Pandemic has caused other issues of concern besides not wearing masks
By Letter to the Editor on December 31, 2020.
Re: Really pulling together during a time of crisis (a rebuttal).
To preface things I’ll state I wear the mask, as does everyone I know. We don’t like it, and are convinced more than a little hypochondria is behind their mandate, but it isn’t the hill to die on either with COVID anxiety through the roof. A lot more of us are coming together than you think when you look at an anti-lockdown protest, and that demonstrates the problem that gives rise to these protesters.
You’ll note I say anti-lockdown instead of anti-mask because I think what’s really getting to people is being lost behind the mask topic. Many of us are meeting you halfway, but we aren’t getting much in return. Lockdowns have cost many of us our businesses, our careers, our sense of long-term security, and more. Even if COVID were to vanish right now, we still would be trying to pick up the pieces of our lives and what we lost in an economy that has lost thousands of small businesses and Alberta’s main source of revenue and employment. Coming out of COVID, if that can even happen, means a lot of us fighting over much fewer minimum-wage jobs before our EI dries up. You’re scared, but so are we.
Our fears were met with jeers even from the early onset of this pandemic. Economic concerns did seem trite when it was “14 days to slow the spread.” It’s now at nine months and climbing, and we really should have had some idea of what do to going forward by now. The economic anxiety is real, and it compounds with other fears and mental-health concerns that have grown in number since the pandemic started. We do need to come together, but that does not mean we need to completely come to heel without other concerns being addressed. That is what gives rise to protests as people fight back against people who seem unconcerned for what they have given up to solve the crisis. That we should be happy to have lost our careers and businesses if it makes you feel safer. We can’t treat COVID as the only problem to focus on and handwave ancillary impacts. Hard times are coming, and will be worse if we only focus on people not wearing masks.
I’ve met you halfway by going along with mask bylaws. Please meet us halfway by helping us feel we’ll have a future worth looking forward to once this is over.
Chris Wall
Lethbridge
-1
Chris, in a nut shell, you have described the real problem with the solution. Other questions also arise from this pandemic. How come, after a hundred years of research, no cure has been found for cancer; and yet, in a few short months, a vaccine is developed for covid-19. And why is “everyone” dying of covid and not flu, or old age or some other malady “co-morbidity” Yes I wear a mask and I am also one of the more susceptible of dying from covid.
This whole “pandemic” has resulted in a systemic lying to the public and a huge transfer of wealth to a few select individuals and corporations under the guise of a solution.
And answer one question, why did the Rothchild’s apply for the PCR testing for Covid in 2015: did they have a premonition?
phlushie: you are repeating lies that have been refuted over and over again. People ARE dying of the normal things they would have in a preCOVID year. COVID deaths represent “excess mortality” for this year compared to all recent years. You can look up the statistics on excess mortality for each country, including the US and Canada, to see that in fact COVID is a dangerous disease. https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid
Rothschild did not apply for the COVID test in 2015, that is a straight up lie and part of a common conspiracy theory. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-patent-idUSKBN27C34O
I think everyone is sympathetic to (as everyone is impacted by) the hit taken by some sectors of the economy.
I also believe that ‘small business’ is a pretty broad brush. The discussion around the impacts of lockdowns to the economy requires more nuance. Unfortunately, those speaking for ‘small business’ have also lost some of the public trust as they continue to lobby for lower taxes, for greater breaks on capital gains, and resist providing living wages and safe work environments for their employees. The appearance is that they are only interested in their own gain. Again, ‘small business’ is a broad brush and this perspective does not apply to every business owner.
And to remind Mr. Wall that the response to the Covid-19 pandemic has not been driven by hypochondriacs or hand-wringing over personal safety. It has been driven by the capacity of our underfunded medical institutions to handle the seriously ill. And, contrary to some opinions, these seriously ill are not only the elderly who ‘are going to die anyway’, they are of all ages and they are people requiring other life-saving treatments that are delayed due to capacity limitations.
Unfortunately, the last thirty or forty years has given the impression that the economy is central to all decision-making, while civil society is a nice option if you can afford it. It must be a shock to see (some of) our politicians making public health a priority. I hope this is something that will stick after Covid-19 is under control, and that our governments don’t roll back into another austerity-for-the-poor agenda.
It is my opinion that if we all (globally) had our oars in the water from the beginning of this pandemic, that the spread would be largely under control and business would be back to normal. Unfortunately, this has not been the case as a considerable group of people insist on living their precious lives as they wish – snowbirding to warmer climes, conducting business overseas, taking international vacations, or simply ignoring public health orders while gratifying their every desire to socialize with like-minded friends and family. If you are looking for the culprits for our ongoing economic woes, look no further than the people who resist community care and collective action.
Flushy..this may be tough for you to understand, but having the genetic code (sequencing) to the virus early lead to a much faster result. It’s called science. Your comments are a deluded mess. Get help!
i do not feel the writer is completely off the mark; at the very least there is nothing wrong with questioning the narrative of the day. remaining responsible to the well being of others, of course, must be the guiding principle – that is the best way to ensure freedom, too.
it is curious that the little people are the ones taking the financial hit, and the biggest corps keep rolling right along. not saying this is conspiracy. i am saying that the era of putting the profit of big corp ahead of others and the health of the planet needs to come to an abrupt end. to wit, putting the likes of the airlines ahead of the health of society is callous and undermines a lot of what the masses are being asked/forced to do and sacrifice to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. it should be and have long been a no brainer to prohibit people to fly in and out of canada after the initial so-called repatriation phase way back in the spring. the “3 day” covid free test is just another aspect of stupidity compounding the stupidity of allowing people to fly to and fro.
great reply, fes. cheers! i will add, whether you may agree or not, that govts have been as much a part of the continuing problem as not; however, yes, there have been too many people that have acted foremost in their self interest, which, of course, is why the planet is in the shytshape it is in.
I completely agree, biff. And also with your comment above on questioning narratives. That’s what makes these commentaties interesting.
My only question is how phlushie missed the fact that ‘Rothchild’ had previously tried to sell the Covid virus to the Illuminati by funneling funds though the UCP Canadian Energy Centre.