Sign up to get updates from us
Introduction
That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.
Continuing
This is a global pandemic, requiring each and every one of us to take it seriously, and do our individual best to contain, and eventually, end it. Nothing less is acceptable. If you believe that COVID is a hoax, or that you are not called to go all out to do your part, then skip this episode. I will be happy to welcome you back to the next one; after all, I create two a week.
To start with, let’s look again at the two main tenets that we believe in at Revolution 2.0™:
Now, let’s apply our principles to the COVID world we live in.
There are times when governments at all levels, local, state and federal, do indeed overstep their bounds, and impose unnecessary, even stupid, laws that do indeed unnesessarily and even arbitrarily restrict our legitimate and guaranteed freedoms. But we need to step carefully here. At the first whiff of real inconvenience, we must not shout things like, “Give Me COVID, or give me death.”, bastardizing Patrick Henry’s famous challenge. Henry was talking about trading his life in the pursuit of liberty; these COVID shouters are talking about trading their and others’ lives in pursuit of their personal liberty. Hardly the same thing.
Once we have earned the right to protest by: 1. Doing everything we can possibly do ourselves–personally–to fight the virus, and 2. We have a solid case that government is overstepping its bounds, then and only then can we act in protest. This takes research, thought and patience. And that is the opposite of lining up in predetermined teams, aligning with others in our team in support of or in opposition to things like masks and vaccines.
Masks, social distancing and hand washing all work; closing down outdoor dining when it includes those aforementioned precautions is insane on the face of it. And indoor dining can be structured in ways that work in the COVID world. Let’s hear from the Wall Street Journal on this subject. “The Fed reported that U.S. household net worth in the third quarter hit a record high amid the stock and housing boom. Government’s pandemic response, especially low-interest rates, has made the rich richer. But small businesses and their workers have been crushed. Joe Biden likes to call this the ‘K-shaped recovery,’ but what he doesn’t acknowledge is that the ‘K’ has been the result of government policy decisions. And now Democratic governors are whacking workers again with their shutdown orders.”
Remember: Before criticizing and protesting, we must have earned the right by our actions. And one of those actions includes setting the right example. Let’s start with stepping up and urging people to get vaccinated. We are going to hear from three voices here:
Fivethirtyeight.com. “Black people are notably less likely than other racial and ethnic groups to say they are going to take a COVID-19 vaccine, according to these surveys. For example, per the Pew survey, 83 percent of Asian Americans, 63 percent of Hispanics, 61 percent of non-Hispanic white Americans and just 42 percent of Black Americans indicated they would take a vaccine.”
New York Times. “As virus deaths in the country climb toward 300,000, the toll is influencing how many view the vaccines. Adam Wyatt, the pastor at First Baptist Church in Leakesville, Miss., decided to enroll in Moderna’s vaccine trial after one of his congregants died of the virus in August. Mr. Wyatt views hospital visits as one of his most important obligations as a pastor, and recalls feeling helpless as he gathered with the congregant’s family in a hospital parking lot, barred from entry by pandemic precautions. But Mr. Wyatt, 38, did not tell many people about his decision afterward to enroll in the trial in Hattiesburg, about an hour’s drive west of his small town. ‘You hear, ‘This vaccine is the mark of the beast, don’t get this, it’s Bill Gates’s population control, you’ll get the microchips in you,’ he said. ‘A lot of my folks probably won’t get it.’” The mark of the beast? Bill Gates wants to microchip us? We must fight back against such destructive ignorance with our examples, our determination to be our Brother’s Keepers.
Washington Post. “The signs of reluctance came early, said Sean O’Leary, a specialist in vaccine-preventable diseases at Children’s Hospital Colorado, who said his colleagues began creating focus groups after childhood vaccination rates dropped off in March, hitting minority communities hard. They did so with an eye to the arrival of a coronavirus vaccine. ‘We have specifically enlisted physicians and medical leaders of color to work with those communities, to have a trusted person in a health-care role,’ he said.” We need to be those trusted persons to those around us, as well as to others we might influence; it is up to us, it is not up to “them.”
Governments can do things that we citizens cannot, notably providing economic stimuli and covering lost profits and missing paychecks. But these actions are economic remedies, and must not be callous political maneuvers. And. And taxpayer money in any disaster, including earthquakes and pandemics, is not designed to make a person or a business whole, to pay for 100% of all lost income and lost profits. Come up with the minimum taxpayer cash needed to get by, then move on.
Where do you stand on these issues?
Tell me what you believe. I and many others want to know.
As always, whatever you do, do it in love. Without love, anything we do is empty.
Contact
As we get ready to wrap up, please do respond in the episodes with comments or questions about this episode or anything that comes to mind, or connect with me on Twitter, @willluden, Facebook, facebook.com/will.luden, and LinkedIn, www.linkedin.com/in/willluden/. And you can subscribe on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you liked today’s episode, other episodes or the revolution2-0.org site itself, comment, subscribe, and encourage others to subscribe with you. Each One Reach One will help spread the word about Revolution 2.0™.
Will Luden, coming to you from 7,200’ in Colorado Springs.
