I feel like the world I was born in does not exist anymore. And there is a growing sense that a major change is just around the corner for the entire world.

Free speech is explicitly enshrined in our constitution. Yet we are living in an age of increasing censorship. Anyone, including doctors, with the opinion that the current 'pandemic' is not very lethal is not allowed to speak their opinion on the major information platforms. This includes the vast majority of the news media, as well as social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Even writing this article makes me feel like I will be inviting censorship of this website, as the dominant internet search engine is doing the same.

I feel this is because many of the powerful people believe, and have stated, that the 'pandemic' presents a special opportunity to reshape the world. It’s an excuse to expand government control and take away people's freedoms under the guise of saving them from a horrible disease.

The government has mandated harsh controls over private businesses. This includes things like the occupancy rates of movie theaters and restaurants. They have also periodically restricted people from leaving their homes for anything other than going to the grocery store. But they have not restricted the business activities of larger corporations such as Wal-Mart and Amazon.

In other words, small businesses are getting crushed this year by government mandates. But large businesses are not. It almost seems like there is a plan in place to destroy private ownership and make people dependent on the government.

I live in a town of 12,000 people. We have all made sure to support our local businesses as much as possible. So I have not seen any local businesses go under. But this is not the case in the larger cities, from what I understand. And it sounds like a new round of lockdowns are coming, mandated by the government.

The economic effects on our society are horrendous. Suicides and divorces are very high above their averages. Imagine losing your job, not being able to attend church, and facing eviction from your home.

Hospitals have been banned from performing elective surgeries, so as to free up space for potential Covid-19 patients. The hospitals have not been overwhelmed with patients, but they have lost major sources of financial revenue.

The virus has a 99.5% survival rate for people under the age of 70. The average age of death from Covid is around 80. 96% of those who die from Covid-19 had 2 or more comorbidities. This is not some catastrophe.

The Establishment

At the beginning of this year, the economy was booming and President Trump was cruizing towards a second term. Then the news media began relentlessly hyping a 'pandemic,' among other things, and the economy was severely damaged. President Trump represented a more nationalist reaction against globalism, one that many elites were horrified by.

Currently, the news media has declared Joe Biden the winner of our recent presidential election.

The End of the Modern Era

As I have stated before on this blog, I feel certain that the Modern Era will end during my lifetime. Imagine the life of someone born in 1890. They grew up in a time of horse drawn transportation, before the automobile was ubiquitous. The New York World Building was the tallest structure in the world at 308 ft.

If this person lived to be 80 years old they would have seen two world wars, complete with the use of nuclear weapons. The beautiful New York World Building would now be demolished, while 100+ story tall glass buildings were built in its place. The whimsical Romantic Era would now be replaced with more logical and cold Modern Era perspectives.

I am increasingly aware that I am going to see some major changes happen over the next 50 years. In the same way that someone's perspective from 1910 would be very different than the norms of today, my current perspective could be extremely valuable to someone in the future.

Future

So what changes might we expect? With the end of the Modern Era, will we return to a more cultured Romantic type of civilization? Or will civilization fracture into many different cultures?

It appears to me that at least two distinct societies are forming within our civilization. One follows the teachings of the news media, academia, and the entertainment industry. The other is more independent thinking.

The reaction in the culture that I'm a part of seems to be living life as usual. We are told that we're not allowed to have more than 10 people or more than two households together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't know of anyone who is going to obey this order.

I worked from home for about 4 months. During that time we had a beautiful baby girl! Now we're all back at work in our office and nobody seems to be stressed at all. My life is very different from what I am hearing from the news media and government. 2020 has been a normal great year for the rural conservative parts of America.

I hope that this personal account of the 'pandemic' and life in 2020 can help someone in the future understand the world I'm living in. Perhaps it will help illustrate something very different than what might become the historical record for this time.

Originally published November 18, 2020

Sources:
  CDC Covid-19 Fatality Rates - Archived
  CDC Covid Comorbidities - Archived
  Swiss Policy Research - Archived