The Evils of Lockdowns and Masks
Since the beginning of time man has dealt with epidemics and pandemics by using measures to limit the spread, address the disease in question, and prevent contraction. However, never was human dignity, social need, and Spiritual need; discarded for the sake of public health. Children have been committing suicide. The basic need of seeing the faces of other humans has been torn away. The idea of bodily autonomy dashed with the idea of Vaccine passports. This essay will expose the evils of lockdowns and masking, through their effects on children, mental health, and adoption of science-only politics.
The effects on children have been heartbreaking, one must but look at the skyrocketing rates of suicides with children as young as nine years old to see that the lockdowns have been devastating. It is common knowledge that PTSD occurs after particularly traumatizing events. The First thing coming to mind is war veterans, but it has effects on other situations, such as in a societal form of PTSD. An example of societal PTSD came post World Wars. The attempts to eradicate war from the planet through the League of Nations, then the United Nations. In the current moment, our society attempts to extend life indefinitely, that mortality ought to be eradicated, even if that means to stop living life itself. This theory is proven to be false as children and adults use death as their escape from life itself. From previous Pandemics, when there was no internet at all and no way to live remotely; Church services, Weddings, and Funerals were not stopped for fear of death (Jordan, 2019). Prudence was used to addressing the spread, but they were temporary measures. Restrictions were not extended eternally; normalcy was maintained as much as possible. Normalcy is essential for children’s development, which has been a long-known fact (Unknown, N/A). There was already a mental health crisis going on pre-pandemic, suicides (BMJ, 2020), massive Overdoses from Opioids (Uchitel, 2019), and Depression. These problems were prevalent among children and Youths, males in particular. The isolation, the constant wearing of masks, a crumbling social structure, and the political ramifications of the Chinese Communists running the WHO (Feldwisch-Drentrup, 2020) and covering up information that could have prevented the pandemic as a whole (Feldwisch-Drentrup, 2020); makes for the perfect breeding ground for mental illness (John, 2020). It likely will be decades before the complete picture of the damage done to the children by these lockdowns and masking.
The effect on mental health from the lockdowns are known, depression, suicide, and overdoses. Though it is often not covered, the effects of masks on mental health. It is argued, “‘Wear the mask to return to normal.(Unknown, 2020)’” However, the statement fails to note that masks in themselves are not normal in Western society. They have always been used for careers where they are essential for safety. Otherwise, masks weren’t used in public life (Korab, 2021). It begs the question of mental health, what are the effects of masking on mental health? From an obvious glance, the mask reminds one of the global pandemic constantly. This is not an argument of efficacy, these are not statements of efficacy, these arguments are Agnostic on mask efficacy. It is an argument of philosophical reasoning. Instead of trying to maintain normalcy during the past year leaders did the opposite. Forcing people to wear masks and reminding us constantly of the pandemic. It would be healthier for society to allow people to breathe freely, to see smiles, and see expressions on faces. These masks are a hazard to communication because it muffles the wearer’s speech, covers their mouth, and reminds people of the pandemic constantly because of it.
Finally, science-only politics is prevalent today. It has been “Listen to Dr. Fauci” throughout the Pandemic. Though he has been very inconsistent, he admitted to Lying in March about masking to conserve masks for medical personnel (Korab, 2021). But it is expected that Dr. Fauci’s word is law, that he is “following the science”. But is he? If he was, why did he lie about masking in March (Korab, 2021)? Why does he continue to call for masking the United States as vaccines roll out (Korab, 2021) and states are reopening to normal life (Svitek, 2021)? But this begs the other question, why is science our only measure? Politics is not a scientific process; it is how society decides its laws and how it governs itself. Science does play a part of course, but it is a philosophical issue primarily. Society decides by the views of its people, how it will address an issue. The views of the people are expressed through their elected leaders in the legislative bodies. These facts bind the other two issues brought up. It is a philosophical idea to state that death is all that must be feared, even if giving up a normal life to do so. One must be prudential, but not so prudential that one lacks fortitude. These are the philosophical realities of life. Death is an inevitable part of life; it is a sad fact of life. But a society that has attempted to defy death has made many choose it to escape life.
The conclusion of this essay exposes the evils of lockdowns and masking through their effects on children, mental health, and adoption of science-only politics. The solutions derived from this essay are: to allow children to have a normal life back, by allowing them to see human faces, to investigate and address mental health issues, and to return to a primarily philosophical-based politics. Man has always addressed pandemics and epidemics, but he has never stopped living life for them. Measures were temporary and normality essential, today’s society must prudently but with all speed possible, return to this previous philosophy for the sake of our children.
Reference Page
Feldwisch-Drentrup, H. (2020, April 02). How who Became china’s Coronavirus Accomplice. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/02/china-coronavirus-who-health-soft-power/
John, A., Pirkis, J., Gunnell, D., Appleby, L., & Morrissey, J. (2020, November 12). Trends in suicide during the covid-19 pandemic. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4352
John, A., Prof. (2020, April 13). Suicide trends in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(21)00091-2/fulltext
Jordan, D. (2019, December 17). The deadliest flu: The complete story of the discovery and reconstruction of the 1918 pandemic virus. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html
Korab, A. (2021, April 12). Dr. Fauci still won’t do this after vaccination. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://ca.style.yahoo.com/dr-fauci-still-wont-vaccination-114519913.html
McLaughlin, S. (2021, February 21). Masks in 2022? Dr. ANTHONY Fauci says it is possible. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/21/masks-in-2022-dr-anthony-fauci-says-it-is-possible/?utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=chacka&utm_campaign=TWT+-+DSA&gclid=Cj0KCQjwpdqDBhCSARIsAEUJ0hPnocYrR7pIpbUw95eGM-75D_emnxJyATZyZuGShI7xpprZXOhsAV0aAvjDEALw_wcB
Panetta, G. (2020, July 16). Fauci says he doesn’t regret telling Americans not to wear masks at the beginning of the pandemic. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.businessinsider.com/fauci-doesnt-regret-advising-against-masks-early-in-pandemic-2020-7
Svitek, P. (2021, April 14). Texas coronavirus cases haven’t surged since GOV. Greg Abbott lifted the mask Order. experts WARN it’s too soon to celebrate. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/14/texas-coronavirus-mask-order-abbott/
Uchitel Scott E. Hadland Sudha R. Raman Mark B. McClellan Charlene A. Wong, J. (2019, November 21). The opioid epidemic: A needed focus on adolescents and young adults: Health affairs blog. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20191115.977344/full/
Unknown, A. (n/a). Normalcy for children archives. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from http://www.tccwb.org/resources/topics/normalcy-for-children/
Unknown, U. (2020, July 10). Wearing a mask is crucial for getting back to normal. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_s47f5vcv
