"Covid" Didn't Destroy Businesses and Lives; The Government Did

Time to Change Our Language

It is time to stop blaming “Covid” for breaking the economy, destroying businesses and livelihoods, and wreaking untold havoc upon families. It was not “Covid” that did this. It was not even the Chinese. It was our government. The government has conditioned us to blame the impersonal “Covid” for the destruction it wrought upon our businesses and families. We need to change the discussion by using the proper language to fix the blame where it belongs.

Good generals can win a battle by picking the terrain upon which they fight. At Waterloo, Wellington forced Napoleon to attack uphill through the mud. At Gettysburg, Meade defended the high ground from Cemetery Hill to the Round Top, forcing the Confederates to attack across the fire-swept Peach Orchard and Wheatfield and the open terrain over which Pickett charged.

The Imperial Guard's last charge/Waterloo Ass'n/Pickett's Charge today/ Courtesy Gettysburg Cyclorama/Diana Loski

The terrain that propagandists and politicians (excuse the redundancy) use is language — the words that they choose to describe issues upon which they wish to fight. Thus, the choice of language can be critical to victory. Think: “Hope and Change” and “Make America Great Again.”

The Government with its politicians and bureaucrats that came nigh onto destroying our economy are trying to avoid responsibility by picking the terrain upon which they wish to fight — by using language that blames the impersonal “Covid” for what they did to the Country. “It’s no one’s fault, you see. Covid did it.” They thereby hope to stave off defeat, or worse, for themselves. Unfortunately, most of us have fallen victim to the ploy. Enough.

This week I was speaking with a relatively new friend who described having had to wrap up some lingering issues relating to the closing of his business. I asked him what kind of business he had owned, and why they had to close. He and his son had started and run a fitness club in North Carolina. It was not part of a chain, and they were not part of a franchise. He and his son were the sole owners.

He said that they had to close their business because, “Covid killed us.” In 2020 “during Covid,” the “progressive” governor of North Carolina forced them to close their doors and cease all business. Almost overnight they lost almost all of their 1300 clients. No business could expect to withstand that and survive.

I thought about what he said for a few minutes and then said that I think we all are using the wrong terminology. We have fallen into the habit of saying things like, “During Covid, we couldn’t even go to church,” “Because of Covid friends lost their jobs;” and the like.

I then said to my friend that we all needed to change the language that we had been trained and had become accustomed to using. I said to him, “Covid didn’t close your business, the government did. Covid did not make the insane decision to close down gyms while leaving liquor stores open; the government did. Covid did not prevent us from going to worship at the church of our choice; the government did. Covid did not chase down and try to arrest bikers, surfers, joggers, and others engaged in outdoor exercise; the government did. Covid did not prevent families from holding and comforting their parents and grandparents during their final hours of life; the government did. Covid did not shut down our schools; the government did (aided and abetted by Randi Weingarten and the teachers’ unions). Covid did not set arbitrary limits on how far apart we should stand everywhere from in grocery stores to national parks, how many people should attend Thanksgiving dinner or other family gatherings in our own homes, while either remaining silent or actively encouraging mass Black Lives Matter demonstrations; the government health bureaucracy and little totalitarians, such as Anthony Fauci and the ‘Scarf Lady,’ Deborah Birx, did.

Birx and Fauci/Courtesy AP

The Chinese communists may be responsible for unleashing Covid either intentionally (which no one dares to discuss) or through a negligent lab leak (about which our government did everything in its power to squelch any discussion). However, our government’s reaction must have exceeded the Chinese communists’ wildest expectations. They could not have anticipated that our government would run over the Constitutional rights “peaceably to assemble,” to “freedom of speech,” worship freely in the church of our choice, and simply to be free of arbitrary and literally irrational government oppression. But that is what happened, and the government, and the politicians and bureaucrats that run it, are the ones responsible. Not Covid, not even the Chinese communists.

It therefore is long past time to put a stake through the heart of such phrases as “During Covid…” or “Covid caused…” or “Covid destroyed…” any of the multiple disasters and outrages the government forced upon us. Instead, from this day forward, I shall employ accurate language to describe what was done to us: Instead of “During Covid…,” it must be, “During the government shut-down.… And, “The government [not Covid] destroyed my friend’s business,” and the like, for the entire parade of horrible and unconstitutional acts.

Make your own decision, but I hope that my readers will do the same and will encourage their family and friends to follow suit.