A Letter to a Local Paper

The local newspaper of the area in which I happen to live published an editorial a few weeks ago, claiming that those who have reservations about the draconian Covid protocols are like ‘bad fruit’ that California keeps out of its pristine borders. Hence, they – the resisters – should pack up and get out of dodge. After all, it was argued, ‘wearing a mask’ is not a difficult compromise, and those who refuse to do so, even in some cases, are just plain ‘selfish’. But, as I strove to get across in my own response to the editor – thus far, unsuccessfully due to what seems censorship and narrative control – this has gone way beyond masking, and we’re well into a basic restructuring of the societal order, not least between citizen and state, as balanced in what was once known as a ‘constitution’, now a quaint concept that has been more or less shredded. Anon, read on, for I will publish the letter here, as is, and hopefully get some ideas across.

To the Editor:

I didn’t want to enter this fray in the local paper, but felt impelled to clarify, as this current debate is often reduced to caricature, with accusations of ‘selfishness’. This has gone well beyond the ‘compromise’ of wearing a mask in public indoor spaces. What we are witnessing, and what people are protesting, is the erosion, if not the very obliteration, of our most fundamental and God-given rights and freedoms, protected (to some extent) by our Canadian constitution (the ‘Charter of Rights and Freedoms’) which Trudeau’s father signed into law in 1982, and which Trudeau fils and other leaders now choose to ignore. Here is a list of some of those rights and freedoms, now in abeyance for the indefinite future: Freedom of religion and worship; of expressing one’s views and opinions; of assembly and peaceful protest; of movement, not only outside our country, but now even within our own borders; of habeas corpus, and freedom to make our own medical decisions about our health; freedom from unlawful and arbitrary detention and, perhaps soon, vaccination; freedom from intrusive police surveillance and control; the right to proper education; even privacy and autonomy within our own homes and property. These are not the State’s, nor anyone else’s, to give and take. And, as history attests, such rights and freedoms were bought at a great price, and once relinquished or usurped, are very difficult, if not practically impossible, to get back.

We should not be surprised, for Trudeau has praised China’s mode of governance: Their ‘basic dictatorship’ (his words) allow them more efficiency than our cumbersome democracy (‘they can change their economy on a dime’). Keep in mind that not one of those aforementioned ‘rights and freedoms’ exists in any real sense in Xi Jinping’s brutal and inhuman Communist police state.

For a small minority, the effects of ‘Covid’ are serious and should be taken seriously; but even if one admits that lockdowns, masks and distancing ‘work’ (and the evidence for that is at least debatable) there are other ways to protect and care for vulnerable, as for any flu or illness. And there are things that are at least as serious as ‘safety’ and minimizing risk for the very few. At the very least, we should beware, and resist, allowing a ‘basic dictatorship’ to be instantiated in our own country. A more balanced, proportionate and democratic approach should be the Canadian way – true, north, strong and, yes, free.

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