Hopin’ to Reopen: Confessions from an At-Risk Senior Citizen
Full disclosure… I am, by designation, an at-risk senior citizen with several additional risk factors which would most likely entail that I would not recover from contracting coronavirus COVID-19. A compromised immune system, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, total poly-peripheral neuropathy in both legs below the knees (and now beginning in the hands)- not to mention a propensity to catch just about anything and everything floating around in the air… and you get the picture.
That said, I believe it is time to re-open my city and state (Virginia Beach, VA), along with my country, even if doing so drastically increases the chance that I will contract the coronavirus, and die as a result. On the lives of my children, I mean every single word of this.
Given the immeasurable damage that this pandemic has placed upon the entire world, in terms of human suffering from both the disease itself and the financial impact of shutting down the world’s economy, is bad enough. That its global spread was the direct result of the Chinese communist government’s attempt to hide the truth of this virus, and thereby enable its international “seeding,” is in and of itself, a crime against humanity the world over. If intentional, then this would constitute an act of biological warfare, as well. Either way, that rogue government must be held criminally and financially responsible for what it has cost the entire world, period.
The citizens of this country have, by and large, shown admirable patience with their state governments in response to shutting down large segments of the economy, which have resulted in the loss of 40 million jobs. For at least two months, life has come to a virtual standstill with closed schools and churches, shuttered saloons and spas, and even halted hospital operations and procedures.
Yet, what were once objective and altruistic attempts to curtail the spread of the virus have now become increasingly subjective and arbitrary attempts by several of the nation’s governors to outright control people’s lives and regulate just about all activities outside the home. In New Jersey for instance, people are allowed to stroll the beaches on wet sand but are prohibited from doing so on dry sand. Across-the-board limits on boat occupancy- irrespective of the size of the vessel- show well the subjective and arbitrary nature of such regulations. Proscribing residents from mowing their lawns in a state like Michigan, but insisting that abortion clinics remain open makes about as much sense as outfitting a submarine with screen doors, yet there it is….
Here in Virginia, our Governor Northam (the nincompoop) who somehow managed to complete medical school- all the while donning blackface in his senior yearbook, no less- has stubbornly refused to re-open beaches, while those states bordering north and south have gone ahead and done so. An unusually mild May has resulted in widespread disregard for the governor’s dictates, as the sandy beaches of Virginia Beach have even more beachcombers than the city’s police can even begin to prohibit- not that they’d really want to. After all, in a city of a half million (Virginia’s largest independent city) there are other things, beside baby-sitting beachgoers, which far more need the attention of local law enforcement.
By retaining arbitrary and draconian “close” orders, more and more damage is being done to our economy- so much damage that citizens are beginning to wonder if such damage is politically motivated. It seems a bit beyond coincidence that the most draconian and arbitrary measures of closure regulations are being continued by Democrat governors in primarily “blue” states. Could it be that there is an ulterior motive in perpetuating economic ruin?
After all, it’s all about November, isn’t it?
Granted, the school year in all of our states has pretty much been smashed. Yet states which refuse to allow their schools to re-open in August/September of this calendar year, are badly serving the needs of their young people and quite possibly causing damage and irretrievable interruption to the educational and intellectual development of future voters- pray that this is not intentional, for their sake as well as our own.
If completely re-opening my city and my state ultimately results in my own demise, then so be it.
I should rather leave this world knowing that America is strong and vibrant, than remain in a world that keeps my country closed, albeit for my own sake. To be quite honest, I haven’t really so much value as an individual human being to expect otherwise. Because of this reality, I urge my governor, and all our governors, to remember that they govern the rest of us on the consent of their citizens who bear the burden of paying their salaries. If they refuse to do so, then they risk popular insurrection- a place no sane person wants to go.
So, it’s time to re-open, folks. Let’s just do it before our rights as individuals completely disappear.
-Drew Nickell, 20 May 2020
© 2020 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
Signed and personalized editions available at my website:
Follow my postings on the RSS feed: http://www.drewnickell.com/?feed=rss2