At American Thinker, Alex Lekas takes a thoughtful look at
the aftermath of the COVID “pandemic” – and some readers here will surely
relate to his frame of reference. He starts
off:
The Covidian orthodoxy is beginning
to crumble. Some governments have discovered that their approach did not
improve anything. On the contrary, at least
one study shows that the myriad restrictions on normal life have had
the opposite effect. That confirms what many people said 18 months ago when
challenging the official dogma was considered an act of heresy.
Now what? There is going to be a
clear delineation of human interactions in the aftermath when compared to the
before times. It is almost impossible to expect otherwise.
Like many of you, I have learned
things about people I thought I knew that were hard to believe. It has been
quite the learning curve to find out who would happily serve as an enforcer to
push the state's dictates, who would just as happily shut people out of
society, celebrate their firing, or deny them healthcare for the sake of making
a political point. Once you have seen the true measure of a person, one who
would support steps that harm friends and relatives and justify that
support [without] hesitation or regret, how can you see such people in the same
light again?
You can't trust them. You can’t
discuss anything of substance with them. You can’t pretend that none of this
happened. It is impossible to once again respect or like people whose inner
tyrant rose to the surface so easily, and that will be among the lasting
legacies of this sorry spectacle, one that should sadden us all. The
friendships forever tarnished, the family ties that are irreparably broken, the
neighbors you no longer recognize; for many people, those will be the most
tangible results of their COVID experience.
There is no joy in saying "I
told you so" as the narrative starts falling apart. The same people and
publications who dismissively, if not derisively, hand-waved warnings of
second-order effects from mandates and lockdowns as so much conspiracy babble,
are now
reporting on the second-order effects of mandates and lockdowns. But
worse, they are doing so without the faintest hint of humility or
self-awareness, without the slightest acknowledgment of their complicity in
pushing fear while stifling open, honest discussion. Then again, why would
they?
Mr. Lekas concludes:
The path forward is not likely to
be pleasant. It is going to be difficult to watch the various divisions of the
Karenwaffe pivot and claim that they knew all along the assaults on freedom
would not work. Of all the lies people can tell, the worst are the ones they
tell themselves. This is where the truth about character is revealed. The old
saying holds that tough times build character. That is not true. Tough
times reveal character. What many of us have seen cannot be unseen
and it will resonate for some time.
Full article is here.
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