On March 16, President Trump, flanked by the principal members of his coronavirus team, introduced new guidelines for citizens to follow to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Called “15 Days to Slow the Spread,” the guidelines spell out what are largely common sense ideas. These include such advice as:
• “If you feel sick, stay home. Do not go to work. Contact your medical provider.”
• “If your kids are sick, keep them at home.”
• “If someone in your household has tested positive for the coronavirus, keep the entire household at home.”
• “If you are an older person, stay home and away from other people.”
• “If you are a person with a serious underlying health condition that can put you at increased risk (for example, a condition that impairs your lung or heart function or weakens your immune system), stay home and away from other people.”
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The remainder of the guidelines suggest avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people, remind people to avoid nursing homes, avoid shopping trips, and so on.
So far, these are just suggestions on the federal level. Nonetheless, their focus on strongly dictating even the minutia of daily life is not just a bit obnoxious but even a little disturbing. Already we have state and local statists abusing the rights of citizens over the virus. Some of these were detailed by former Congressman and presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul in a recent column.
“State and local authoritarians love panic…,” Dr. Paul noted. “The mayor of Champaign, Illinois, signed an executive order declaring the power to ban the sale of guns and alcohol and cut off gas, water, or electricity to any citizen. The governor of Ohio just essentially closed his entire state.”
Moreover, as Ron Paul, a medical doctor, points out, guidelines like those put out by the White House and dictatorial policies on the local and state level that are keeping people confined to their homes out of fear, are contributing, in all likelihood, to sickness.
Outdoors, UV radiation from the sun kills viruses while fresh air and exercise have a beneficial effect on overall health, especially if going outside removes people from indoor sources of air pollution (i.e,, dust and other particulates, trace amounts of fire retardants from drapes, carpets, and furniture, etc.).
“The martial law [fearmongers] dream about will leave people hunkered down inside their home instead of going outdoors or to the beach where sunshine and fresh air would help boost their immunity,” Dr. Paul wrote. “The panic produced by these fearmongers is likely helping spread the disease, as massive crowds rush into Walmart and Costco for that last roll of toilet paper.”
As Dr. Paul notes, “This is not to say the disease is not harmless.” But many of the dictatorial measures being promulgated around the country are manifestly more harmful than the disease itself.
Restricting freedom has real and deadly implications. Supply chain disruption caused by government overreaction will probably harm, and possibly kill, more people than the virus. And laws enacted in haste that provide expansive powers to government will prove difficult, or impossible, to roll back.
To defeat the virus we must stay safe. To stay safe, we must protect our liberties. We should never forget that the history of just the 20th century alone proves without a doubt that it is unchecked government power that presents one of the greatest threats to health and well-being.
Photo of President Trump: AP Images
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