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On Dangerous Ground

There is nothing pleasant in writing about the epidemic of COVID hysteria that is gripping America. It just seems like a sick and pathetic version of Tulip Mania. What needs to be discussed isn’t so much COVID as the absolutely distressing level of enmity associated with COVID that is bleeding out of the American body politic.

I am not a COVID denier. I contracted the disease in February and it was not a fun ride. I am a middle-aged fitness freak without co-morbidities and I keep in pretty good shape. Since I live on a small farm I stay pretty active with the daily chores, maintenance, and whatnot. While the disease ran its course in me in about two weeks, the recovery process took another 3-4 weeks before I was back on my workout and outdoor activities game. It was essentially like a pretty awful case of the flu, exhaustion, and pneumonia all at the same time. That’s nothing anyone wants to endure or has the time to deal with. So, I’m not here to downplay COVID, it sucked—but it wasn’t the plague.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over 120 million Americans like me have contracted COVID since February 2020. A little over 100 million of those individuals were symptomatic and endured some level of discomfort. Therefore, out of a country of 330 million roughly a third of the population has acquired immunity from infection.

Thanks to some good old American innovation, we have a small selection of provisional vaccines available to Americans. There seems to be a lot of confusion over the vaccine’s efficacy and its method of mitigating the effects of COVID. Part of the problem with this is the daily deluge of conflicting information that is coming from the CDC, the White House, and the army of establishment courtesans attempting to “nudge” Americans into accepting the vaccine and its associated narrative. Some of this “nudging” has manifested itself in outright lies, but much of it has been contradictory statements and “just trust us” declarations. All of which has served to undermine the trust of ordinary Americans trying to make calculated risk decisions about their health.

From the basic information provided by the CDC, the vaccines are experimental gene therapy drugs which use messenger RNA to create an immune response which mitigates the serious or lethal effects of the SARS-COV-2 virus. None of the vaccines prevent infection, spreading the virus to others, or reinfection by various mutated versions, or variants. The length of time the vaccines provide protection is also now coming into question. The vaccines are authorized under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) because they have not completed the full testing regime to which vaccines are normally subjected. Additionally, the manufacturers of the vaccines are protected under the EUA from legal liability for any side effects or future consequences of their use.

Good News, Bad News

According to the CDC almost 200 million Americans of all age groups have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccination. About 70 percent of the population over the age of 18 have been fully vaccinated while a little over 90 percent of the 65 and older population have received the vaccination. That’s a pretty impressive number of people who are now vaccinated. Combined with the number of Americans who have naturally acquired immunity, a large majority of the population is theoretically safe from the worst effects of the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID. We have reached herd immunity—at least for the initial COVID variant. That’s actually great news.

I’m not so much worried about COVID anymore. We’ve seen it operate, built some vaccines, have a greater awareness of potential therapies to counter its effects, and our healthcare system has adapted to its risks. It’s likely COVID will join the cold and flu season as another reason to practice good hygiene and preventive medicine during infectious periods. What is particularly worrisome is the absolutely cowardly and sickening descent into authoritarianism displayed by my fellow Americans—ostensibly over this virus.

Despite the establishment’s hard sell of the COVID narrative and vaccine program, there are tens of millions of Americans who are not going to surrender control of their bodies to the state. For whatever reasons, known only to them and completely within their rights to have, they are resistant to accept the current vaccines under the current conditions. 

For their dissident behavior they are being labeled as threats to public safety. The establishment’s answer to this lack of cooperation is the implementation of vaccine passports. 

To date the occasional sign on the coffee shop or restaurant stating “vaccinated only” has been no big deal. Many Americans, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, spent the last year and half eating healthier meals at home, saving money, and having real conversations with family at the dinner table. The idea that if you don’t show your vaccination papers to the wait staff then you can’t pay seven dollars for a crappy cup of coffee or put up with bad customer service and cold food is not really heartbreaking. 

Quite frankly, America has enough going on right now with the woke cultural revolution and an increasingly dangerous administrative state. We don’t need a leap into full-blown fascism with vaccine passports. If you’re scared of a virus that has a 99 percent survival rate that’s fine, and well within your rights. Be as scared as you want to be. Wear a mask and stay indoors for the rest of your life if it makes you feel better. 

You be you and I’ll be me. Live and let live. These are all tried and true maxims that have facilitated civil society over the years. The opposite of that is what the vaccine passport represents and is a historically dangerous path to pursue. Attempting to turn nearly a third of the population into second-class citizens so you can feel safe is suicide. Now here’s the bad news—that suicide isn’t mine—it’s yours.

Do It Because I Said So

By now most folks have read about the Biden regime’s blatantly unconstitutional extension of the rent eviction moratorium—effectively taking control of privately owned property and allocating it rent-free to its current tenants. Most have heard of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s implementation of a vaccine passport requirement to enter any retail establishment or participate in indoor activities throughout New York City. If that isn’t shocking enough, The far-Left Atlantic published an OpEd this week calling for the unvaccinated to be placed on no-fly lists. Why? Because they said so.

All across social media there are calls to make life unlivable for those who are hesitant to accept the current crop of vaccines. There are no discussions of exceptions for naturally acquired immunity or allowing citizens to make their own health risk-assessments. The twitter blue-checks have roundly declared that these vaccine-hesitant individuals are almost all Trump supporters and selfish Republicans. The reality is a high percentage of the unvaccinated are in minority communities who harbor a justifiable distrust of the wealthy white Kens and Karens pushing vaccine conformity. 

Does anyone really believe all this is about a virus? 

The “Our Democracy” mob is calling for a new caste society, where those who resist the woke ideology of the day are marginalized and relieved of their rights and liberties. The real trouble will start when the COVID hysterics begin impeding Americans’ ability to work, put food on the table, receive government benefits and healthcare. As PayPal co-founder David Sacks said when discussing the dangers of financial institutions blacklisting un-woke individuals and businesses—“Silenced voices and empty stomachs are fuel for the very extremism you claim to oppose.”

In a previous essay on the shortcomings of our ruling elite I noted:

There are two phrases, which taken together, probably constitute the origin of violence and conflict throughout the history of mankind. They are the imperative command “Submit,” and the responsive challenge, “Or what?” I am guessing billions have died as a result of that conversation, because the follow-on to “or what” is when the stabbing, hacking, shooting, and bombing starts. If one wishes to avoid that violence, it is best to avoid forcing that discussion.

America has never been a country where “do it because I said so” was an acceptable answer to “why?” But if you read through your social media or turn on the cable news you’re seeing and hearing the command “Submit!” in the “do what we’re telling you or we are going to make your life hard” threats. The elites are bent on forcing that discussion.

Is it your body? Is it your choice? If you cannot be allowed to make your own healthcare decisions, or those of your minor children, are you really free? Or are you living under a yet-to-be challenged illusion of liberty? 

Today it’s the COVID narrative and vaccine. Tomorrow it will be obedience to a different establishment narrative. This is dangerous ground—not just a slippery slope, but a crumbling cliff that is about to take everyone and everything in reach over its edge. 

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About Max Morton

Max Morton is a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, former CIA paramilitary operations officer, and a veteran of multiple armed conflicts, revolutions, and contingency operations.

Photo: iStock/Getty Images