We’re gonna break our backs.

In this trying season, I wonder if Americans would be willing to break their backs and lay in bed paralyzed for life to avoid COVID-19. I have to wonder this because we are doing it economically now.

Last night I went out to dinner at a local restaurant that was forced to operate far below capacity. Luckily it was an uncharacteristically warm night, and so outdoor dining was an option. This man employees over 300 people but due to restrictions that staff is down to slightly over 100. He’s already closed a few of his restaurants and wondered aloud what he would do to make it through the coming winter.

Just a few moments ago, I was told that another local gym is closing here in town, and according to my sources, 40% of gyms have closed down permanently across the nation, with more to surely follow suit.

I have another friend who’s in the entertainment business that has lost 8 million dollars already. He, too, is close to being at the breaking point.

Small business is the very backbone of our economy, employing over 50% of our workforce. Even a company that is just treading water and barely profitable for the owner contributes mightily to their community, both locally and nationally. They pay taxes for themselves and their employees. They pay other small businesses who act as vendors for goods and services they need. All of those business employees go out into their respective communities to interject money locally while getting taxed on the goods and services they purchase.

There is no help coming from the government that continues to make irrational decisions, unbacked by science, all while touting our safety. Yet, major conglomerates are left free to operate at full capacity just so long as you maintain social distancing and face mask. When was the last time you saw an employee clean the fruit that someone picked up or wiped down the freezer door after every pull?

You haven’t.

America, land that I love, land that I have fought for, bleed for, and love. Land of opportunity when not shackled by fear. I need you to wake up. There is only so much blood we can get from a stone. You can only pivot so many times and stay on course to success. At some point, if we don’t address this fear, the real boogeyman is going to jump on the closet. The other foot is going to drop, and our downtowns are going to become ghost towns. The middle class will evaporate faster than it already is, and your only resource to save you is going to be a government that has already failed you.

America, wake up, or you are going to kill yourself with this “cure.”