I walked by a school in St. Augustine, Florida this week, and I saw dozens of elementary age children playing outside with no masks and no scolding teacher telling them not to get near each other. In fact, the teacher watched calmly from the shade without a mask as the children hugged each other, touched each other and played like normal children are wont to do. I felt a huge surge of hope.
There are indeed people in the United States who have not fallen for all of the false information, fake science and mass hysteria regarding COVID-19. If there is a school where children are able to avoid medieval, senseless rules, this means there is one sensible school administration, one group of intelligent teachers and one group of enlightened parents — at least one. And where there is one such school, there are likely to be others. And that is hopeful.
In fact, Florida has not closed its schools this year, unlike the backward, science-ignoring schools in many other states. In Colorado, where I live, we have had a byzantine set of rules — one week the kids can go three days a week, the next week not at all, a few weeks later they can go again. Finally, the schools my kids go to in Colorado is going back to full-time attendance next week, but they have — bizarrely — canceled band and orchestra practice because….people can’t play some instruments without masks on, and you wouldn’t want that! Never mind that the kids all interact freely with each other without masks before and after school — some bureaucrat decided to cancel the music program because he or she had the power to do so.
I am in Florida in part because it is one of the few sensible places left in our increasingly tyrannical United States of Panic. As I pointed out in this post, Florida and California have had about the same results during the pandemic, despite the fact that Florida is mostly free and California is mostly locked down. The Florida economy, meanwhile, is booming while California continues its economic free-fall. The results are clear: lockdowns don’t work. As I wrote in this post, the lockdowns have caused millions of unnecessary deaths, destroyed economies worldwide and caused an increase in depression, anxiety and suicide. We will be suffering from the effects of these lockdowns for years if not decades to come.
Meanwhile, billions of mostly free people worldwide have allowed tyrannical governments to take away their freedom in the name of “safety.” This is what dictatorial governments always promise — safety without freedom. And the traditional media, the social media platforms and elite politicians and public figures have colluded to suppress the truth about the lockdowns and the useless mask mandates. So, yes, there are many reasons to be concerned about this time in our history.
But if one school can buck all of these forces, and allow kids to be kids, maybe there is hope after all?
The ghouls and tyrants who love lockdowns and ordering other people around are all hoping that Florida is proven a COVID killing field so they can point and say, “see, we need more government and more busy-bodies telling other people what to do!” It is as if these people have never read a history book. More government and more busy-bodies yelling at people usually ends with millions of dead people because famine, concentration camps and/or massive wars. We never need more of that. The solution is always more freedom.
But I am happy to report that a month after I wrote the post comparing Florida and California, the number of cases and deaths in Florida continues to fall.
If you see this and feel a twinge of disappointment at the results — results that clearly prove the lockdowns were unnecessary and harmful — you should seek psychiatric help immediately. Not only do you cheer when people die, you also have problems with allowing other people personal freedom.
If on the other hand you can celebrate when you see children running around without masks, and you can celebrate when the data proves that liberty works — then, welcome to sanity! The many generations before you who fought for your freedom would be proud of your ability to see through the propaganda being spouted by the ruling classes today. Let’s not rest until all of the lockdowns and mask mandates are ended, and let’s never allow them to be imposed again. Future generations will thank you.
Thank you. Clear analysis of the data, rather than political virtue, is so desperately needed.
Yes, yes, yes to all of this. They put up a new message board outside of my neighborhood screaming at us to “STAY HOME! WEAR A MASK!” Stop it please. I am an intelligent adult. I can make my own choices.
Whenever I see kids being allowed to be kids, I celebrate!
I am okay with the mask mandate, but I was troubled from the beginning by the long-term lockdown of our economy.
Ji, good to hear you were troubled by the lockdowns. I have a problem with all government mandates. I have no problems with voluntary measures. I agree with Church representatives who say people should voluntarily choose to wear masks in certain conditions.
Meanwhile, there were rather large anti-lockdown protests all around the world today, Saturday. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/burn-your-masks-massive-anti-lockdown-protests-rage-worldwide
Totally off-topic ….. to stay on point that’s awesome for FL!!!…..but The Lamb of God concert film is amazing! Breathtaking!! As I sat in a mostly empty theater, with NO mask ;-), my soul was filled because of the beautiful experience this film is. And all of you should see it if you possibly can.
Kristin, I am a big movie fan, but I have not been in a theater since February 2020. I don’t even know if the theaters around me in Colorado are open. So thanks for that reminder, that movie looks awesome, especially for Easter season.
https://www.lambofgodmovie.com/
Denmark, whose COVID response I have followed closely, moved relatively early in the pandemic to reopen its schools, particularly the lower grades. The elderly are particularly vulnerable to fatal cases of COVID-19. Children are not and those under 50 are not. Only 14 Danes under age fifty have died of COVID-19, and only one under age 10, out of 2400 COVID-19 fatalities in all.
Leo, those numbers are pretty uniform world-wide, ie, COVID-19 is mostly dangerous to older people, not to people under 50. This is why I say that closing the schools was always a stupid thing to do. During all past pandemics, the thinking was that the way to get through the pandemic was to create herd immunity. There are two ways this happens: 1)stronger people get the virus and survive it and develop anti-bodies and 2)people at risk get immunized. (If you look at what health specialists were saying in early 2020, they were all pointing this out. We can speculate why they changed their tune suddenly in March and April 2020, but politics, not health, certainly had something to do with it). Past pandemics were never resolved through massive lockdowns. In fact, the lockdowns are counter-productive to creating herd immunity because many of the people locking down and not getting the virus are those who would most likely have no serious health problems and should get the virus so they can help create herd immunity. This of course includes children. My 10-year-old got COVID and he literally did not even notice. We used to follow the science, not the politics, but apparently not anymore…
Closing schools was an excellent thing to do, not because of COVID, but because it woke up many parents to the insanity of our public
prisonschool system. It was a good kick in the pants.Gutpunch, you may be surprised to find out that I mostly agree with you. Millions of parents discovered 1)their teachers were teaching critical race theory and other woke garbage they should not be teaching and 2)homeschooling was not as difficult as they might have thought. I am in favor of privatizing all public schools in the U.S. However, by taking school away (and all activities away) and then dangling out the hope that things would return to normal in a few weeks and then a few months, we kept the horrible public schools and created a massive mental crisis for millions of young people in the United States. In my kids’ school, at least half of the kids are suffering from new mental health issues, from depression to anxiety. Kids like routine, and they like being able to have sporting events and other extra-curricular events. All of that was canceled, and has been canceled for a year now in most places in the U.S. That was cruel and heartless for America’s young people, and we will be suffering the consequences in the long run. But, yes, there is a side effect from COVID-19 that is positive: many people are coming to the realization that statist solutions should be overthrown in favor of voluntary solutions, and that is a good thing. Gutpunch, you may appreciate this post I wrote in May 2020.
It has aged quite well, if I do say so myself:
https://www.millennialstar.org/the-upside-of-covid-19-the-end-of-many-leftist-narratives/
Seeing children in masks is so dystopian. I’m happy for Florida although I hate humidity so I wouldn’t relocate.
Yes! I completely agree! I’ve studied child and adolescent development. I keep hearing, “It’s fine; kids are resilient!” Except they forget, or don’t know, that resilient doesn’t mean unaffcted. It’s not hard to see. We’ve homeschooled for several years now, and most people don’t say much. During the last year, I’ve been contacted by several parents saying that their children are struggling hard with being so shut off and asking for help to start homeschooling. Children pulling out hair, having anger problems, eating disorders, becoming suicidal… Seeing faces, not just eyes, is a very important part of developing *and maintaining* good bonds between parents and their children, siblings, friends, etc. We are hardwired to need physical contact- playing together, handshakes, hugs, etc. The damage is largely ignored or justified for “safety”. No one should have allowed this.