One thing is for certain, what is happening in America today relative to the deadly Covid-19 virus and the Delta variant cannot be allowed to continue. This virus, which was almost under control a few months ago, has erupted once again with the sudden appearance of the Delta variant that is spreading rapidly.
TV news reports have been filled with videos of Americans at school meetings, protests, and political meetings, strongly venting their anger at that those who would try to force them to wear masks or get vaccinations.
We hear many of them say: “Don’t tell me what to do, I’m an American, I have my freedoms and no one is going to take any of them away from me.” I’ve even heard of some radicals who threatened to use weapons against those who would try to force them to comply.
President Biden has recently taken strong measures to deal with this latest surge and issued several mandates intended to force certain governors and people in their states to comply with CDC directives. These mandates will, of course, be met by vehement rejections by Republican governors.
The time for trying to deal with these nonconformists rationally is now over. Strict measures have to be taken to prevent a societal collapse in this country. We have these freedom-loving Americans who thumb their noses at any kind of mandate and then get infected with the virus. So many of them end up in hospitals where tired, overworked doctors and nurses have to treat them.
Some hospitals are delaying elective surgeries, some of them being of a very serious nature. This simply cannot, must not, continue. Hospitals that are doing this need to reconsider these practices. You can’t delay important medical procedures to treat people who will not conform to CDC guidelines.
We Americans readily agree with local and federal mandates to use seat belts, to stop at stoplights and stop signs, and we don’t yell FIRE in a movie theater. But some 80 million of us that agree with those particular mandates say “Hell NO” when told to get vaccinated or wear masks. Two different kinds of freedoms?
Right now the president can mandate that federal employees get vaccinations and can pressure large businesses to do the same. He can’t mandate vaccinations for the general population but he can strongly advise people to get them, as he has been doing.
He can and must mandate vaccinations for those on plane flights.
If we are to get rid of this pandemic for good we somehow have to see state and local governments create strong guidelines to follow. I don’t think we will see mandates for vaccinations for everyone, but state and local governments can advise \businesses to have people wear masks to gain entrance.
To gain entry to groceries, restaurants, stores such as clothing or hardware, people will have to wear masks whether they are vaccinated or not. That’s what I and my family are doing now.
Huge crowds at sports and other events where multi-thousands of people gather side by side will have to wear masks. Any large gathering, the size to be determined by local officials, will also need them.
Freedoms are great and very necessary but during crises, when the future of our country is at stake, we all have to put our freedoms aside for a time to preserve them as we go into the future.
At some point in time, if this situation is on the verge of going out of control, Congress must stop the squabbling and the backstabbing and immediately pass laws to make people all over this country comply or face felony charges,
America has arrived at a critical crossroads and it must decide which road and direction to take. To take the left road means we will keep going in the same direction as right now and, based on what is happening with this pandemic, the future will be dire indeed.
Instead, we must take the right road and go in the right direction. That means we as a country have to change, we have to think out of the box to come up with new and more effective ways to deal with and defeat this great threat.
How will this dark chapter in world history end? Well, I think the best word to describe how it will end is “progression.” Over time, there will be a steady progression in the number of vaccinations that more and more Americans will take to protect themselves.
The good news is that these Americans will largely be protected from getting the virus when coming in contact with these nonconformists who put their own freedom above all others.
Final thought and a warning for nonconformists: understand that the greatest threat to your freedoms will not come from government mandates, but when the deadly virus comes after you. That’s when your freedoms will come to an end.
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