New Variant, New Restrictions, Same Government Overreach
New Variant, New Restrictions, Same Government Overreach
We can't let the governments of the world continue to use Covid-19 as an excuse to control our lives.
If you regularly consume news about Covid-19 (as I’m assuming most everyone does, considering how difficult it is to avoid) then you’ve probably heard quite a bit about the Omicron variant lately. I’d also guess that at least some of the news that’s circulated around you has been that of panic, rather than logic. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a scientist, and I’m not in any way attempting to dole out medical advice. I am, however, trying to point out the devastating effects of the lockdowns, mandates, and other various attacks on civil liberties governments have imposed during the never-ending War on Covid, and why we shouldn’t let them use Omicron to further that trend.
Eons ago, back in the early months of 2020, governments the world over saw the potential danger of a globe-spanning pandemic from a novel virus and felt the need to do something. Because the state seems to only know how to use force, many governments around the world chose to use coercion on their citizens and bludgeon their economies half to death as a futile attempt to mitigate a virus that was always going to spread one way or another. This isn’t to say that not a single politician anywhere had good intentions, just that — at the very least — they failed to anticipate the costs of their actions. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that many of them might’ve taken advantage of a crisis to expand their power for personal and political gain, however.
Nearly two years later and it appears that governments still haven’t learned any lessons from their past mistakes. At this point, it should be obvious that the Omicron variant will not be the last strain of Covid-19. It’s just the most recent one out of many circulating around the world, and mutating is just something viruses do. Even so, it seems that governments everywhere are using this particular variant as another attempt to take control over every aspect of our lives using Covid as an excuse; offering a false sense of security in lieu of freedom. They’re milking this pandemic for every last drop they can get.
It didn’t take long for coercive and oppressive measures to take effect, although I suppose you could make the argument that early on there was little understanding (even by the so-called experts) of what we were dealing with and that many politicians and leaders locked their citizens down out of a genuine attempt to save lives. Even if that was the case, I would still advocate against these policies. I see them as being inconsistent with individual liberty and human rights. No matter the danger, I believe governments should have no authority to dictate how people choose to live their lives, so long as they do so peacefully.
Now, however, enough time has passed and we know enough about Covid-19 that there is no good way to justify the oppressive, far-reaching — and frankly, irrational — restrictions that have been inflicted on people all over the world. They were logically dubious from the start, and the arguments for them now are just as weak, if not more so. On the other side, there is plenty of evidence to show the dangerous effects of:
Lockdowns, even being condemned by the World Health Organization (WHO) back in the summer of 2020 they led to increased rates of domestic violence, depression, suicide attempts, overdoses, and poverty. They severely impacted school-aged children, with virtual learning having mostly negative results. There are also a number of deaths that could have been prevented had people simply been allowed “non-essential” medical screenings. And we can’t forget to include the economic effects that will be felt well into the future, like the growing inflation caused by the increase in spending by both the Trump and Biden administrations that was meant to supplement the income people lost by not being able to work, continuing supply chain issues and general economic devastation that has become a plague all its own.
Mask Mandates, which could potentially affect children in negative ways, including impeding the cognitive development of children who are still learning how to read social cues and have healthy human interactions; things that heavily rely on facial expressions. Given the fact that we’ve known children are the least at risk of both getting and spreading the virus, (and even if they do get infected, their risk of severe illness or death is also small) forcing them to wear masks was always excessive. There is also evidence to suggest that mask mandates (not necessarily masks themselves) did little to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Vaccine Mandates, which are a gross violation of civil liberties, especially when the vast majority of the population has little risk of death from the virus the vaccine ostensibly protects them from. They also have the potential to disproportionately impact certain communities and will force our society into a two-tiered system, which — and this should go without saying — is never a good idea.
Despite this evidence, we keep witnessing the same old policies rehashed and retried several times over, I would argue even worsening over time.
What started as “two weeks to flatten the curve” has (predictably) spiraled into two years and we’re still putting up with this shit. For a brief moment there, during the summer and early fall of 2021, it seemed like everything was finally returning to normal. Vaccines appeared to be working, masks were on fewer faces, and those stupid stickers on the grocery store floors began to disappear. The economy was beginning to recover, and many people were less afraid to gather for various reasons. There was no sense in changing the trajectory we were on.
Around that time, the Delta variant was exploited by the powers that be as an attempt of rekindling the initial fear and uncertainty that accompanied the onset of the pandemic. From my point of view, while there was an increase of panic in the news followed by a slight uptick in masking, people still generally seemed to continue getting back to their lives, at least in my small pocket of Utah.
The fear-mongering may have kept the ball rolling, but it failed to pick up the steam that there once was. Although the vaccines aren’t as effective at preventing infection from the Delta variant, they still appear to prevent severe illness and death. That seems to be good enough for many people, and for many others, the chance of getting the virus and living with the consequences has been an acceptable risk for quite some time now.
Even with a lackluster response to Delta, our leaders still got what they could out of it. The timing coincided with New York City’s vaccine passport which, as I predicted would happen several weeks ago, has now been extended to children as young as 5. Also, the Biden Administration used it as an excuse to implement an unprecedented national vaccine mandate through OSHA. Fortunately, it’s currently held up in court. Also, on that note, the Senate recently passed a measure 52-48 to block the mandate entirely. It likely won’t pass the House, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that President Biden will veto the resolution should it make it to his desk, but it’s still a worthy endeavor.
Now with the Omicron variant, there’s another wave of restrictions crashing all over the world. Not long after it was identified in South Africa, the Biden Administration put travel restrictions on several African countries. Similar restrictions have been implemented in other countries as well, and have been condemned by both the UN and the WHO. Considering Biden’s criticisms of Donald Trump’s similar policies at the beginning of the pandemic, you’d think he wouldn’t repeat those mistakes. In reality, both administrations’ travel restrictions were and are just examples of security theater. Case in point: Omicron was reported in the US not long after the announcement of the policy and is currently in at least 25 states.
The discovery of this variant will be used as another justification of the recent decision many countries have made of enacting new restrictions or tightening the ones already in place. Australia, which has been incredibly draconian for the majority of the pandemic, has begun placing people into internment camps if they test positive for the virus or if they have been in contact with someone who has. Kids in cages, anyone? The Australian government claims the camps are voluntary, but if that were the case, then why would people feel the need to escape from them?
In Europe, both Austria and Germany have imposed lockdowns for the unvaccinated, barring anyone who has refused the vaccine from much of society. In Austria, citizens have been told to anticipate the police randomly stopping them to check their vaccination status; they face large fines should they be found in violation of the law. Germany has similar rules in place.
Here in the U.S., we’re seeing increasing restrictions as well; particularly in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio has recently taken what he calls a “preemptive strike” against Omicron. He implemented a vaccine mandate for all private-sector workers, and as I stated earlier, he’s expanded the city’s vaccine passport to include children 5 and up. Meaning even if two parents are both fully vaccinated, with a booster, they will not be allowed to bring their young children into places like restaurants and theaters, and those children will also be kept from participating in extra-curricular activities in schools.
Given the fact that the vaccines are expected to be less effective against this variant, and that available evidence suggests that it’s less lethal than previous strains, policies like these seem less about safety and more about control.
Let me state clearly: Covid-19 is a very real disease, with very real risks. But that fact does not excuse the extreme level of authoritarianism that has grown throughout the world during the pandemic. This is a dangerous trend that should have ended long ago, and it should not be allowed to continue. We must resist. Resist the propaganda, the manipulation, the expansion of government power over our lives. We must resist this tyranny. This pandemic was always going to become endemic, and the government overreach will be too, unless We the People say otherwise.
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