To the editor:

Living in a world with COVID-19 should be a clarion call to all of us as to how much faith we put in our modern society, technology and elected officials. Relegated to our homes, laid off from our jobs, and schools closed all in fear of an invisible enemy, microscopic in size but incalculable in its effect.

Or is the damage really the virus’ fault or our own willingness to succumb to hysteria? Other than the enormous advances in our medical technology that enable doctors and nurses to shepherd a patient through the worst of the virus’ symptoms, very little has changed from our response in over 100 years. There is no cure. There may never be.

In today’s world gone are the plague mask-wearing fraudsters of the 18th century, only to be replaced with the steady drumbeat of pseudoscience and hastily concocted infectious disease models, all to placate the 24-hour demand for news and information. Is it really news if the information is found to be incorrect the very next day? We are left in a perpetual state of gonzo journalism where facts matter less than the perceived truth.

And who gets to determine that truth? Surely no one could conceivably believe the news media, who have rabidly attacked our president for every move he makes, of suddenly laying down their poisoned pens for the common good. The truth is hardly a word they understand anymore.

As more is learned about this virus it is becoming more apparent that we will have it as part of our lives for the foreseeable future. As human beings we will accept that challenge and overcome. But let it be known that every politician or reporter who utters the words “new normal” should be tarred and feathered in a public square. Never has there been a more defeatist and pathetic phrase spoken.

As though the lives we had before COVID-19 aren’t worth fighting for and should be forgotten. Somehow I doubt Winston Churchill would have told Londoners to accept the new normal during The Blitz.

There will be death and loss. It is inevitable. But it has always been part of the equation of life even before COVID-19.

The question remains how much interference and reduction of our freedoms are we willing to accept from those who think they know what is best. When “experts” control your future, be prepared to not have much of one.

Brian Volansky
Oakville