Who could have thought this might happen?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott became arguably too anxious to reopen the state that had been shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. He did it anyway.
Then the state undergoes a serious spike in sickness and hospitalization from the worldwide pandemic. What, then, does the governor do? He dials back the reopening bit, only but in several of the state’s most populous counties. Abbott announced a rolling back of reopening in Dallas, Harris, Bexar and Travis counties. He called it a “pause.”
Folks in those counties have to wear masks when they venture into public places; they can’t crowd around each other; they must maintain social distancing; businesses that had expanded their capacity to 75 percent now might have to scale it back … significantly!
This is what happens, I venture to speculate, when we get too far ahead ourselves, trying to outrun a pandemic that takes no prisoners.
Indeed, Abbott is beginning to sound like someone who understands the nature of the “enemy” we are fighting. He has hung alarming labels on the increase in COVID infection throughout Texas, calling it “unacceptable,” “rampant” and “massive.”
I get all of this. Health concerns should – pardon the intentional pun – trump economic concerns. Let’s be real. An economy cannot recover if the people who make it run are confined to hospital beds … or they are no longer among us.
How long should Texas hide in the “foxhole”? Should we starve to death because we are afraid to breath fresh air? We can’t all work at home: someone has to risk their health for your food, water and electric. Yes, there is risk in opening our economy, but this is what I value most about America, and in particular, Texas. Free will to choose who we are, and how we will live out weights the risk of catching a virus that might end up killing me. How many people die in car wrecks each year: the numbers are much, much larger than Covid 19, yet no one has banned driving. We try to find ways to minimize the risk and that is what I think Gov. Abbott is attempting to do. Will you give up free will for “protection”? Where will that end? How many freedoms do we give up for “safety”? Am I paranoid or can this be a door to further the goals of those who do not have our best interests at heart?