It is 10 a.m. on Friday evening. I have been vaccinated, I am single and I am alone. It’s cold outside, there is two inches of snow on the ground, and everyone else seems to be used to staying indoors. It is now normal.
At this point, 13 months ago, I had friends in DC to prepare for a night out together. Drinks were shared, gossip and new music were introduced as we took turns playing the speaker. We reached our destination at midnight and made 22-year-old decisions that we said we regret in the morning, but we didn’t really. I would do anything to get that life back now.
I cannot say that I suffered materially during this pandemic. I never got sick from COVID-19, never lost a loved one to it, never lost my income. I moved across the country to Denver, the city of my choice, keeping myself in shape and taking refuge in the countryside, meeting people along the way where I didn’t know anyone. I enjoyed the space the pandemic forced me to take out of the wild nights of my early twenties, realizing that with the advent of a vaccine they would be back soon.
However, I didn’t understand that two weeks to slow the spread wouldn’t just turn into waiting for a vaccine. Now we seem to be in endless confinement where a population that doesn’t even take care of itself is now claiming a life of absolutely zero risk at the expense of everyone else.
Thirteen months later, and I find it increasingly difficult not to blame Anthony Fauci and his allies in the political establishment for all the nights I never dated, the singles I never met, the dates I never attended and the memories i never made. The drive-in raves are lackluster, remote bars feel pointless, and most places close early anyway. These are all at the behest of Fauci, whose word has the most weight in the country about coronavirus whether you like it or not, as he intimidates recalcitrant experts into speaking out by controlling their research funding. But Fauci isn’t lonely, he’s not single, and at the age of 80, he’s probably not eager to go out.
There is no evidence to prove that the lockdowns prevent massive spread of the coronavirus. On the contrary, there is a lot of research from elite academics who find otherwise, but following factual science would reject the leftist ‘science’, the only acceptable standard, which also typically makes exceptions for those who say ‘Black Lives Matter’.
No one has to read an abundance of academic research on the lockdowns anyway to see their ineffectiveness. Just look at the states with the highest death rates and see their leaders. The deadliest states are primarily ruled by lockdown Democrats who obey every command from Fauci. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island top the list.
However, there will be no serious cost-benefit analysis of the lockdowns. They have become so politicized that the party and career bureaucrats who embraced them will never admit they were wrong. The lockdowns have been so terribly expensive that no one who endorsed them will ever admit because they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Fauci has bet his legacy of upside down on their perceived effectiveness, Democrats have used them to expand their central state planning, and corporations have brought in unimaginable profits while small businesses continue to turn left and right.
The American people, meanwhile, are either so convinced of the seriousness of COVID, even after vaccination, that they demand that their neighbors follow Fauci’s rules, or they have become too powerless to do anything about it. How do you refuse to live by Fauci’s orders to wear a mask while vaccinated, when you have nowhere to go without a mask? How do you refuse to live by Fauci’s orders not to go to crowded places where there aren’t crowded places?
The crisis that should have ended with an optional vaccine has no end and no optional vaccine. When public health officials say we have the choice to get vaccinated, they’re lying. Americans are told that lockdown restrictions will remain in effect until the nation achieves herd immunity, while Fauci demands that restrictions remain in place even for those vaccinated. Fauci says it’s because vaccinated individuals can still spread the virus, contrary to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s own research. Face masks have now become markers of a political stripe, with a vaccinated Fauci wearing two.
Fauci also says it’s because of possible viral variants that vaccinated people still forgo a return to normal. Our leaders are now designing policies based on what could happen, not what might happen. Viruses are constantly mutating. Fauci, however, has no eye for freedom and does not offer Americans a choice whether or not to accept the vaccine. He made that clear last week.
“I don’t consider this a liberty case,” Fauci told Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan during a House hearing on COVID-19. The doctor doubled down on his comments on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, where he also outlined his left-wing views on gun control. “This has nothing to do with freedoms,” Fauci insisted on his order that the nation remain closed.
You can call me selfish for writing this piece. I do not care. You are probably the same person who demanded that your neighbor’s business be shut down so that you can live a life without any risk. Sorry, but you’re on the wrong planet for that. More than half a million Americans have tragically died from COVID-19. I am not blind to it. It wasn’t their fault, but it wasn’t mine either.
At some point, however, Americans would have to regain virtue in their personal responsibility. Vaccinations are widely available, and those who want to hide in place can continue to do so. No one ever told them they couldn’t. And those who were really concerned about getting sick with COVID-19 would do well to get in shape, as nearly 80 percent of those admitted to the hospital were overweight or obese. We knew early on that excessive weight gain significantly increased people’s risk profile for complications from COVID, but Americans remained neighbors on carbohydrates, sugar, and Netflix while demanding their neighbors stay home and wait for a vaccine.
Thirteen months later, it is not clear whether we will ever return to normal. Since its return has been politicized with the opposing powers, we may never return to normal. If we do, it will be much, much later than it should be.
If I didn’t live in Colorado it would be harder. The summer evenings, weekday hikes help, and camping on the weekends is fantastic. If I didn’t work for The Federalist, the lockdowns would also be harder, because at work I do something about it. If I didn’t start a single support group in Denver, the lockdowns would be excruciating. Due to the grace of the community, found in Mentorship, My Reflection Group, and CrossFit, the weekends are an increasing rarity entirely on their own.
But for now I’m sitting here on a Friday night 23, in the prime of my life, at home – because right now it remains the new normal.