Many times, I’ve been asked why I refuse to comply with the new rules or indulge the “new ABnormal.” I’ve been called every name “in the book.” Someone told me she hopes I get sick and “a tube is jammed down my sorry throat.” Others have wished me dead.
“In a time of universal deceit — telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – often attributed to George Orwell, but never confirmed.
https://youtu.be/i39-47vn5yE
Transcript for the video below the jump:
I’ve seen social media posts by well-meaning friends who have argued that wearing masks and maintaining the arbitrary 6 foot distance from others is just “doing what’s right.” They claim, “I’m doing it for you, not me.” “I want to be part of the solution, not the problem,” they say, which of course implies that those of us who do not comply are “the problem.”
They go on to boast about their contribution to society and further imply that those of us who do not comply believe the world revolves around them. The non-compliers are selfish. They are assholes. They deserve to get sick and die. I’ve heard every one of those.
It’s rather curious that those who are quick to don the mantle of “tolerance,” and claim the moral high ground, really show their colors when someone disagrees with them. Some can get very ugly. They default to vile name-calling, and some get vicious, to the point of death wishes and threats of violence. Yep… I’ve heard them all…. For daring to question the motives and logic behind the orders to shut down.
Self-flagellation and economic self-immolation are all the rage now. I draw the line at their insistence that the rest of us follow suit.
They cannot imagine another person standing on principle, even if it means standing OUT. They believe that consensus equals truth, and it shall not be questioned.
It takes only one person to be right.
I do not claim to speak for others who have refused to abide and comply. I can speak for me. My refusal to comply with unconstitutional orders and rules is far from selfish or believing the world revolves around ME. I AM concerned about my family and their future. I am concerned about the preservation of their Freedom and their Rights. I am very concerned for the country’s future.
When I joined the U.S. Navy, as an officer, I took this oath:
I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;
and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
That oath had no provisions for expiration. The oath did not stipulate exceptions, such as national emergencies or pandemics. The oath was not conditional. The oath was ONLY about defending the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign AND domestic.
The oath was not a ceremonial platitude. It literally implicates the sacrifice of your own life in the defense of the Constitution. And, four of my shipmates and their families paid that ultimate price. So, yeah… I take the defense of the Constitution very seriously. The defense of the Constitution is the very OPPOSITE of “selfish.”
Likewise, when the Bill of Rights was written and ratified, it did not include provisions for exceptions or special conditions.
I refuse to comply with orders to stay home… who I can associate with or where I can go… or what to wear… or whether I can work, depending on whether my job is “essential” or whether I’m a member of the new underclass called “non-essential”… These orders that infringe OUR 1st and 14th Amendment Rights is the LEAST I can do to support and defend the Constitution right now. Again, it’s the LEAST I can do. It’s the least WE can do.
Self-sacrifice has turned into a virtue-signaling opportunity for those who seem starved for attention. And, if complying makes you feel good or righteous, good for you. But, anyone who dares to question authority or the “new normal,” is publicly and socially shamed. The social pressure to blindly comply is tremendous. Lucky for me, I’m immune to that.
Edit to add: I am reminded of the episode of Seinfeld when Kramer joined the AIDS Walk, and refused to wear the AIDS Awareness Ribbon.
Event check-in lady: You have to wear the ribbon.
Kramer: See… that’s why I don’t want to.
Kramer (later in the clip): This is America! I don’t have to wear anything I don’t want to wear!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iV8X8ubGCc
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Truth! I wish more of our citizens had a spine! Our founding Fathers would be ashamed of us.
Mike , have always enjoyed your musings, and often agreed. I don’t agree with what you are doing, but it is your right. I will choose to wear the mask, and social distance . If I see you or one like you approaching I will respectfully ask you to keep your six foot distance. All good. I’m sure you would respect my right to ask you to do that. I have opened my practice in what I consider a safe manner and have been treating patients for about a week now,bringing team back a few at a time.
I agree that there are those that just want to be heard,grandstand and want to scream from the mountains that you are evil. They are wrong. Just as the ones I have encountered in supermarkets and gas stations rolling their eyes at me and screaming at me to take off my my mask and be a man. Those calling our governors cowards and spineless and fascists, and threatening to take them out using their second ammendment rights, as they try to keep their citizens safe. Protest if you will but that is no different than the behaviour you speak against, is it?We make our choice. I pray that you or anyone you love does not become sick. I hope I am wrong and this social distancing and mask wearing, and N95’s are overkill and I am made to look foolish in the future. That means this went away and all is good. If you or someone you love, or someone you don’t even know becomes ill as a result of your choices that is a consequence you will have to live with. If it is someone who shares your views and does not practice what is asked then that is on you and them. If it is someone you don’t know that dies and this covid crisis spikes again and we have preventable deaths, then that is partially on you and those that share your views.If you feel that is what is needed , to not wear a mask and do as you believe to protect our constitution, then I support you. I don’t see a gradual reopening and the request to wear masks as the constitutional crisis you do. My biggest hope is that I am proven to be a wimpy worrier and your views are right.
Good luck and stay healthy
Hi Pat! Thanks for chiming in.
Sort of agree. I will not go out of my way to placate you. You’re welcome to go around me or move out of my way, if we are in a public place. If we’re in your house or other property, then of course… I either oblige or leave. I’m likely to oblige if I’m in your home as a guest, for example. But, out in public? I’m coming through one way or the other. If you see me walking towards you (the “royal you,” not you personally), and you think I’m a “threat,” then move your ass however many feet makes ya happy. I will ignore anything a stranger says to me, including a request to alter my course of movement. It’s a free country… you don’t want to be around me? YOU go around me. I don’t have to tap-dance by your command. Sorry. But, if you’re the one with the “issues,” then you do whatever YOU have to do to avoid those things that offend or bother you. I disagree that you have the “right” to request special treatment by others, if that’s what you meant.
The main reason I won’t wear a mask, is simply because I don’t feel it’s necessary or warranted. I have seen ZERO proof that it helps (more on that below).
When my daughter was sick with leukemia for 2-1/2 years, we didn’t ask anyone else to accommodate her. Ever. We altered OUR movements and evolutions to take care of her. It was OUR job, not the concern of other people. We didn’t insist others “respect” our situation or desires to limit contact with her. That was up to us. 100% our job. It would have been unreasonable for us to demand others alter THEIR behavior around our daughter. We moved HER away from any “threats.”
Wow. That’s really happened? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Not cool at all. I totally respect the desire of others to wear masks. However, I do have to bite my lip, as 99.999999% of them are doing it wrong. Tonight at the restaurant, 100% of the employees were wearing the masks incorrectly… and not just a little incorrectly. A lot! The masks make it WORSE, not better, when they are incorrectly employed. And, since 99.99999% of them are doing it incorrectly, well… the masks are making the situation worse, not better. But, if it floats your boat, mum’s the word from me. 🙂
I draw the line there and “command” you to PROVE it. You’re full of shit on that one. Fucking prove it. It’s not on me, AT ALL. There is absolutely ZERO proof that the current lockdown and “social distancing” has ANY benefit whatsoever. In fact, there IS evidence coming out that it DOESN’T. The majority of people hospitalized for COVID in NY had been “sheltering in place” at home. Nearly 2/3rds, if I recall.
It’s not simply the request to wear masks that is unconstitutional. That is just one of the “symptoms,” as it were, of a much broader set of “orders.” And, it’s not the “gradual re-opening” that’s unconstitutional. It was the SHUT-DOWN that was unconstitutional, in the first place. It should have NEVER happened. Our 1st Amendment Rights are being violated on multiple levels. I’m too tired to enumerate them in detail here. Perhaps another time.
Then our 14th Amendment Rights are being violated in that we no longer have “equal protection under the law.” They have created a new underclass of citizens called, “non-essential,” who do not enjoy the Freedoms of newly-minted and arbitrary “essential” people.
I wouldn’t suggest that people who worry are “wimpy.” Not at all. Everyone has different tolerances for challenges thrown at them. I DO respect the right of anyone to “worry” however much they want, and to take whichever measures they see fit to be comfortable in their OWN lives. I draw the line at the IMPOSITION of those worries and measures on the REST of us. I REALLY draw the line, when the GOVERNMENT uses this fear to impose restrictions which violate or Constitutional Rights. I put my life on the line before; I’ll do it again. Fuckin’-A right, I will.
I wish you well. I wish all of us well. But, I fear the damage done to this country is DEEP and perhaps irreparable. And, we LET it happen. 🙁
Busy weekend just read your response.
appreciate your views. Nice give and take. Although I assure my bowels work fine. 🙂 I could post some letters,blogs, etc. from facebook from local infectious disease docs about the wearing of masks, but as you say they aren’t proof. Not enough time for refereed research. Just their observations from being trained in one the fields that should be leading our response to the current situation. Kinda like I hope my patients listen to me about dental problems, not the chiropractor down the street.
Yes the name calling has happened, but I don’t let stuff like that bother me. Hell we dentists have had much worse said to us.
I get your point about t being too tired to enumeriate the constitutional questions. I have been reading arguments from both sides, very smart constitutional lawyers who cannot agree.
Point taken about incorrectly wearing the mask, but I hope if we continue to wear more will get the message how to properly wear them. But heck, go anywhere and people can’t figure out to wear clothes.
I am truly Sorry to hear about your daughter , I’m sorry Imissed that in the times I followed you. Cannot imagine what that time was like.
I Enjoy the give and take, and you may not believe it but I too love this country and will do what I feel right to preserve our way of life. I think we Gotta hear different ideas with an open mind. Don’t have to agree, but should listen.
Now believe it or not I gotta go do some dentistry. Actually have some nice cases on the books today, doing with my enhanced PPE and scaled back patient book. 🙂 I’ll keep reading the Dental Warrior.
Take Care,
Pat C
Thanks, Pat.
I’ve always agreed that the burden of proof is on the ones making the claim. They have to prove that it (wearing masks in public) DOES work. I don’t have to prove that it doesn’t. There is no proof that it does. It’s all window dressing…. theatrics. Given that 99.99% of the public isn’t wearing them properly, and REALLY not wearing gloves properly, it is unlikely that they can truthfully claim that it “helps.” And, I can make an argument that it makes things worse. They’re actually spreading germs rather than limiting them.
I dare suggest that we, dentists, are battle-proven in the field of infection control. As my previous post cited… the medical side has 1.7 million nosocomial infections PER YEAR, with 90,000+ DEATHS from those infections. Dentists: ZERO. Zero-point-fucking-zero!
There seems to be broad agreement that the virus has been in the U.S. since last fall. Dentists and hygienists were working full-bore until mid-March. How many of us have gotten sick at work? Virtually NONE. Yeah… “We got this.”
Dentistry got FUCKED in this situation. Meanwhile, I’m sure you saw the photo I posted of the COVID TEAM at a Chicago hospital violating every fucking rule in the PPE book! In the LUNCH ROOM! WHILE EATING! Here it is again:
We cannot prevent a virus from spreading by closing everything down. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it was “well intentioned” (at least at the beginning). We live in a world where death is all around us. Death is a reality that we all will face. We have AIDS, Hepatitis, rotavirus, herpes, and various flu’s just to name a few. Even with flu vaccines look at how many still die. Closing everything down for everybody isn’t the answer and never will be. All these so called models were wrong yet everything was based on these? There will be more diseases coming our way as that too is part of the human condition but if closing everything down is the new solution we are just plain wrong. People will continue to die whether we close everything down or not.
It’s going to turn out to be 0.1 – 0.3% mortality rate. And, of those, 90+% will be elderly with significant comorbidities. By the way… it seems living in NY is a comorbidity! Their mortality rate is multiples of the rest of the country, from what I’ve seen.
Not that the mortality rate even matters. When it comes to our Rights, it doesn’t matter. The point being, as you mentioned, the projections were just a little off. They were WAY off, by orders of magnitude. Motherfuckers!
The shutdown will be the biggest blunder ever perpetrated by our government… and the People went right along with it. Except a few of us vocal about it, and many more who dare not speak of it.
Yeah, I agree with you Dental Warrior. I came across your blog due to some of your other interests, a have a Henry rifle also. I have stopped watching the news. It just is a waste of time anymore. I will wear a mask for awhile, my wife’s folks are in their 80’s and I just do not want to chance me pass anything on to them. I live near a Chicago hotspot which probably gives me a better chance of contact with Covid-19. Some good may come out of this situation, flu cases may be down this next season due to a more cautious germitude and some idiot governors will not be re-elected again. Lesson learned, do not trust politicians (not a new idea, but we needed a reminder).
Hi Todd. Thanks for your comments. And, enjoy your Henry rifle! Did you see my article about Skinner Sights?
Thanks, Warrior, for both the on-spot article and your military service. So refreshing to hear a member of our community state what should be the obvious. I also applaud several of the respondents for their wisdom and their courage to voice an opinion in such a politically charged world we find ourselves a part of today.
Jeffrey Bloch, LCDR, DC, USN(ret).
former Nav. Hosp. Camp Pendleton GPR, USS Okinawa DH, First Force Service Support Group and DSSG-2 Saudi Arabia/Kuwait/Iraq and UNPROFOR Bosnia/Croatia
Hi Jeffrey! Thanks for chiming in, shipmate!
I was at Naval Station San Diego (dental clinic at 32nd Street) for my first year. Second and third years on the USS Independence CV-62 (home ported at North Island), which was the first response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (Operation Desert Shield).