The most urgent assault on our liberty and the most dangerous attack on human health in decades has taken place in the last year, and it is incumbent on latter-day Saints to speak out against this human-caused disaster. Billions of people have lost freedom — perhaps forever — and hundreds of millions more have suffered depression, anxiety and massive losses in income, all because a few power-hungry politicians imposed ruthless lockdowns throughout the world.
One of the saddest things about the tragedy of the lockdowns is that they simply don’t work. The most respected scientists have known this for decades, which is why there were no lockdowns during past pandemics that were even more deadly than what we are living through today.
But yet, our media today is so dishonest that the public perception remains: lockdowns good, no lockdowns bad.
This post will deal specifically with a comparison between two states, Florida and California. In Florida, the schools are open and people go to the beach and concerts and restaurants. There is no mask mandate in Florida, while two masks are apparently de rigueur in the People’s Republic of California. The heroic Florida Gov. Ron Desantis has actually followed the science, as opposed to his counterpart in California, the authoritarian fool Gavin Newsom, who has sought to take away every possible freedom while refusing to follow his own bizarre rules. The good news is that Newsom is facing a likely recall election, and DeSantis has a 54 percent approval rating.
It turns out that Florida (no lockdown) and California (full lockdown) have had about the same results. Yes, I know most of the media (with some exceptions) has not been reporting this, but it is true, as I will show in this post.
Note: many of the graphs and figures from this post are taken from this story. Also note the following: California has a population of about 40 million, while Florida has a population of 22 million. So, any comparisons should be based on population, not total numbers. In addition, any fair reader would consider that Floridians are older, with a median average age of 42, while Californians have a median age of 37. More than 21 percent of Florida’s population is at least 65 years old, compared to less than 15 percent in California. That makes Florida more susceptible to a virus that disproportionately preys on older residents.
How do California and Florida compare when it comes to COVID-19 hospitalizations? California has a rate of about 56 hospitalizations per 100,000 while Florida has about 35 per 100,000. (It is worth pointing out that earlier in 2020, Florida’s numbers were much higher than California, but the two states have evened out over time).
At its peak on January 12, California reported a single-day total of 22,665 people hospitalized due to the virus while Florida reported 7,762 people on January 14.
How about deaths from COVID? It turns out that Florida has fewer deaths per million right now than California. In fact, Florida is below the national average (the dotted line below), while California is above the national average. Florida is at about eight deaths per million, while California is at about 12 deaths per million. (The below timeframe is from Nov. 1, 2020 to Jan. 21, 2021). To be fair and more complete, it is worth pointing out that since the pandemic began, California has fewer deaths per millions total (about 1200) than Florida (about 1300). By the way, the two worst states in terms of deaths per million are the completely locked down New York and New Jersey (2300 and 2500 deaths per million, respectively), but of course the media refuses to report that inconvenient fact.
Meanwhile, people have been going out to restaurants and living their lives in Florida, while Californians are mostly huddling at home because of draconian government mandates. Take a look at total restaurant visits in Florida (the top line) vs. California (the bottom line):
Here is another graph comparing Los Angeles county to Florida. With all of the tyrannical measures undertaken in Los Angeles, the mask mandates, the state at home orders, the curfews, the closing of indoor and outdoor dining — all of them infringements on personal liberty — Los Angeles has fared significantly worse than the state of Florida during the pandemic.
It turns out that by most measurements Florida and California are somewhere in the middle of U.S. states in terms of COVID-19 results. But when it comes to many results that count, the two states could not be more different. California’s unemployment rate is above 9 percent, and Florida’s is about six percent. Californians are fleeing their state in droves, while Florida’s population continues to soar. In California, people are stuck at home, governed by a cabal of hypocritical tyrants, unable to live their lives, while in Florida, people are free.
One of the sad facts about viruses is that they seem to penetrate most defenses. As the Church suggests, masks should be worn as a courtesy to others, but the science clearly shows (and has shown for years) that masks do nothing to stop the spread of viruses. People who are locked down must eventually come out of their homes and interact with others, and when they do they will be exposed to the virus. Epidemiologists have known for decades that the only real solution over time is herd immunity and eventually a vaccine that works and has been tested extensively.
As I have been saying for almost a year now, lockdowns and other government mandates are unconstitutional, dangerous and authoritarian. But worst of all: they don’t work, as this comparison between Florida and California clearly shows.
Quick update: meanwhile in Europe (almost no lockdowns), people in Sweden have freedom and one of the least deadly results on COVID. Very inconvenient for the lockdown people.
