The LOCKDOWNS, since LAST SUMMER, were mostly POLITICLY MOTIVATED. Let me explain...

I have a deal that I'm always willing to make, with my level-headed friends, with whom I disagree. I'll read any book of your choosing, if you read one of mine. Over the years, this has helped me stay balanced and exposed to different points of views. It's also helped me figure out who is debating with me in good faith, is also willing to be exposed to new ideas, and is not just screaming from the rafters with some 'bumper sticker' political rant.

Small is Beautiful (an economics book that flies in the face of what I thought I believed), The biography of Malcom X (which I wouldn't have picked up on my own), How to Be and Anti-racist, & Dog Whistle politics are just a few books I've read over the years that I wouldn't have found on my own. Agree or disagree with their message - it's important to be exposed to material that challenges my belief's.

SPOILER ALERT - that is PART of free speech and being a responsible citizen - BEING EXPOSED to things we disagree with!!!! There seems to be a lot of Americans and companies that could learn from the paragraph above.

Three months ago I was recommend the book "The Death of Expertise." One of my very sharp, liberal friends, thought that the book perfectly illustrated the concepts underlying Trump's rise to power, a generally right-leaning attitude of not trusting the "facts," and a fair explanation of how "experts" and "real" scientists are being crowded out by conspiracy theorists and biased political echo-chambers.

I found myself nodding my head in agreement with much of the book, and shaking my head in disbelief regarding some parts of the book's poorly researched "facts" (which was ironic). Due to the title of the book, I found myself doing MORE research than normal to parse out certain ideas laid out in the book. I even called in a few friends who are in fact experts, to determine whether some of the ideas presented in the book were actually "facts" - or just an appeal to authority. I'm lucky to have friends smarter than I am.

Fast forward to January 20th through today (January 25th). I believe we now have the mother of all PHD dissertations on why Americans (especially conservatives in 2021) don't trust the "facts", or the "science", or the "experts." They don't trust them, because more and more, these "facts" are being manipulated for political gain & governmental control.

How can ANYBODY in their right-mind (no pun intended) NOT see that these shut downs were mostly politically driven- at least for the last 8 months. It's so disgustingly transparent that it makes me sad for all Americans. Now that Trump (who I didn't like either) is out of office, all the sudden the death trackers / infection trackers are GONE from the lead page of every news source.

In my state, Gavin Newsom (along with other Democratic party Governors around the nation) are refusing to share underlying data concerning the lockdowns. Read the article I'll link to below from the associated press. Newsom and the California state health department is basically saying "it's complicated and California residents are too stupid to understand the data." But trust the "experts", it's now magically safe to open up again. After 10 months of non-stop fear mongering, within a week of Biden becoming President, it's safe to go outside again.

As a state, we've ONCE AGAIN moved the data points we use to ascertain whether we should lock down or not. In the last 10 months we've been told, at times, to ONLY pay attention to the amount of available PPE, then infection rates, then to death rates, then to ICU capacity, then to regional reporting, then to state reporting. The politicians used whatever numbers told the scariest story in order to control our actions and outlaw our businesses.

A couple things that would have seemed like conspiracy theories to me a year ago, are now starting to feel obvious to anyone who can step back and look at things objectively. However it STARTED back in March of 2020, it's NOT how it ENDED. Maybe in March of 2020 - the intentions behind the lock-downs and "flatten-the-curve" were well intended. I'm wiling to give ALL politicians a pass on ALL their actions, policies and missteps from about February of 2020 until about June of 2020.

However, after some point around early summer of last year, this absolutely did NOT END UP being about the on-going "science" or the true underlying risk of the disease. We knew by summer of last year that Covid-19 had a nominal mortality rate & we could have returned to business as normal while sheltering / protecting the elderly and truly vulnerable.

No, no, no - don't fall for it - sometime around summer of last year, these lockdowns became about control. it was about ensuring their was no good news in 2020 leading up to the election. It was about putting everyone on a system of mail-in ballots. It was about market, financial, and economic manipulation. It was about "re-making" the government & the economy in the eyes of whoever could scare us the most.

Now that Trump is out of office, Gavin Newsom is at risk of being recalled, Democrats control the House / Senate / Presidency, and the approval rating of Congress is at all time low... NOW we need to IGNORE (or revise) the science, stop reporting on the Covid deaths, and re-open the economy. NOW the people need to understand how little control the government actually has over the spread of this disease. NOW we know that businesses can safely openly. NOW we know that detection, reporting, and standardized protocol on reporting Covid cases and Covid deaths probably need to be revised (downwards). SPOILER ALERT - we knew this all last summer.

Those in Federal, State, and Local governments who have done the most economic and mental health damage over the last 10 months, now they need an influx of positivity. They need to be able to claim responsibility for an economic recovery.

The powers that be need a rush of euphoria to sweep the nation!!! As parents 'get' to send their kids back to school, people are 'allowed' to return to work, we change the way we test for & identify Covid (SEE the WHO policy changes to Covid detection that took affect January 20th), and 80% of the media effectively stops reporting anything negative... we are expected to count our blessings and return to "normal". Thank the all powerful government for allowing us to have our lives back.

So, the next time someone comes at me with an argument revolving around - "pay attention to the science" - please don't be offended if I simply tell you to fuck off.

We were ALL DOOPED. And, sadly, most people will be so excited that the government has granted us the ability to once again earn a living & go about our life, that nothing will change.