Just Stop

 

            You're not Woke. You're not a truther nor are you an info-warrior. You're not "Alberta Strong". It's the deepest sort of insult to actual Patriots that you call yourself a patriot for what you think you're doing by regurgitating your conspiratorial vomit. You toss labels like 'Nazi', 'Fascist', 'Communist', 'Dictatorship', 'Oppression', and 'Tyranny' around like you really know what they mean. You claim that you're being betrayed, stifled, mislead, and lied to by people who have made it their life's work and passion to collect knowledge in a particular field. You belittle and insult those who've risen to serve in politics because they wish to give of themselves for their communities. Your conspiratorial trench is so deep and convincing that any efforts to elevate you from it reinforces your defense and makes you dig ever deeper and drag as many fatigued souls in it with you. You've gone beyond thinking critically to becoming a systemic cynic suspecting malice in every decision made by every person of authority. What's most disturbing is that you're interfering with the thing we need most by creating and sustaining a culture that celebrates that cynicism. Because your vitriol has gained such mass, any efforts to mitigate the harm done by the pandemic must therefore be proportional to your response. Instead of just having to institute a measure to flatten a curve, there also has to be a punitive component to address your civil disobedience and outright disrespect. Which further fans your flames and reinforces your misguided stance; after all you're being oppressed.

            I get that times are difficult. In the grand scheme of things much has been lost that may never be recovered. Yes, there is unemployment. Yes, businesses are faltering and many may fail. Yes, people are suffering from psychological stresses associated with restrictive measures that have isolated families. Yes, people are dealing with medical issues that are being exacerbated by institutional delays caused by the pandemic.

            Yes, our civil liberties have been challenged by the Public Health orders, but those measures have always existed to respond to emergency. Ours is a duty to ensure that we comply until the emergency is abated and then to establish a strategy to restore those liberties. If you want to be Alberta Strong, that is when you speak up and be a part of the recovery, not a part of the destruction.

            Looking around at our community, not much has been lost by the majority of people. Except for those in seniors facilities or other continuing care places we move about in relative freedom. We have access to much of the economy we did pre-pandemic. Our local businesses have tightened up and adapted and have continued to serve our community. Particularly in agriculture, our lives are still very similar to what they were a year and half ago. We sow our crops and tend our stock. We market, sell, and deliver our commodities. We sit around our tables with our immediate families and we cautiously commune with our neighbors and friends because we have the luxury of space and the luxury of small infection rates. Guess why: Because we did those things we were asked to do. Wash and sanitize our hands. Avoid crowds. Build a bubble. Social distance. Be particularly cautious around our vulnerable and aged. Wear a mask whenever prudent. And now we're getting vaccinated.

            Why are restrictions still in place? Because we quit washing our hands. We went to crowded places. We popped our bubbles. We didn't social distance. We fought against masks. Now we're challenging the vaccines. We defied those health orders and gave the virus a pool in which to spread and mutate.

            Yes, much doesn't make sense. You can pick out a weak link in every measure and shine a light on it to demonstrate your claim that they're not working. Except that they are.

            Personally I've been blessed by those things I've documented. I have space. I have work. I've carefully stretched my bubble occasionally and have kept pretty close records of my movements. My ranch life is very much like it has always been. I have at my disposal an array of communication devices should I seek to contact a loved one or any number of medical, psychological, or spiritual resources. If I wanted to worship, I could from the safety and sanctity of my own living room. I have no small children struggling with online or restricted schooling, for that I am grateful.

            For those lamenting that their kids are suffering immeasurably, I'll offer this. We were eating some take out lunch beside a public park in a nearby town. Families were there. Kids were outside playing in small groups. Whole families were biking around the pathways. I didn't have any of those playground resources available as a kid. If we wanted to play we went outside and played. We had a couple ponies we could ride, a couple bikes we could pedal, and there was always something to put our idle hands to work doing. We helped garden, mow the lawn, feed chickens, pitch hay, clean barns, feed our 4H calf, help in the kitchen, or if we were lucky, go fishing or swim in the creek. Life was what we made it. I didn't think I was suffering because I might go more than a week without seeing my best friend. I didn't think I was suffering because I never got to play hockey. I can't even skate. I never played an organized sport until I was 20 and that was some beer league baseball. I don't think my mental health has suffered immeasurably as a result.

            This is a time to toughen up and forge some character and self worth. You same folks who claim to be under some global threat would be the first to claim the world is being overrun by snowflakes. Teach your kids to be heat resistant. They'll learn from this period in time and look back on it as foundational. Unless they decide to crawl into that trench you've dug too. Then they'll forever be suspicious, cynical, disrespectful, intolerant, and in the worst case they'll be nihilists thinking that doom will get them regardless of what they do.

             I've read quite a bit on how to communicate with conspiracy theorists and how to best convince them to consider that they might just be wrong. The majority of that information relies on the premise that most of you are open to reason. Much of it ignores the fact that if I present information counter to your opinion, you will consider it as propaganda coming directly from the conspirators and that I'm a sheep who's been convinced by the Illuminati.

            It pains me that this has become a wedge that has polarized our society. I have long time friends, acquaintances, and family I can barely muster the courage to talk to. I see the fruits of what's being sown very clearly. All of this nonsense push back and disregard for authority will ultimately result in what you fear the most - outright martial law. I'm not a sheep for complying but we'll all be sheep if you don't.

            Just Stop. For your kids' sake if nothing less.