I keep reading and hearing about people stressing out or worrying about their lives and their futures thanks to the pandemic and everything else that has happened in 2020.
Up until Wednesday of this week, when the governor of Oregon decided to once again impose lockdowns on many businesses, organizations and families, I was wondering just who are these people who are so affected by everything, and to what extent is their lives truly imperiled.
There's certainly plenty to be concerned with, and yes there are things that I find to be more than just minor inconveniences.
Like, not being able to see my nearly 80 year old father out of his concern of contracting the virus. The last time I did see him was February or so. I talk to him frequently over the phone, but I was hoping to invite him over to the house a little more often, or have some kind of meetups somewhere, since my ailing mom passed and so they no longer have each other to keep themselves company and occupied.
And yeah, I'm not sure what the future holds financially for my wife and I. Her job in housekeeping for the local hospital and associate sleep and wellness centers seems solid. If anything, she could work more hours if she wanted to. Mine, however, is anything but assured, since I work in the businesses that are currently mostly closed or limiting customer contact to as short a time as possible.
Of course, I'd prefer no one contract the virus, and I'm taking the necessary precautions while out and about to minimize my risks. So far, I've managed to keep pretty healthy throughout all of 2020.
But do I feel hopeless, like it's never ever going to get better? Do I feel such uncertainty that I don't know what to do, or it basically paralyzes me to the point where I do nothing?
No. Not at all.
To be honest, I'm not that worried about the pandemic itself. As I said, I've been taking precautionary measures and they've worked out so far. There's a risk still, but I've minimized it to the point that I know how, and I've been trying to go on with my life.
What does trouble me a lot, however, is the ongoing meddling and what I will term as the overreach of individuals and governments throughout this whole affair. It concerns me that governors can take over whenever they wish, issue an executive order and shut down businesses, or impose sanctions for non-compliance.
It concerns me that the accompanying legislative bodies, state house congresses and supreme courts, don't seem to have much of a problem with these wholesale hostile takeovers. They seem more than willing to let their collective authority be trampled on or treated as a thing of naught.
The United States government, and subsequently the states, were designed with checks and balances, to keep any one governing authority from doing whatever they wanted on their own. But that's exactly what's happening here. It's abdication, pure and simple. These bodies have willingly and willfully rendered themselves useless and thus obsolete. As far as I know, none of the mandates that have been issued since March when all these reactionary measures began have ever become actual law, though there are those who wish to call them the law.
What worries me even still, is people don't seem to care about any of that. Sure, there are some folks who do. A few of them speak out and try to do something about it, so far, to no avail. The rest tend to just go along, if not actually believe that it's perfectly okay to go into a form of martial law for the sake of the general welfare and the greater good.
Look. While I wear them for the sake of work and doing my job and out of respect of the opinions and well being of others, I don't know if masks really help or not. In truth, I think they can cause just as many physical and psychological issues as they purport to prevent.
However, social distancing, hand washing, avoiding unnecessary interaction with others, staying home if you're feeling sick, protecting our most vulnerable while not completely isolating them—all of that makes perfect sense to me.
But none of it requires businesses to be shutdown. People should still be left to choose what they will do or not do, and everything that is being mandated should be voluntary.
The flip side to all of this though, is those who might be spreading the virus simply because they don't believe in it or any of the preventive safety practices to reduce the spread and severity of it should be held accountable for their actions, too.
We should know the risks, then choose how we will proceed, and be responsible for the consequences.
As a society, though, we can't handle that. We've become an anything goes kind of people, with a mentality that everyone is a victim, or shouldn't be held responsible for their actions, especially if it's leading to their death or a severe drop in their quality of life.
In other words, we need to treat each other like children, because we can't be expected to know what's best for us, or be punished for or endure the consequences of our actions.
Which I guess means we have a Lord of the Flies kind of scenario, because from where I sit, the overlords are no better than anyone else when it comes to knowledge, expertise, maturity, wisdom, true intentions or whatever other measuring stick is supposed to be used.
It's the blind leading the blind, while attempting to convince everyone they know where they're going when they don't and couldn't possibly know anyway, even if they truly wanted to, all the while headed for the metaphorical cliff with the rest of us in tow.
And even more nefarious than that, it's the arsonist lighting the house on fire and then playing the hero when they show up to put it out. Except, the house burns to the ground anyway, along with the rest of the block.
They create the scenarios and then they swoop in to save. Or they take advantage of the circumstances and say we need to be saved from ourselves.
For this reason, and many more, I've been attracted to the concept of the blockchain and cryptocurrency. I don't blindly believe the technology alone will save us, or that the intentions of those behind the projects or those throwing millions into it are all good. But the potential here for this technology, if used properly, to become a global force for change, a reset button of the people, by the people, for the people, is high.
We can free ourselves from those who would rule us if we so choose.
I truly believe that.
Will enough of us be willing to pass on the short term gains for the long term prosperity this technology and what comes out of it can bring by getting out of the way of our own greed and hubris? Can we manage to keep the grubby little hands of those entities who would rule over us from taking it over and thus rendering its possibilities worthless?
So, pandemic? Not to be ignored or trivialized, but nor should it bring the gears of a worldwide economy to a screeching halt or make us fear our futures. Over and over again. We, the people, shouldn't just stand by and let our natural rights and freedoms be taken away, or worse, willingly given.
The pandemic will pass. The actual threat it poses to the most vulnerable among us will ebb. The number of deaths because of this virus will subside. Other things, however, will continue. The economic toll of reactionary measures will linger far longer. And the precedent for taking over whenever it is deemed necessary will have a far more reaching, and life altering effect than the virus ever could.
This is not the Middle Ages or the Black Death, but our governing authorities are sure acting like the authoritarian rulers of that period in history.