What’s your COVID tipping point? When is enough, enough?

“It’s not my job to tell you how to live your life, but it’s also not anybody else’s job to tell me or others how to live ours.”

Gary Phipps

2020 has really been something, aside from very elderly folk, we have not seen something of this magnitude in modern times. Despite where you stand on issues such as lock-down orders, mask mandates, forced store closings and more, YOU as the individual must ask yourself “when is enough enough?” At what point do you say NO, it’s time to start actually living again.

I know some of you are thinking “this guy is the problem. This way of thinking is what got us into this mess”, but if you take a moment to understand my point, you’ll see that’s not the case, nor the point I’m trying to make.

We are now as of November 13th, 2020 nearly 10 months into the COVID “pandemic” and many are saying lock-downs and spikes in cases are expected to continue and get worse. Remember the “14 days to flatten the curve”? I won’t bother posting links to reported numbers from the CDC of other places simply because they aren’t consistent. If you ask a panel of people who are ardent mask/lock-down supporters, most will likely give different “numbers” that they will use to justify these mandates. I’ve found out that arguing “numbers” and “sources” has been one of the most frustrating thing about arguing the validity of the pandemic regardless of the “side” you’re on. It comes down to who the individual trusts with disseminating the information they are digesting, and the truth is, you have no way to know for sure that this information is true or not.

With that being said, how long are YOU willing to accept living under the fear umbrella that is the COVID Pandemic? I understand the thought process of “wear a mask and stay inside for those who are at risk” and other forms of that argument, but are you willing to live like a hermit for the rest of your life for “others safety”? No matter what side of the argument you’re on you SHOULD still have a tipping point. When is enough, enough?

One of my favorite movie quotes of all time from Shawshank Redemption “Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin'” comes to mind when I think about ending the lockdown. Another quote I find fitting is from Benjamin Franklin who says “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Think about this for a second, you’re now nearly a YEAR into the pandemic, one whole year out of your life, how many more are YOU willing to live like this? I for one would prefer living my life freely, able to go to the movies with my kids, go to a restaurant with my friends, concerts and other things that make life WORTH LIVING.

The solution to the pandemic cannot be worse than the sickness itself and we are now way past that point.

Let’s fast forward three more years. The “pandemic” is still ongoing with spikes in infection and lock-downs every few months, hospitals and graveyards are still NOT being overwhelmed, kids now attend school 100% virtually, social skills and interaction with others is on the decline, depression and alcoholism is rampant in society, thousands of business owners have lost their dreams due to lock-down mandates, marriages are ended out of stress about money and lifestyle, and the lower/middle class is nearly completely dependent on federal and state welfare. If you think this outcome isn’t realistic, you’re fooling yourself.

I’m sure there are a bunch of people out there who would willingly live the next 50+ years of their life wearing a mask and adhering to lock-down mandates and orders, but I am not one of them.

You might ask me “Gary, so what’s your solution then if the way we’re doing it now is so stupid?”. My answer is this – It’s not my job to tell you how to live your life, but it’s also not anybody else’s job to tell me or others how to live ours. If you think people should be controlled and told what they can and cannot do, where they can go and where they cannot go, what they can buy and what they cannot buy, then YOU are a bigger threat to living fulfilled life than COVID is to freedom loving people everywhere who only want to live their life the way they see fit.

If you’re worried about COVID or at risk, please stay home, wear a mask and social distance as much as you see fit, but please stop telling others what they should and shouldn’t do, it’s their life, not yours.