To The Idiots Protesting Isolation:

I recently shared this video from “NowThis Politics” on social media.  By now, everyone in America should have seen it in some format, but if you haven’t, please do.  The reel shows armed protesters in Michigan “standing up” for their rights – which are being so horribly infringed upon right now.  These are people who are upset because they’ve been unable to get haircuts or go to TJ Maxx.  These people are saying this pandemic is a sham (and probably believe the Holocaust never happened).  Please tell that to the 165,044 families who are grieving loved ones lost to COVID-19 as of today.  I am sure they’ll be very compassionate about your shaggy hair and unsightly roots.

 

In a recent disagreement with an acquaintance on social media over this clip, she posed the following:

• This virus has been around for years
• People are broke, dying of cancer & heart disease with no family around them
• Police are pulling people over with no probable cause
• You are saying they are idiots because they voted for Trump
• Trump wanted to close the borders and amp up security and monitor travel
• The flu has killed more people this year than COVID-19
• China has billions of people and only had COVID for a few months
• Only politicians and government are making money
• The NYS governor has more supplies than he needed
• It’s all about money and control

I’d like to address each of these as well as the overall ridiculous, pretentious, ignorance of the protests themselves.

Speaking to the virus having been around a while; yes, Coronaviruses have been around for years. However, as with all viruses there are varying strains, and COVID-19 is a new strain behaving in ways medical experts and scientists do not yet have a handle on. That’s what makes it scary right now. It’s moving quickly with no known cure or vaccine. Hospitalizations have skyrocketed. Flattening the curve won’t cure the pandemic, but it will buy hospitals time to free up rooms, staff, and necessary resources. Imagine the horror of having a sick loved one who cannot get into a hospital for desperately needed care? Imagine the physicians in Italy having to choose who gets treatment and who doesn’t because there are just too many patients and too few resources? Put yourself in the shoes of family members who’ve been told their family member was not among the chosen ones.  It breaks my heart to think of people dying ALONE in hospitals around the world. My brain can’t even consider the possibility of myself or a loved one dying alone; but the fact of the matter is that many people die alone everyday with or without pandemics.

According to hopkins.org there have been 2,345,633 cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 161,262 deaths to date. The flu reports at 1 billion cases worldwide with anywhere between 291,000 and 646,000 deaths over roughly the same time frame. If I did my math correctly (and there’s a decent chance I effed it up), COVID-19 has a mortality rate of .07 compared to between .0003 and .0007 with the flu.  Statistics has never been my forte, but I think I’ll stay isolated.  Setting numbers aside, I am a wise enough woman to heed professional advice of doctors and scientists far more educated than I.

China – let’s talk about China for a second.  Yes, they have an enormous population.  While they are more dense, they are less dense, if you know what I mean.  They realized the issue at hand and set very strict social isolation and protective measures in place rapidly.

In terms of police pulling people over without probable cause – I’m at a loss.  I travel back and forth between New York and Vermont weekly and I’ve yet to be pulled over or questioned.  Under the circumstances, I would completely understand if I were questioned.  It’s a smart practice to keep people from highly infected areas out of areas with lower numbers of cases.  Border Patrol have been able to set up check points for…like…ever – asking us questions with no probable cause.  Now that law enforcement is trying to protect our health when we’re not smart enough to do so ourselves, we want probable cause?  How about probably cause you’re a dipstick and we don’t want your ignorant ass spreading a deadly virus?  I don’t even get the issue.

I never said anything about protestors being Trump supporters.  My social media acquaintance brought that one up all on her own.  I’m trying my best not to wax political in this piece, so all I’m saying is…well, now that you mention it…check out the head gear on some of those outspoken morons.

As far as the government and politicians making money on this – again, I think we’d be getting into politics that a lot of Trump supporters wouldn’t want to hear.  Think about where the bailouts are going after this.  It ain’t to average Joe America.  It’s ignorant to believe this pandemic is a democratic ploy, a sham, fake news, an intentional economic depressant.  For giggles, let’s pretend it were any of those things.  What are the chances of the entire world buying into one such shit show?  I’ll give you a minute.

I can’t even address the statement about our NYS governor and supplies.  That man, while I’m not always in favor of his policies, has risen to the goddamned occasion.  He is compassionate, articulate, and sincere.  He can admit where he went wrong, what needs to change moving forward, and who the experts are.  He values human life.  He is a leader.  Some people would do well to take notes.

I understand the financial piece.  Oh boy, do I understand the financial piece.  I get that people are suffering monetary hardships.  I’m a single mom who has worked a full and a part time job concurrently for years to make ends barely meet.  I grew up in a lower middle class hard-working household.  We need to help one another right now more than ever.  If you have extra, bring a meal to less fortunate neighbors.  Volunteer to work soup kitchens,  deliver for food shelves, etc.  We may need to make cutbacks as a society.  Do we NEED cable?  The newest iPhones?  Gas guzzling SUVs?  The government is putting (or has) programs in place to help people not lose the roof over their head or electricity right now.  Take inventory of your needs vs. your wants and prioritize.  As a society, we are entitled.  We need to think back to past generations and things they went without and innovative ways they overcame hardships.

I, too, want to be able to return to life soon. I’d say, “life as normal”, but I’m afraid our normal will be grossly redefined on the other side of all this.  Right now our focus shouldn’t be on politics or global economics – it should be on humanity.  That should always be our priority.  We get one life.  If our time isn’t snuffed out early by an unfortunate accident or disease, that’s anywhere between 70-90 years.  Not just American lives – EVERY HUMAN LIFE.  Things can be replaced.  Finances can be replenished in time.  The lives of those we love and those we’ve never even met cannot.  Be kind.  Be considerate of those around you.  Keep your ass home.  These protesters are shouting “mutiny” – where is the mutiny when black lives/rights are threatened?  Where is the mutiny when we run pipelines through our Native American neighbors property?  Where is the mutiny when school kids are dying en masse at the hands of their peers? Where is the mutiny when powerful men want to regulate women’s bodies?  You want to impress me?  Stand up for something that will benefit more than just your own small minded agenda.