s latest reading of the entrails,
“What we are in right now is somewhat of a transitional phase, out of the accelerated component into hopefully a more controlled component.”
As this “transitional phase” of the pandemic assumes a place on the podium of leading societal ills, one journalist attributes a recent uptick in local case numbers to “loosening precautions” – never mind the fact that the state stripped the Health Department’s authority for restrictions in October, and six months have passed since then.
What was responsible for many months of lower metrics? Nobody knows! Mask up!
It’s a fitting backdrop for the 10th and final entry of this Back to Normal blog series, in which we have discussed the myriad ways Covidian logic has corroded our society.
Pandemic mandates and restrictions are the perfect shorthand for our operative governance model:
- Nobody elects the people who make all the decisions.
- We’re the involuntary consumers of the state’s unending propaganda.
- One must believe in practices that make no sense and have no grounding in valid data.
- We impose inconveniences on the masses for the supposed benefit of a scarce minority.
- If you don’t like it, shut up.
I could go on, but it’s worth noting the list could apply just as easily to Communist China, Soviet Russia or these United States.
Mask mandates are the case in point. You are required to drape a cloth over your face, not for your own good, but on the off chance it somehow protects an unknown person who is already standing at death’s door and would immediately croak if exposed to your unfiltered exhalation, unless you’re drinking a Diet Coke, in which case it’s totally fine. Science!
On a parallel track, people are now expected to do things in everyday situations that are inconvenient and make absolutely no sense, for the supposed benefit of some possible someone out there who might be uncomfortable otherwise. And we can’t have that. Nor can you talk about it directly because you could get cancelled.
All of this nonsense distracts from the real and serious challenges we face, and nothing gets resolved if we don’t get back to basics.
- Spending should be measured.
- Laws should be enforced.
- Crimes should be prosecuted.
- Borders should be respected.
- Rights should be defended.
- Children should be protected.
- Citizens should be empowered.
These are supposed to be the basic guarantees of our American government, one that is limited in its scope, divided in its powers, and guided by the desires of its people.
This is the formula that will get us back to normal.
It isn’t rocket science, and that might be for the best. We’ve seen how much our politicians like rocket scientists these days.