Recently, my parents neighbour was speaking to my mother about the country he grew up in, "We escaped our Communist country for Canada. The changes were drastic. The ability to be free was rich. This became our new home as we raised children and grandchildren here, and yet, here I am again, in many situations that I found myself in when younger in the communist country. This is not the Canada I know. This leaves me deeply saddened."
Questions I have for Canadians in Strict Provinces;
How did it come to this? How is it, that California, which had quite the strict laws, is now more lenient in some aspects, than most provinces in Canada for protocols?
How is Texas doing after their differing stances on protocols? Why is Texas not spoken of more often...sure it's cases surged a bit at first, but so far, they have gradually gone down, which is natural in the state of contagious diseases similar to the influenza. Yes, Coronavirus tends to have more symptoms and stronger infection rates, but this is not Ebola that we are dealing with. Yet, the fear is the equivalent due to news media.
Is Belgium's latest law case against Covid protocols legitimate? Why or why not?
Why is it that one news outlet is being celebrated as trustworthy above any other? What happened to agenda free press (or at least a degree of professional investigative reporting)?
Since when is healthcare in conjunction with the criminal code? Should healthcare and the state be intertwined even in a health crisis? Especially with the actual statistics?
Should the Minister of Healthcare be able to get the police force to shut down places of worship if they have not had one single case for months? Is logic being applied to many of the rules?
Before each holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) cases are shown to increase. A couple schools in the city regions remarked that the government gave them rapid testing kits for all their students a few weeks prior to Easter and the case count went up. Is this a co- incidence?
Have you actually compared death rates to infectious rates? Do you notice disparity? Do you notice that the death rate, is in fact, not as alarming as it is constantly shouted to be?
My Grandpa's nephew received the Covid Vaccine and died within a few days. There was nothing different in his schedule. He was perfectly healthy until his son found him and the family knew it was from the vaccine. Which CAN happen but the problem is that the autopsy report stated, "Cause of death unknown." We have now heard of this in a few cases. It is one thing to honestly report the side effects and death rates, but it is entirely another to use the benign, "Cause Unknown" conveniently when the cause is known by those closest to the situation. Why is this happening?
As A Canadian Citizen:
Are you taking responsibility for your freedom of rights in conjunction with respect for the virus and the people around you?
Are you bravely speaking up on the unpopular, yet quite prevalent notion, that there is discrimination against the disabled, the poor, the sick and general freedoms for all people groups with many of the Covid protocols?
Recently we were at a local shop when a disabled women in a wheelchair on oxygen came in with her partner. Her partner was wearing a mask but she was not. She was detained for more than 45 minutes. I went and offered her a face shield but she stated that even that makes it hard for her to breathe. I confirmed with a health nurse I know, whom used to work in the Lung ICU department, that with many of her patients, even having something near their face, would make them panic and for many their oxygen levels are already low and it DOES make a difference.
The way other people glared this lady down, shows the current state of our culture. The manager was as kind as he could be, but he kept stating he was following orders. Isn't that a statement we often find in some of the greatest travesties in history? Should our professionals in places of business be enforcers of law?Are we now entering times where ableism is an acceptable practice? Is it alright to ban differently abled people and those with medical conditions to not shop in your store? If stores keep banning people who legitimately can not wear masks due to oxygen or other medical conditions (even if they are complying with distance when possible, hand washing, and not entering the building when sick etc) then that store is complicit in participating in dehumanization. Laws can expire, but how we treat our fellow human beings should be based on individual context. A Grocery store is not a police state, but a place to get groceries. The workers at any store should be first and foremost servers and activators at their jobs which is providing groceries instead of policing people to follow government rules (which also have nuances and exceptions.) Safety can be a concern with washing etc, however, judgement, following people around stores, revoking memberships and banning people who need to enter to shop, goes beyond the necessary job. What used to feel like a community place to shop, now feels like a judgemental place where the servers are exerting power over consumers. I would ask all businesses to reconsider some of their current actions and policies. At the very least, we hope that the staff can be reminded of their jobs as employees, instead of officers of the law.
My husband talked to the manager. The lady still was not allowed in, but she couldn't be left by herself and the man needed to get their groceries. They found it difficult to navigate the online shopping. I found it unbelievable that an exception would not be made. They were keeping their distance. She was quite disabled. She left in tears. I wrote a letter to head office...and received no response. Is this what we want Canadians to be known by? Are we not known, world wide, for our general politeness? For our ability to be peacemakers and follow the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law?
I wear face shields, because I find that people are kinder when they see my full face. People are becoming meaner behind their masks. They are outspoken, volatile and often cruel. Part of the rage is actually the lack of clean air going to their brains and helping with compassionate perspectives taking. We can also attribute much of it to human nature. When we hide behind our Facebook opinions instead of bravely having the real conversations (it is one thing if you are doing both but quite another if you are hypocritically only engaging in one) or when half of our face is masked, we feel freer to be less compassionate. Blood pressure can also rise breathing in our own carbon dioxide for long periods of time which contributes to mood. Lack of seeing facial cues, full smiles, and reading people's lips are also contributing to the general lack of well being of the population. Discrimination is becoming prevalent against those whom are deaf, hard of hearing, or have varied health concerns. I feel, at least with a face shield, I can minimize these effects yet, still make those comfortable whom are very afraid of the virus and rely on their masks to save them.
Maybe part of the problem is Canadian's innate politeness? Maybe we feel that by following all the rules, we are being kind? Is kindness ever cowardice or a lack of spine to speak on tougher topics or is kindness always true?
What if some of these laws are becoming tyrannical? What if many of them are not based on logic? What if many of them are contradictory in nature or even contrary to some science? What if the stats are stated in a manipulative way? Statements like, "We are all in this together" are common psychological tactics. Which isn't always necessarily a bad thing at times, but it is crucial to actually be wary of these tactics and understanding of how many statements work to convince the mind of what is right. There are MANY layers to this.
I recently told a friend that we must pick our battles. I believe there is a virus that is more contagious and can have equal or sometimes worse consequences to a bad bout of influenza...especially in the elderly and those whom are compromised. It is not something to play around with. However, I also believe this is probably here to stay, and we need to learn to deal with it and live with it as we did the Influenza, which is still risky each time a person battles it. We need to incorporate hygiene and healthy food/ exercise/ sleep into our schedules and focus on immunity. Healthy immunity also has a social component. When we are socially engaged with others, our immune systems generally becomes stronger, we live longer, and we are less stressed. While that does not mean that we forget to wash or stay home when sick, what it DOES mean is that we need people. Even a year without seeing people in person, changes the brain and body make up of a person.
What do I believe the battle of every Canadian Citizen should be?
We should be, first and foremost, fighting for our freedom. We should have the CHOICE to see people in our own homes carefully. We should have the CHOICE to visit our loved ones with dementia in the hospital. The elderly should have the CHOICE to see people, even if it means their lives could possibly be cut shorter. I have talked to many elderly people who have stated they know that a cold, or influenza or food poisoning etc could wipe them out, but they would rather die living well and with the company of their loved ones than alone. Some would rather not see people and I respect that. It should be a CHOICE. Let me state again that this is NOT Ebola. The sad fact is, that many people are dying alone when they could be dying with loved ones which is a much kinder death. The culprit is the protocols. We can find ways to make this mostly safe.
No Democratic Government, even in it's emergency state, should be allowed to criminally enforce people away from family members, neighbours and loved ones. Especially during this sort of crisis. Many people can choose not to see other people and that should be respected...but each person has different needs and a one size does not fit all. There is so much more to life than sickness or fear of sickness. And this is coming from someone with Autoimmune Diseases that has to be especially paranoid about this type of thing. But CHOICE matters. Our law enforcement should not be called upon to enforce these ridiculous rules. They should be where the true crimes are...and many genuine crimes are going up. Why are we not seeing this injustice?
If anything, it would be reasonable to cap households at 20 people inside, since it is an unusual time, but that should be as far as a Democratic Government should go. Health care is not the main government in office. Many were not trained in political decisions and these 'leaders' were not voted in by the people. While they have their expertise to give, people should have the option of how far they need to listen. While basic respect is needed, compliance is not.
I have talked to several Doctors, Nurses and Social workers...it is rare that I have found one whom believes this is what our society should look like for this type of disease. Due to the political component of it and the volatile society involved that is being brain washed by news 24/7, most of these people are not listened to, if they speak out.
Ironically, 70 percent of the people I have talked to in cities, towns and places all over Canada and in the States, do not believe such strict measures are effective or needed. Yet, where are these people? We, the people, elected these officials. We can demand more from them. We can ask that our voices be heard. It is not okay to give up freedom and liberty in exchange for safety and health. There is a balance to be struck. So far we are leaning on a teeter toter and eventually one of these things is going to go flying out of our grasp. That is not something to take lightly. There can be DIRE consequences to seemingly little times of stricter measures. It is one thing if we stop this now. It is quite another if we allow this to go on. The call for balance should be heeded.
As I stated before, there is a difference between following the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.
The spirit of the law should be this:
We care and respect all people groups. We wish for our populous to be as healthy as possible but health is not just physical. We can incorporate respect. We can make different rules for different situations. Certain people will want more hibernation, while others need more social time. We must trust that most adults can make well informed, logical, responsible decisions. They are not Kindergarteners in need of a forced time out. We must care for the elderly and vulnerable...and sometimes that means BEING WITH THEM, while other times it means staying away. There is not a one size fits all. We must exercise healthy habits. We must wash and stay home when we feel sick to be nourished by those in our community whom love us.
In contrast to that...the letter of the law is unbending, non contextual, does not take multiple factors into account, can be discriminatory, authoritarian and prone to prejudice. It is boxed thinking in the name of peace and goodness. It is toted as justice but is not grounded in ethics, rationality, equity and fairness. If we are only focusing on ONE aspect to the detriment of all else- is it JUST?
My heart weeps for my country. For the civil division and daily injustice I witness. I am deeply saddened that friends are not free to have meaningful, yet opposing discussions. I am torn apart that Dementia patients are being left alone, without their people to touch their hands and remind them they are loved. I am broken for those who are poor who can not afford to stay home when they feel a tickle in their throats. I am in grief for the grandparents whom have not held their new grandchildren or died without any family contact this year. I am worried for the children that are growing up in masked society. I am concerned at the level of acquiescence most teens have for government and laws. Teens are supposed to be the rebels in society. It is a natural stage for the younger people to question the latest laws and not give complete obedience... yet due to social media and 'together' slogans, teens are choosing instead to comply, obey and exchange freedom for safety. This is not natural. There are many nuances to this...but most of all, the injustice of many of these "laws" in the name of "peace" have sent shards of unbelief into my soul.
Where is the liberty? Where is the freedom? Where is the true love? It is a possibility to be relatively safe yet live. Death comes for us all. While we must prevent what we can to a degree, if we followed that logic we would have to go after the number one killer: Obesity. Are we going to tell people what they can and can not eat in their homes and enforce it? Are we going to enforce exercise in every home and tag those who do not comply or bar them for entry in restaurants? That would be ridiculous and against multiple rights. Many would call that discriminatory...and yet, is this not how someone with a cold is now treated? Is this not how someone who does not mask is treated? We are allowing the government to tell us how to behave and interact with other people and whom we can see in our own homes and businesses to a micro degree. How are we not seeing the parallels? Where has logic and rationality gone?
Dear Canadians,
Does this feel like the land of the free? Are these these the stories we want the rest of the world to see? Is this the type of treatment, laws and protocols that we stand for in our young country?? Please help keep our land glorious and free. It is possible to achieve this while still respectfully staying home when sick.
Song Choice: Wavin' Flag
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