Opinion from Matthew Hennessey in the Wall Street Journal. Essential reading, especially for those who regret getting duped.
No Covid Compliance This Time Around
I went along with ‘social distancing’ and avoided my father’s house as he was dying of cancer. Never again.
By Matthew Hennessey Aug. 28, 2023 6:02 pm ET
Summer’s nearly over, and cold-and-flu season is on the way. Soon everyone will be sniffling and sneezing, hacking and coughing. You know what that means: Covid hysteria is poised for a comeback.
You can feel it in the hot, wet, politicized air. News reports say case counts are on the rise. A new coronavirus variant is circulating, and researchers are worried. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking a surge in Covid-related hospital visits. A few college campuses and business offices are demanding masks.
President Biden told reporters Friday he’s asking Congress “for funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.” Why should we believe that after the long litany of noble lies and the coercion they were used to justify?
Every year since 2020, autumn has brought fears that the killer virus would emerge like the biblical fourth horseman. These fears have often been exploited for political gain, and with the presidential race kicking into a higher gear, the stakes will likely be higher this time around.
The old anxieties return. What if it’s worse this time? What if they call for lockdowns? How can we be sure people won’t fall into line again? Can my business survive another test? Can the country?
I’ll take my stand. Whatever happens, I won’t participate in meaningless gestures. That means no masks, under any circumstances. Never again.
I’ll also pledge no fist bumps, no grocery washing, no crossing the street to avoid my neighbors, no locking myself away from the world, no health attestations. I won’t present my papers. I won’t swab my nose morning, noon and night. And I won’t submit to mandates that fill my veins—or, more important, my children’s veins—with new drugs and vaccines that haven’t been tested the way drugs and vaccines normally are.
When I was a kid, the loudest voices urging me to “question authority” and “fight the power” came from the left. Now those same voices urge obedience to state control. Conservatives once stood for social conformity and personal discipline. Now they preach resistance and revolution.
When the world’s gone crazy and nothing makes sense, the only rational option is to think for yourself. Do what feels right, regardless of what people say about you on television. “Don’t follow leaders,” as Bob Dylan once sang. “And watch your parking meters.” We could use some of that spirit.
To my mild shame, I largely did as I was told during the pandemic. I wore the masks, got the shots, worked from home, worshiped online. I even stayed away from my father’s house as he lay dying from cancer. I should have been there. I’ll never get over that.
I complied because everyone seemed to be complying and I didn’t have the guts to say no. In hindsight I can’t help but feel I sold my God-given freedom too cheaply. I won’t get fooled again.
Mr. Hennessey is the Journal’s deputy editorial features editor.
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