Lockdowns to me are open acts of hostility of political leadership over their citizens. It’s borderline Crimes Against Humanity…in time, we’ll get there too, if left unchecked.
Hear me out - I have 5 principal reasons for my viscerally strong opinion:
1/ There is zero scientific basis for the efficacy of lockdowns. As an Inquisitive person, I’ve done a fair bit of research on this topic; some of which I provide links in this piece for the reader. As a Libertarian, any loss of individual freedoms such as right to assembly, right of free movement, etc is an insult to our forefathers who fought, bled and died to give us these rights … especially when they are taken from us for a pure bullshit reason.
Below is a video link addressing the harm of using lockdowns as a way of addressing Covid19 as delivered by three leading world epidemiologists from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford, saying lockdown “suppression strategies” do not work. Humans should go about their daily lives as we always have because – surprise, surprise - herd immunity works.
2/ Empirical data shows the harm of lockdowns to other parts of society. Put simply, lockdowns are causing deaths of despair (think isolated people who commit suicide), and deferred medical procedures for cancer treatment, routine preventative scans, stopping chronic illness treatments, etc – all because healthcare systems have been re-focused, at the exclusion of all else – for Covid19.
In addition, the harm to our children from shifting to online learning is resulting in incalculable damage to our future generations. And the data proves this.
Dr. Scott Atlas from the Hoover Institute looked at empirical data & has calculated the true cost of lockdowns. Not surprisingly, he found that such cost far exceeds the “benefits” of lockdowns. One of his conclusions - “when you shut schools – where there is no risk to the children - this will go down as the most heinous misapplication of public policy in modern America”
3/ Lockdowns have killed hundreds of thousands of small businesses & millions of jobs worldwide. Billions & billions of dollars of savings that had been invested in launching businesses world-wide has now been vapourised, ranging from family-owned restaurants to small businesses that have been forced to close. Let me repeat that - billions of dollars of private sector investments gone. Forever.
Global empirical data show that small businesses historically have been the drivers of job growth in both OECD and emerging markets. It’s a logical conclusion that given lockdowns have permanently destroyed countless small businesses worldwide, millions of jobs have likely been destroyed forever. Large global conglomerates, who will likely benefit from the small business bankruptcies, will simply not have a need to add new jobs in significant numbers.
This means economic damage – and recovery - from lockdowns is insurmountable. Fact.
4/ Sweden. We have a perfect example – a test tube if you will – of a country not pursuing a fear-based strategy. Since the beginning of the Covid19 crisis, the Swedes decided that locking down their society wasn’t the best path forward. Yes, there were numerous nursing home deaths in Spring 2020 – much like what happened in a lot of other countries. Fast-forward to present day? Deaths are way down – lower per capita than most other European countries that pursued lock down strategies. The Swedes have seemingly reached herd immunity with minimal economic & societal damage.
Citizens of countries who have forced lock downs should ask themselves a question – why did the Swedish government trust their citizens to act appropriately and use their common sense when your government did not trust you to do the same? In the words of Dr. Atlas “not everyone is a scientist or epidemiologist or infectious disease person, no one out there in politics, hardly anyone has had medical training, but the reality is that people understand logic. When you have the facts and you have people give you the facts, and then you use your common sense...”.
And for those who cynically point out that Sweden has few people in a country that’s quite large, Stockholm has similar population density as Amsterdam, Vienna & Munich.
5/ Lockdowns are an overreach, an abuse, of governmental power akin to taking a sledgehammer to tap in a small nail in the wall.
Citizens should be given full information and then be trusted to use their own critical thinking. As a society, we should protect our at-risk citizens, but we should trust them to do so themselves. Put simply, if you’re a high-risk person that is armed with full information, do not go to restaurants or put yourself in higher-risk situations. It’s your choice and it’s your personal responsibility.
In summary, not only do lock downs not slow the spread of Covid19, but they cause irreparable harm to society, ranging from health issues to education to small businesses. Lockdowns are not based on science yet are the preferred options of certain political leaders who lack courage and exhibit open disdain for their constituents.
This Inquisitive Libertarian’s bottom line –
to governments, end the acts of hostility towards your citizens.
and to my fellow-citizens - use your own deductive reasoning.
Use your deductive reasoning and logic - this speaks loudly to this Inquisitive Libertarian.
#EndLockdownsNow
(as a bonus, another recent Scott Atlas video – his empirical data and sound reasoning is impossible for any political leader to argue with. Impossible).
(it should be noted that Dr. Atlas works for the Hoover Institute which is one of this libertarian’s source of information and inspiration)