He Is Us

I don't remember when I first heard about the virus.  I'm thinking I was at work.  At the end of 2019 there were a couple of coworkers who were pretty sick with the flu, but this one hit them pretty hard.  It seemed different but at the time that was a passing thought.  When it was announced that there was a virus out of Wuhan China that was spreading pretty rapidly and that people were dying, it caught my attention.  In February the announcements were made public that there was a threat to the United States concerning the virus, and that people who had traveled internationally seemed to be getting sick.  National leaders and 'experts' weren't indicating at the time it was something to watch but not be too concerned about.  

In March, the first of the 'suggestions' was presented to our country supposedly aimed at helping our country to see the least amount of impact possible and not overwhelm the healthcare system.  Shut everything down, leave work, go home, shut in and when you can't wear a mask (but masks do nothing, masks help, cloth masks don't help, cloth does help, double masks help, wear them inside only, but wear them outside now too), where you can, work from home.  Shut down all non-essential businesses (whatever essential is). 'Two weeks to flatten the curve'  became the  mantra here in States.  That was 2 years ago. Without the measures 'they' outlined we would overwhelm the hospitals, and with the measures, within two weeks we'd see the numbers of people who contracted the virus decline.

I remember thinking it seemed ridiculous to quarantine healthy people who had no symptoms.  I also remember thinking that there were certain people in the population (as is the case with influenza, every year) who are more inclined to become ill with the virus than others.   Typically quarantines involve separating the sick from the healthy as well as those most vulnerable who would do all they could to protect themselves. That's what we did on the farm with animals which became ill.  It would make no sense to do otherwise.

Additionally, it made no sense to me why those who began to show symptoms were told to stay home, corralled off from other family members so as to not infect the healthy until they became sick enough to become hospitalized.  Why not get treatment to keep them from becoming hospitalized which would in turn overwhelm the hospitals?  When flu season hits, people are given over the counter meds among other remedies to help with the symptoms so that flu patients would not require hospitalization.  In this case it seemed like anyone (especially doctors) who suggested possible remedies for individuals to take in order to avoid hospitalization were demonized, silenced, told they were liars and quacks, their credentials were questioned or taken from them.  It seemed to make sense to me to have people do everything they could to avoid being sick - i.e. be as healthy as you can, boost your immune system, lose weight, do all you can to be as healthy as possible.  Instead the message was isolate people, keep them from the gym, discourage them from taking healthy supplements or preventative drugs, allowing people to gain weight, lose much needed sunlight (vitamin D) and wait for the virus to get you.  It didn’t seem like 'they' wanted people to get well who became ill with this virus.  It seemed as if there was a narrative that indicated, 'if you don't do exactly what we tell you, you will die of this virus or you will be the cause of someone dying of this virus.  So if you care about yourself or those around you, you will do exactly as we say, do not question, do not try to become a part of the solution.  Shut down the economy, wear your mask, stay away from people, wait until you're sick enough to go to the hospital to likely die if you catch the virus.

Any evidence which would appear to contradict what was being reported on the news by 'experts' (experts = those picked by the government and declared experts, and only those picked - hand-picked - by the government) was laughed or altogether shut down at and anyone stating there may be other possibilities other than the 'party line' were declared incompetent, unqualified, ignorant, misinformed, uninformed, or deliberately trying to mislead the public because the Almighty Experts had already declared otherwise.  How does one maintain a desired narrative in a world where cable/network news media and social media are the means by which information is disseminated?  Keep the 'detractors' off of the news media, and kick them off of social media.  In the very least mute them, shadow ban (basically hide posts of users making it look like they're banned from social media).  'They' seemed to want to control a certain narrative and specific solutions which could not be questioned, ignored, challenged, rebelled against.  And do not question the 'High Priest' of epidemiology…every.  Never ever.  'Trust the science' they said, as if science is God.  The problem is that 'science' was changing daily and sometimes it seemed hourly.  Scientific method wasn't being utilized, rather conjecture, opinion, political bias, and in some cases, straight up lies.  'You're not a scientist, doctor, or epidemiologist, so you have nothing to say about any of this'.  Apparently it's impossible to know anything about anything or have anything to say about anything unless you're a highly skilled, trained, professional.  Sans virus, that same mantra right there would silence most of the world about most things…period (especially on social media)…and is ridiculous at best.   It seems as though the evidence being sorted through is selective; only what fits preconceived notions or predetermined outcomes has been scrutinized.  Most evidence which contradicts it is quickly discounted, ridiculed, squashed, and summarily kicked out from under the microscope.

Then they added the vaccine to the equation.  There was mad rush to make a vaccine available to the public.  I presumed something that would help keep someone from catching Covid19.  The savior shot was on a fast track:, 'Operation Warp Speed' the president at the time announced. Then it was to keep others from getting the virus. Then it was to keep you from getting a serious case, unless you did, or to keep you from dying, unless you did.  Nails and Jell-O came to mind frequently throughout the last 2 years.

The virtue signaling was spreading like wildfire on social media.  If you don't wear a mask (like the signaler does) you don't care and want your grandparents to die.  If you don't use hand sanitizer (even though the virus isn't transferred via surfaces, hands or otherwise)  If you don't stand at least 6 feet away from any and everybody, you're a heathen.  And most certainly, if you haven't had a emergency authorized but not approved vaccine and countless boosters you're evil, careless, hopeless, and want you and the world to die.

Granted this virus has been somewhat uncharted territory.  But is it really?  We've had influenza with similar death counts with similarly immune compromised  individuals with comorbidities (now everyone knows what this is although it's ignored) succumbing to it ultimately.  In fact, with the cries from 'them', whoever 'they' are, saying that children up to 18 years old need to be given (rather be forced to take in many screams heard), there have been in the past flu seasons more children dying of influenza than this virus has taken.  Is that ok? Of course not.  But where has the outrage been in the past to the flu deaths with demands to shut down schools, do virtual school (can't call it learning from personal parental experience) to force vaccinations (flu, keep it apples to apples), 24/7 mask wearing even when in your own home, and a plethora of other 'virtuous' demands.  We've had more people die from the comorbidities in previous years and in the last 2 years those have dropped significantly.  Ironic isn't it? 

I started taking my health more seriously at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019.  Thank God.  My wife and I both took off around 40-50 pounds apiece.  We started getting rid of sugar and processed foods, eating healthier, taking zinc, vitamin C and D3/K2, sometimes magnesium and vitamin A, all designed to strengthen our immune system.  My wife caught the virus in January of 2020, and (in my opinion) because of our lifestyle changes, each of us were only down with it for a couple of days.  We quarantined ourselves, stayed home from work and stayed away from everyone - kind of like we were taught to handle a virus since we were kids.  I believe we would have been in more danger if we had not made those changes.  Where were the voices of those saying, "Lose weight, take supplements, get exercise and sunlight, eat healthy and do what you can to improve your immune system ASAP" ? I'm not trying to be mean because I've  been 50 pounds overweight before, but the virus AND the vaccinations have created issues for those who are overweight.  The virus is said to attack fat cells.  Even the CDC concedes that the likelihood of the 'rona being more severe resulting in hospitalization and death is triple those who aren't obese.  I know there are a LOT of autoimmune diseases and factors which tank the immune system.  However, one report I saw said that these account for only 3% of the population of the US.  While that is a significant number considering the population of the US, and every life is important, it's a much smaller number than 'they' would have you believe.  

Every doctors visit, I'm asked if I've had the shot.  Then after I answer in the negative, they ask me if I want to get the shot.  Again, I answer in the negative. They know I had it.  They have my antigen test which shows that I have immunity because of previous infection.   Why the push over and over again to get that vaccine in me?  That hasn't made a lot of sense to me either.  Why do I need the shot if I've had it?  I'm told it's impossible to have Covid 19 twice.  I can't carry it, I can't catch it, why would I want to reintroduce that monster into my system?  Why so insistent I eat that one fruit?  Why has there been so much skepticism concerning 'their' instructions and requirements? Hmmm.

 Trust the science?  Science has been dethroned and defrocked in my mind.  It's been exposed as the false god it is with all of its limitations and vulnerabilities to fraud.   Men in white coats were never high priests to me anyway.  I was taught along the way to have a certain amount of skepticism.  Don't believe everything you hear and only half of what you see.  I do trust science, medicine, doctors, and people in lab coats to a point.  I've always joked that they say that doctors call it 'practicing medicine' for a reason.  I do put a lot of confidence in my doctor, he seems to know what he's doing.  But I also question him, and don't simply say 'ok' concerning everything he suggests.  He isn't annoyed by it.  I think he understands that his job is a lot like a mechanic's job.  If I have to take my truck into the shop with mechanical problems, there is a process of testing and diagnosing that takes place.  A mechanic doesn't simply walk out to the shop, look at the truck and without opening the hood, 'the third lifter on the right bank has gone bad'.  These days, plugging in a code reader will more precisely indicate what areas in the vehicle are causing the issues.  They'll start up the vehicle and listen to it.  Sometimes they'll have to drive it.  If they're completely honest, there are times they're making educated guesses.

Computers help more than in the past in diagnosing problems with cars and trucks, but the human body has no such thing.  The doctor has nothing he can plug a diagnostics computer into in order retrieve a code indicating more specifically the problem as the mechanic with my truck (a colonoscopy may be an exception, but I digress). It's more the process of elimination.  It's not this, it's not that, it's not the other thing (through various tests and/or questions), so it must be this.  Sometimes they're wrong.  Many times they're right.  What they are not is neither omniscient (bible college word, all knowing)  nor omnipotent (same, all powerful).  One of the things I've found out is that there are times the doctor is limited to the extent the patient is able to articulate accurately what is happening…what the patient is feeling…a few things are pretty subjective.  I don't blame the doctor, medicine, or science…it's just the nature of the beast.  I'll trust the science when the science becomes trustworthy.  Science isn't infallible. It's not static.  That's why (most of us anyway) realize the world isn't flat.  Science changes as new information becomes available.  And in my opinion, it doesn't override common sense.

This virus has done more than damage cells in bodies and killed people.  My sincere condolences if you lost a loved one to this virus.  It's also severely damaged nations' economies.  It's damaged and killed peoples' businesses.  It's damaged and killed jobs.  It's taken homes.  It has crippled organizations.  Mostly it's damaged relationships.  Those we thought we could trust in science, medicine, and politics, generally speaking because there are many exceptions, have made all of this an 'us vs. them' period of time.  The venomous language being spewed between 'sides', has been despicable.  Close, long-time friends have been divided.  Family members, coworkers, etc. have fractured if not cut off relationships, seemingly permanently.  All of this (much of which is merely conjecture) has become 'right vs. wrong' or 'good vs bad' depending on what side of the mask or needle you're standing on.  And the worst part is that there are always differences of opinion, but this division has been fueled by kilotons of nastiness, anger, hatred, rage, and vitriol being lobbed back and forth between 'sides' like nukes across the Atlantic. This has been the saddest outcome of all of this mess.  It almost looks like what happened during the civil war.  Except that war was much less than civil.  More Americans died in that war than every other war combined up until recently.  We'll eventually heal from the disease.  We'll grieve and heal from the loss of ones we love from this horrible period of time.  We'll get past the economic impacts, we'll obtain jobs, find new housing, and hopefully open new businesses.  We may have caused more damage to the world than the virus ever did.  A very old cartoon character named Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."  Indeed, Pogo. Indeed.

There are so many questions I have about this whole thing.  What are the true origins of the virus?  Was the release truly an accident?  What agendas are in play (call me a conspiracy theorist if you will, it's a legitimate question), both nationally and globally?  Why does it look like common sense has been thrown out the window?  Have there been bad actors who have thrown gasoline on a fire in the trash can and set the world ablaze?  What is the difference between approval and authorization from the FDA?  Why so fervently wanting 100% of the world vaccinated when so many already have natural immunity from having been infected?  Why does the government have financial interest in major pharmaceutical companies?  Why aren't flat out lies punished when it's coming from leaders we're being told to trust?  

 The biggest question I have is 'will the relationships ever heal?'.  The only thing we take with us from this life to the next (if you believe as I do there is one), is relationships.  Jesus indicated they had better be fixed before we get to the other side of the Jordan.  Will they be mended or will we allow others, whether with evil motives or not, to find ways and future tragic events to further divide us?   Will 'they' allow us to heal? When the tragic events of September 11 took place 20 years ago, in amazing ways it powerfully drew people together, united against a common enemy.  The unity was palpable.  What changed from then until now?  In my opinion, a golden opportunity was missed by the 'powers that be' to use their power and influence in a national/global tragedy to pull people together, united against a common enemy (no, the virus, dummy).  It looks like (maybe from now on) it's up to you.  And me.  And God.  Mostly God.  FG

PS I'm neither a doctor nor a scientist, nor did I play one on TV although I have slept at a Holiday Inn Express, but it was not last night.  My opinions are just that, my opinions, thus no footnotes.  Merry Freakin Christmas!