We like to refer to ourselves as, "the land of the free and the home of the brave" -- which may have been true for awhile, but now we've acquiesced to the land of the quarantined and the home of the self-concerned.
There may be some brave folks still among us, but as a collective, it seems we spook pretty easily. Our current political leaders seem to believe that, when faced with a threatening challenge as we currently are, that it's all about safety; it's all about saving lives; it's all about doing whatever is necessary to protect the public -- and that commerce and our economy are secondary. And so, many states shut everything off, go into lockdown, destroy small and middle market businesses across the country and then respond to the decimation by writing out government checks with money they don't have.
This is leadership? All because we're afraid of getting sick? Afraid of an affliction that has a kill rate of less than 1%? Does anyone really believe that Tom Hanks or Sean Peyton are going to die?
Leadership isn't about hiding and avoiding and shutting down commerce, it's about carrying on. Taking measures, yes -- adjusting course, maybe -- but find a way for We the People to carry on. Are people going to get sick, yes. Are a few going to die, probably. But carry on.
Our current political leadership is reminiscent of Gen. McClellan, the head of the Union Army during the Civil War. Like many of today's politicians, McClellan was a good strategist and he was plenty smart. But he constantly dodged the enemy because he was reluctant to engage, afraid to lose lives. So, rather than lose the war, Lincoln replaced him with Grant.
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Our culture has been inundated for decades with this mantra of, "if we can save just one life, it's worth it."
Really?
If we really believe that it's all about saving lives and that our economy is secondary, then why don't we lower our national speed limits to 10 mph? Our economy will tank, but just think of all the lives we could save. Better yet, maybe we should all ride bicycles and save even more. Maybe put Greta Thunberg in charge -- and in a few short weeks, just hand over our keys to the Chinese and be done with it.
