America has been severely damaged. And the experts who have been treating the problem not only haven’t solved it, they have in numerous cases made things worse.
The response to the COVID-19 pandemic will likely result in the destruction of many thousands of small businesses. The demise of so many of these businesses will mean the end of the jobs previously held by people whose livelihood depended on working in that sector of society. In addition, the response created to minimize the problem has already weakened the value of the dollar because of handouts of currency to people whose jobs disappeared as well as other “stimulus” spending. Additionally, there has been a huge increase in reliance on government at all levels. Many Americans have forgotten that our nation wasn’t built by government; it was built by free people. But freedom for the people is fading away. We can hope it will come back, but there is no certainty it will.
Some facts related to this unusual crisis need an airing.
• The federal Centers for Disease Control claims that there were 80,000 deaths due to flu in the 2017-2018 winter. This number is greater than the number of deaths in the current weather cycle due to COVID-19 (65,000 as of May 1st). Yet, during that long-ago flu season there were no mandatory business shutdowns, no requirement that people stay at home, no closing of churches and schools, no insistence that people don face masks, etc.
• Personnel who fill out death certificates have been told to attribute death to COVID-19 when the cause of death isn’t known, or was due to some other a health problem. Some doctors and hospital workers have already complained about being required to be dishonest in such reporting.
• The federal government actually pays a hospital a larger amount for the death of a COVID-19 patient than other causes of death. Some hospitals claim death should be attributed to COVID-19 even if a deceased patient has had no known exposure whatsoever to the virus, not because the patient actually succumbed because of the disease.
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Facts such as these make a person wonder if the so-called pandemic might be useful to forces that want American decline when there might not be sufficient reason for the drastic actions that have already been taken. There are also some political considerations that must be factored into what has been happening to our country.
In 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation published a 53-page report entitled “Scenarios for the Future of Technology and International Development.” Books have been written about the harm done to America by this foundation and by the Ford Foundation and others over many years. The Rockefeller Foundation report dealt with changes that could be expected in the lives of the world’s people as a result of various scenarios — some real, some created. One of the scenarios discussed a possible response that could be made by experts should a frightening pandemic develop. The Foundation report quotes a statement voiced by India’s G.K. Bhat who addressed a possible response to a crisis. It stated, “It is possible to discipline and control some societies for some time, but not the whole world all the time.” This individual’s attitude was cited, not because of fear of its totalitarian implications, but because what it suggests is supposedly good for mankind.
In short, there is a recognition that some scenarios — a pandemic, for instance — can supply an opportunity to enact measures that building the power of government to control people. And if the type of crisis the people planners doesn’t arise naturally, creating one could be considered.
Then the April 3, 2020 issue of the Wall Street Journal published a short piece written by Henry A. Kissinger. In large type, its title said, “The Coronavirus Pandemic Will Forever Alter the World Order.” In the body of the article, Kissinger urges that one goal of those addressing the virus should be to “safeguard the principles of the liberal world order.” He does not recommend enforcement of the limitations on government contained in the U.S. Constitution.
During his career as a top U.S. government official, Kissinger worked hard to create a “new world order” that would centralize government power in a single organization such as the United Nations. World planners owe him a debt of gratitude for all the steps he engineered toward the goal of transferring our nation’s independence to the world body. In this latest offering from the always intense advocate of world government, one can find him stating that the way to combat the COVID-19 problem should be to create an “efficient and farsighted government” needed for creating “international peace and stability.”
Another possible goal for making the current health crisis seem far worse than it truly is revolves around the coming November elections. In recent months, the pandemic became virtually the only news being dispensed by many government officials, most of the mass media, and even some churches, Until the flood of information about the disease began its dominance, President Trump had rightly been credited for cutting back on some government meddling and steering the nation toward improving its productivity, lowering the unemployment rate, and improving prospects for the future. Deep State individuals don’t want Donald Trump reelected. The intensity of the battle against COVID-19 is already shading the views of potential Trump voters. Deep State operatives must be very pleased.
Dare I say that the COVID-19 pandemic has cast a pall over the prospects of a Trump reelection? This column is not a plea to have readers choose Trump in November. It is, instead, a plea to have more Americans consider that measures to fight against COVID-19 might be serving as an excuse to affect the choice of many voters who aren’t being told that the current health crisis is still smaller than one suffered by the nation a mere two years ago. Who can deny that the solution to a smaller health crisis two years ago brought none of the truly drastic measures already severely impacting our nation? Americans should ask themselves if all of what has happened to fight COVID-19 has been necessary.
No one should discount the reality that COVID-19 has caused death. Certainly this writer doesn’t intend in any way to overlook the lives lost by the disease. But if no one would attack a mosquito with a jackhammer and harm the building in the process, more Americans should be asking why we are being required to surrender freedoms to combat COVID-19.
John F. McManus is president emeritus of The John Birch Society.
