Regarding Restrictions and Freedom Fighters

Originally written in Dec 5th, 2020

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 I wanted to wait a bit before posting this especially with all that's been going on. It's overwhelming to say the least and based on the retraction of my last post I do not want to sound like a jerk. Also, I'd like to stay away from discussing how politics and government relations relate to how crazy post-modern truth has become while claiming our leaders are cultists and part of pedophilia rings. It should be obvious that none of that is true.

One of the reasons that Manitoba restrictions seem to be more draconian is that people abuse them.

Say we have a situation where we thought it can be managed if everyone works together and cooperates. There's always going to be (let's just call them freedom fighter) groups that mess things up for the rest of us. As a result, rules are formed that restricts everyone's freedom. But then, freedom fighters decide it's not for them. So they start looking for loopholes, they look for ways to abuse things within the framework of the rules.

So the result is more rules and much more harsh draconian measures. And pretty soon, people are getting clamped down tight, there are complaints, and freedom fighters scream "1984!" "screw the government", and start spreading conspiracy theories and threatening civil war etc. Good people are complaining and saying "I'm a good person, why are my rights being restricted." And then freedom fighters are going "I'm a good person too, why are my rights being restricted." But the truth is, that the minute it lets up, the freedom fighters are going to go wild, putting curly ones in everyone's swimming pools all over again, even more urgently.

Now, there was an alternative. Leaders could have had a meeting. They could have said 'we have an issue here, so let's get professional medical advice and come up with a set of hard protocols to try and ensure safety.' They could have followed that, and they could have enforced it. They could have called out anyone publicly by name ignoring protocols. If it wasn't working, they could have worked to harden protocols.

That didn't happen or if it did, the execution was poorly done. As a result, I don't see how using the Charter will help in developing any rules flexible enough for everyone to abide by. Reckless and dangerous conduct isn't always called out because very few will criticize each other out of fear of losing reputation. It might be worse before it gets better at this point and I hope I am wrong in thinking that.

Obviously if no one is going to police themselves, then someone else has to do it for them. If group leaders at churches and stores won't establish rules, then rules will be established for them. Nobody likes that, but when freedom fighters act like children, they are treated like children. If some of them fight back by "lawyering up" or taking advantage of loopholes to those rules, then the rules will be tightened for everyone by the government. If freedom fighters are going to keep on throwing tantrums, nobody wins and the band-aid will only continue to rip off painfully slow.

My sister works as a nurse and is on the front-lines. My grandmother's care-home had a positive Covid case among staff while friends of my parents have died from it. Some of my cousins have dodged deaths and they're not even 30. I am still recovering from a back injury and would rather not visit a hospital if something happens to me again. I'm not living in fear but I'm praying that people will at least have some courtesy, empathy, and selflessness while being willing to try something different (whether it’s a Zoom meeting, keeping a party for someone living alone to four people, or try selling things online or using digital creativity if money is hard). Contrary to popular belief, not all of us are in the same boat. Some of us will have to give up more of what we had in January than others. Some of us will have to let our relatives meet Jesus without saying goodbye.

I'm glad civil conversations about this are being held. This is not easy. We do need to find a close agreement in terms of what's essential and non-essential. We need to work together to at least keep our economy stable and to ensure we have a happy Christmas holiday. We need to question if the rules are physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy. However, sacrifices MUST be made or they will be made for us. And while all of this should be obvious to everyone, nobody wants a reset or a new normal. It's time to let go of what cannot be controlled, take responsibility for what we can do, and adapt to this new reality. Otherwise, Manitoba is going to be screwed and unrecognizable. Let's keep it together until December 11th. Then we can figure out what's next.