I have been vocal about my opposition to the shutdowns since last April. As previously stated, two weeks of closure to flatten the curve was acceptable, but nothing after that. Now, nearly seven months later, California is still closed. Schools have not reopened. Small businesses are closed and will never come back. Life has stalled and one would think that the public would have reached the breaking point. Unfortunately, I see no sign of that in the San Francisco Bay area. The mantra remains, We are saving lives. Should I dare breathe a contrary notion, the scorn is palpable.
The death of small businesses in this area, and all over the
State, is profoundly depressing. Drive anywhere and all that can be seen is boarded
up store fronts. Proprietors have lost their entire life’s work. How could any
enterprise ever come back from seven months with a Temporarily Closed sign
in the window?
Equally as sad, and an aspect I find extremely distressing, is
what it has done to the old folks. I know of several mid-90-year-old’s who are
spending their last days in isolation and in a state of deep depression. Actually,
two of them have died, and it wasn’t from the virus. They were old, it was
super-hot, and most people in this area do not have air conditioning, so I
cannot say for certain that the lockdowns killed them. However, I do know that
they spent their last months on this earth in a mental state that no one should
have to endure.
Anyone who has lived to the age of 95, still has their marbles,
and is in decent shape, is a life to be celebrated. I am not sad when they go,
but reflect on what an amazing life they led. Nonetheless, knowing how
depressed all of these people are, because of the mandated rules, is heartbreaking.
In conversations, both in person and on the phone, they constantly talk of how sad
they feel. Cognitive decline, not noticeable six months ago, is clearly
evident. Yet their friends and families are allowing this to happen. I know
that my old friends are not concerned about catching Corvid and packing it
in. Afterall, not one of them had ever
expected to live to nearly a century. So why should they be left to suffer in
the isolation of their homes, or confined to their room in a senior center? I
fail to understand how people happily comply with the State mandated rules to keep
them locked up and alone. What sort of society does that?
There are countless other negative ramifications of these mandated
rulings that have now done irreparable damage to the lives of all Californians,
financially, physically, and emotionally. And all without one good reason. Who, with
even a modicum of intelligence, can actually believe that human beings can run
away and hide from a pathogen? The virus needs to run its course as viruses
have done down through the ages.
California, wake up. Our State is dying.
