Main Article: Commentary - If Our COVID-19 Response is a Measure of Intelligence…

…we would have to admit to the fact that we, the people of the United States, are the dumbest people on the planet. Facts and science are two things that are rapidly dying in this country and those two items are the best repellent (along with common sense) to fighting this rabid disease.

Before going any further (and before you come to any conclusions about me, let me announce, with great pleasure, that I am a non-partisan voter – I have no party affiliation and my ballot has no party affiliation either. I’m frankly sick of the two-party system, have been for some time, and have voted third-party on more than one occasion in a presidential election. Okay? Cool.

I can understand some individuals who blame scientists for this problem. Afterall, how many different, mixed messages did we receive from Dr. Anthony Fauci and others in the upper reaches of the scientific community about the value and need for masks: ‘Don’t wear one, it doesn’t help; no wait, wear one, but not the N-95 masks, as those should be used for medical professionals only; No wait! Yes, everyone should wear some kind of face covering; Ummm… hold on, some face coverings work better than others…’ Who could blame parts of the population for being confused about what to do and who to trust? But that was April and May and June. Not November and December. Perhaps you would suggest that our county’s leadership failed (and continues to fail) to show the value of wearing a mask, and you would most certainly be right, but we need to take responsibility for our own actions.

I liken this problem to teaching young kids about not touching the stove when it’s hot. The first time a young child gets near a stove when it’s on, they are usually scolded about not touching the stove and that they will get burned and it will hurt a lot. Usually in a loud, high octave that frightens them, but usually not so scary as to deflect the behavior in the long run, and sure enough, the kid, one day, burns their hand on the stove. Lesson learned. Won’t do that again.

Yet here we are, as I write this, in late November (and again in mid-December), with each day contributing more cases and deaths of COVID than the day before. More than 17 million Americans infected and over 300,000 dead. And yet, the argument continues over the wearing of masks, as if it was ever a political discussion, and the basic, civil behavior of most Americans seems to either deny COVID exists, or to feign ignorance and simply ‘hope for the best’, knowing just how contagious the disease is (by looking at non-partisan derived data) and how vulnerable some populations are to the virus. Another group still claims wearing a mask is a “violation of their civil liberties”… which is an absolute crock of…

Even for those reading this article who believe, wholeheartedly, that COVID is a real problem that we need to contend with and actively combat, examine your own behavior over the past nine months. How much have you personally changed? Did you skip going to a big gathering? Did you skip out on a big Thanksgiving? A birthday party? Any large gathering? I think just about all of us bear the brunt of the problem and not just our feeble-minded leaders.

Even the act of wearing the physical mask is somehow not straightforward in this country. I had to go to the post office to ship some holiday goodies to my family members strewn across the country. The first guy in line is practically shouting at the USPS employee behind the plexiglass screen, and when he finishes his business, he turns toward me, showing off his ‘chin bib’ (see posted pic for visual).

What in the wide world of sports is that stupid thing going to do!? Unless you are a 100% mouth-breather (and this guy might have been), this is a completely worthless use of a mask. The purpose of a mask, in case you weren’t sure at this late stage, is to reduce your own exhaled ‘emissions’. It is designed to protect others from you, not the other way around (short of an N-95 surgical mask – if worn properly, it doesn’t work both ways). I see this most days that I venture from my house. I really am dumbfounded by it, but I guess I shouldn’t be.

The other side of the argument is about the arbitrary nature of which businesses have to shutter while others continue to serve the public. I don’t this has been particularly fair either. Lobbyist dollars are surely at work (or poor decision-making and rationale are equally hard at work on the other side of the political aisle). I feel awful for businesses that have been shuttered with no fault on themselves, especially when others have been allowed to stay open with little to no difference in disease spread. ‘Stay at Home’ orders have been ignored by most people and these behaviors account for a further damage to our business infrastructure and ever-rising unemployment. 2021 could be really rough (if 2020 wasn’t bad enough already).

From where I stand, it seems like we no longer care enough about one another to go to the effort to want to protect anyone from getting the disease. I have even heard of some college dorms having an active interest in getting the disease, because the belief is the students will then be immune to future infections and can go back to living their lives (which has little scientific validity at this time).

So, you have made it this far in the article, and you’re probably wondering where the college angle comes in. Sadly, there really isn’t much of one. I’m just sick and effing tired of waking up each and every day, wondering where the intelligence and the dignity went in this country, and wishing the America I remember would come back. I’m not naïve though…I really do think it’s dead, or at a minimum, on life support, hooked to a ventilator, in the ICU.

If there’s any real connection to college in this rambling (and yes, that’s all it is) it’s this: we are desperately short of caring thinkers in this country.The perceived need for college is declining (as are enrollments), when, from my humble perspective, the need could not be greater.We, the People, are desperate for better readers, better writers, better thinkers, people with a global perspective, and members of our society who see beyond their own needs to value those who have less than we do.These are all things that appear to be on the way out in America, and I sure hope voices more powerful than mine step up soon, before we are all drowned out.