Death by Social Distancing

Social distancing, we are told, is necessary to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus to a rate where our health care system can handle it. We are constantly being bombarded by this message, by individuals and organizations that are frequently simply parroting what they heard from others they assume to be experts. Very few question the numbers that are being used to prop up the position, even though we are almost exclusively testing sick people - which inflates the statistics in ghastly proportions. The message that is not being said is that it's likely the same number of people are going to die from this virus whether we "flatten the curve" or not. In the mean time, the economy has been destroyed, the Constitution has been raped, and society itself is collapsing.

Almost all of the advocates of social distancing have families, partners, etc. they can and do spend much (or most) of their time with, so that "social distancing" only occurs in their perspective as the distance between their group and the next one. When they do have to go out (as nearly everyone inevitably does), they put on their protective gear and boastfully stay six feet or more from everyone around them - as if six feet is a magic distance across which no virus can travel.

What these people don't realize, or take into account, is there is another type of person in society for whom "social distancing" is a fundamentally disasterous policy: single individuals who are now isolated from the social contact they need to function as normal human beings. Nearly everyone can thrive on being alone - for a time - but that almost exclusively happens when the choice of being alone is a voluntary one: Forced isolation always leads to loneliness, frustration, depression, and a host of other mental health problems. If it goes on long enough, anyone involuntarily deprived of the personal human interaction they need to survive will break. How long it takes, and how it happens, depends on the person, but it will almost always result in destructive behavior. Some will turn on themselves, perhaps using drugs (including alcohol) and/or damaging themselves or their property, ending in the worst cases as suicides. Others will turn their anger outwards, resulting in tantrums, aggressive actions - or even mass murders.

The USA's Declaration of Independence asserts everyone has inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The policy of social distancing has already taken away much (most?) of the last two, and the first is even starting to be endangered: With the unemployment rate in the US heading rapidly toward half the population being out of work, as shutdowns and layoffs bite further into the middle class and "safe" jobs, economic turmoil and distress are going to result in many losing their lives: It may come from starvation for some, but riots and looting will start happening as people begin to realize they have no hope for the future. Would more die from the economic collapse than are saved by "social distancing" policies? Only time can give us the answer to that question...

Adding fuel to the fire, life under house arrest, especially without having committed a crime that would justify such a restraint, is a subtle torture whose magnitude is frequently not appreciated. Sure, it's a comfortable jail, with your choice of food and drink, solo entertainment, toys, or whatnot. There's also the illusion you can go out any time you want to - except there's nowhere to go. The lack of any desirable destinations makes the social distancing house arrest insidious, with the true harm done long before it has been recognized: Having nowhere to go, even if you do go out, is exactly the same as not being allowed to go out at all.

In the US, the Constitution is being shredded, and the general populace is blithely accepting the fact we are losing the very liberties our forefathers gave their lives to protect. Using executive orders (not laws), petty dictators have taken away the right of the public to peaceably assemble, deprived their subjects of liberty without due process of law, and erected barriers to interstate commerce. While not specifically protected by the Constitution or its amendments, the right of people to choose their own means and method of employment is assumed to be an underlying part of our society, and that has been taken away by massive shutdowns of "non-essential" businesses and other forms of employment, including dine-in restaurants, bars and nightclubs, again by executive order.

In my own experience of mostly living alone, one of the problems I have always faced is that when I get something done, there is no one to share my achievement with. Receiving no appreciation for finished work leaves it a hollow victory where I'm the only one benefiting from it: I want to know that my life is useful to more than just myself. During the past year, I felt like I was making real progress toward having someone to share the future with. Then came the shutdowns and social distancing, and I found myself "all dressed up with nowhere to go." Since then, I've been mostly keeping myself busy in my spare time for distraction, but more and more frequently, I'm finding the motivation to do things slipping away. I also notice that I'm over-reacting to things that should be minor problems, which concerns me. I know what I need to fix the problem, but it is literally something I cannot do by myself: Being alone is the root cause, and I cannot stop being alone without having someone, or some people, to have direct human interaction with.

I know I'm not the only one feeling this way: The reason crowds flock to beaches as soon as they are opened up, the reason college students continued to party for spring break, is because people want to interact with each other in person. Trying to do all of that through online chats, virtual meetings, or other Internet activities does not replace experiences gained in person when two or more people meet in the real, physical world.

Social distancing is stifling the very society it is supposedly being used to protect. If it continues as it has much longer, we are going to witness the death throes of civilization itself.

#coronavirus #COVID19 #liberty #mentalhealth #socialdistancing #singlelife #economiccollapse #publicdanger