LOL, I Have No Idea Anymore
If there is anything that both the Chinese Bat Flu and the election have taught me in 2020 it’s that my opinions about some things are more fluid than they’ve ever been. I used to be the kind of guy who locked onto something and stuck with it no matter what. These days I’m a little more willing to adjust on the fly. I was all over the place in the last month leading up to the election, changing my mind about how it was going to turn out seemingly hourly.
Not too many days ago, I wrote a VIP column about various Democratic officials taking cues from Joe Biden and getting very lockdown- and mandate-heavy for the holidays. Here is a little snippet from that:
I’m a conservative American, I don’t like it when the government tells me what I can or cannot do something. That immediately makes me want to do the opposite.
As of this writing, we have been left on our own for Thanksgiving here in Arizona. I’m spending the day with my best friends who are family to me and yes, we’re eating outdoors. We’ll wash our hands a lot. No hugging. All of the stuff that Democrats think will only happen under the threat of state-sponsored retribution.
Now I’m rethinking whether I will go. It’s a good sized gathering and we are in kind of a spiky mode here in Arizona this week.
Also, in the days since I wrote that, two people in my age range have announced that they’ve gotten the ‘rona and have reported on its overwhelming unpleasantness.
Leading up to this, the only people I knew personally who were getting it were some of the younger people in my family. All felt a little miserable, but bounced back rather quickly.
I should clarify: neither of the people who I found out about over the weekend live near me.
I began thinking about erring on the side of caution for a couple of reasons.
One big one is that we aren’t on lockdown here. If we were and I wasn’t supposed to go, I think the protest would be on.
Another reason is that, while I am vehemently opposed to what the the petty tyrant governors and mayors have been doing, I’m also vehemently opposed to getting sick. I am the healthiest person I’ve ever known. On the extremely rare occasions that I do get sick I may overreact a bit. My sinuses act up for a couple of days and I’m updating my will. That kind of thing.
I don’t think I would enjoy the plague.
There is also the fact that I don’t always want to be around people. I’m an enigma: an attention whore who tends to prefer solitude. It’s exhausting being me in a crowd. I have to stay healthy just to do that.
I’ve had discussions with friends, relatives, and colleagues in recent days who are also reconsidering their plans. Some have already changed them. We are all pro-freedom, small government types but we are all also prudent. Contrary to popular belief, nuance is not dead in America. It’s on life support, to be sure, but it’s still kicking. One doesn’t have to live in a black-and-white-choice world.
All of us who have been rethinking our options live in states that aren’t locked down or under curfew, by the way. Given the freedom to make responsible choices, people will often act responsibly.
That’s a concept you will never be able to explain to a liberal.
It’ll be a game-time decision for me. I may just go for a bike ride and play video games on Thursday. I’m the only editor on duty here at the PJ ranch for the rest of the weekend after that so a day of quiet unwinding may be perfect.
And I will give thanks that I had the freedom to choose that option.
___
Kruiser on Parler
Kruiser on MeWe
Kruiser on Twitter
Kruiser on Facebook
PJ Media Senior Columnist and Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.” His columns appear twice a week.
