Covid fatigue

After the two weeks to flatten the curve, some people found it more difficult to continue doing what was expected from us during those two weeks. This was frequently described as COVID fatigue.

The pandemic did not create a mental health crisis

We are currently going through a widely predicted mental health crisis. We shut businesses down, socially isolated individuals, and took away freedom. I saw numerous comments online about how these actions would likely lead to deaths of despair, which generally refers to suicides and substance abuse. In all honesty, we should have also emphasized violence, which was certain to rise for similar reasons.

How misinformation has been exploited to fuel fear of thought

Yes, there was a problem with misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yes, this was a part of the reason some people refused the vaccine. No, misinformation is not a valid reason to attack people who have a different viewpoint than yours.

Should mask mandates apply to the vaccinated?

If vaccines are so effective, then why are vaccinated individuals required to wear masks? Most of my criticisms of our handling the pandemic are more likely to tick off Democrats. In this case, I'm going to go in the opposite direction and criticize something that I heard primarily from Republicans. If you are going to mandate masks, you should not make an exception for people who are vaccinated. Although I believe the effectiveness of vaccines was overstated, I do not believe that a lack of an exemption proves a lack of confidence in the vaccines.

How we should have handled the pandemic

As I keep saying, the COVID-19 pandemic was mishandled by just about everyone. It's really easy to point out what we did wrong. Perhaps I shouldn't be overly negative. What should we have done?

Some thoughts on Fauci

There is a serious political divide when it comes to people's views of Anthony Fauci. Democrats idolize him while Republicans can't stand him. How about me? I'm actually kind of between. He made a lot of mistakes, but that doesn't make him a villain.

Listen to the science

Did you listen to the science during the COVID-19 pandemic? Do you even understand what it means to listen to the science? This phrase was seriously overused during the pandemic, and it wasn't always used correctly.

Why I got the vaccine (and others didn't)

When COVID-19 hit, Donald Trump pushed the idea that vaccines would lead us out of the pandemic. His supporters backed him. Democrats pushed the narrative that the vaccine would be rushed and unsafe. Washington, Oregon, and California even joined forced so they could overrule the FDA on the vaccine. They insisted that we couldn't trust the FDA.

School mandates

Here in Washington, our governor issued mandates that all school employees must be vaccinated. This was while the vaccine was still under emergency authorization, and it included private schools. Obviously, I openly opposed this authoritarian overreach from the very beginning.

Vaccine Mandates

When the COVID-19 vaccine became available, I got the vaccine without anything resembling force. Even though I admittedly wasn't among the first in line, I fully supported the development of the vaccine and embraced the vaccine as something that could help us put the pandemic behind us. Even if I knew that the vaccine wasn't as effective as initially portrayed, I'm confident that I would have still become vaccinated.

Mandates and exemptions

Despite the narrative, it is not authoritarian to oppose government mandates. Personally, I am pretty open that I viewed mandates as massive government overreach.

Pandemic learning loss

Learning loss is a ridiculous term. For years, we have talked about learning loss over the summer. This is not learning loss. This is forgetting what was memorized. There is a difference.

What Happened?: ”Give me liberty.”

"Give me liberty or give me death." We have all heard it, and it's both remarkable and discouraging how our views of liberty have changed. This became especially obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business liability

One thing that caught me off guard during the pandemic was a discussion about holding businesses liable if they failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I had never before heard an argument about punishing a business because of a contagious disease.

Pandemic clichés

The new normal is social distancing to flatten the curve. Ugh. The media bombarded us with those terms throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Couldn't they have at least changed things up periodically?

A Virus and a disease

When our recent pandemic started, we referred to the virus as the novel coronavirus. This was a temporary measure until we found an official name. The official name that was given to the coronavirus was COVID-19... Or was it?

Covid generosity

The government was so generous with such things as stimulus funds during the pandemic. Actually, they weren't. Quite frankly, I'm sick of the narrative that the government spending other people's money is generous. If they were truly generous, politicians would have contributed their own money to help the public.

Walking during covid

I can't handle being cooped up indoors. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I had to continue walking. There were some inconsistencies in how we should handle the outdoors during the pandemic, especially early on. My mental health was more important to me than a slight risk of an overblown disease.

State Rights

The 10th amendment of the United States Constitution limits the federal government's power to only powers granted by the Constitution. This can complicate situations such as a pandemic. The federal government can provide guidance, but they can't control the response in all 50 states.

Schools, teachers, and COVID-19

There were a lot of businesses forced to close their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these businesses never reopened. While this was happening, schools joined the list of closures.