There is nothing to relax about. One must always think and pursue values to the extent possible in any situation, but this is not normal and is leading to a bigger battle, not relaxation. Elsewhere on this page: https://www.galtsgulchonline.com/post...

The orders are from state governors, covering almost everyone:

"Thirty-eight states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico have issued stay-at-home orders, encouraging isolation measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"Some metro areas in states without such orders — including Birmingham, Alabama; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Houston and Dallas, Texas — are also under stay-at-home orders.

"In total, that brings about 90% of America's population, or about 297 million people, under some form of lockdown." https://www.businessinsider.com/us-ma...

You are right that it's "legally murky" and that Trump didn't personally order it himself, but it's here and the trend has become worse as more and more and controls have been progressively added over time in about the last month. They have largely been presented as frantic, inconsistent edicts with little or no explanation beyond 'we must act'.

The massive shutdown of the economy and flooding with government money that does not exist are devastating, and so is the threat of the additional statist controls not going away as frightened people become accustomed to acquiescing to more government edits and restrictions in the name of "necessary".

The necessity of temporary quarantine to protect individuals against physical spread of disease has been replaced by an almost anything-goes statist mentality.

That mentality of accepting and imposing statism as "natural" is terrible, and will most likely accelerate the growth of collectivism that the leftist ideologues already wanted and demanded. There is less and less willingness to object.

As Ayn Rand observed, this country has come out of every war with less freedom than which it went into them. The "war" mentality now is leading to the same.

Even the claims that the economy will come back are misleading. It may very well revive, and probably will, but most likely not all at once and not the same as it was.

The extent and progress of revival will depend on freedom to make it possible. To the extent that government maintains controls and high taxes the way it did in the Great Depression, recovery will be thwarted and slowed.

The New Deal "emergency" controls prevented recovery for a decade and the economy did not recover until after WWII after the worst of the controls (including price controls and rationing) were lifted. Grocery stores, deliveries, etc. continued to exist, most survived it, and some people thrived, but it remained a national depression with widespread deprivation and poverty far longer than was necessary.

But even claiming that all is well after a recovery is misleading. It is collectivist: The "economy" can come back, but it won't be with the same individuals, many of whom are being destroyed.

term, think of this: If it is such a huge burden and impact, for so few people who already are at deaths door knocking loudly, then why? Why would such draconian precautions be needed? What is the logic? The answers to that may be disturbing but can tell you a lot of what is happening and where we are going.

Sorry it is not a fact. “The lockdown is a political reality – a government policy, yes, not a fact of nature – but it's the situation we are in now. For us as individuals, it too has to be accepted as fact.”

Trump on a nationwide lockdown: 'I don't think we'll ever find that necessary'
Why There’s No National Lockdown
Enforcing a large-scale quarantine would be legally murky, even if it’s what the country needs to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
MARCH 31, 2020

I would have loved to ignore him, but in addition to the fact that he represented everything I hate in the world, my income went down about 50%, and didn’t recover until Trump. And here it goes down again!

if people were left to protect themselves from this virus, but the government didnt "protect" us by trampling on our rights, the economy might shrink a bit but would suffer no permanent damage.

This way, the economy is shut down, and to "fix" that, we destroy the value of the dollars that some of us are relying on so as to live the rest of our lives.

I think each person should be able to decide how he wants to fight an infection, NOT the government forcing me to close my business, but not forcing others to close theirs.

So if you have a grocery store, you can be open, but other retail stores have to close??? The governmenet is destroying our economy and our freedoms- and its all for 5000 people who have supposedly died due to this virus who wouldnt have died anyway due to something else (and half of them are in NYC).

It is an ongoing and "fascinating" journey.

👍

I truly appreciated Dave Kelley's commentary, as I was undecided as to how to view our current situation.

Now, I can relax a little more.

“Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

During this time of crisis, truth is what the populace needs, too.

Yes, and when they retrieved Spock in a later episode, Kirk pronounced the other half: "When the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many" as the reason the whole crew took the risk of saving Spock.

Live long and prosper!

Spock passed his katra to McCoy, so maybe he was less altruistic than the writers' overt socialist message might have conveyed.

The balancing between liberty and prosperity vs. safety not only should remind us of Benjamin Franklin's famous quote about "Those who would give up their liberty for security deserve neither." Also, I am reminded of the scene from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan where the benefits to many are weighed against the few ... or the one as Spock sacrifices himself for the good of the crew. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one". I don't respond to need anymore. Thank you, Ayn Rand.

Reminds me of a quote I can't quite completely recall from a movie I can't recall at all.
"To go through (whatever the problem is) is the only way (to get) out (of it)."

Thanks that made my morning in between seeing patients. Luckily today all have been well child ...

I just ignored him. When first elected I thought 'that's good!' Then I just pretended he didn't exist.

I like your quote. A learned gentleman (medical profession) said to me when I was young, 'You may bend, but you will never break'. What a ride I have had! I despise those who say 'You will get over this!' A better one is 'You will get through this.'

Thank you. For the first time in decades, I'm now reminded of advice I heard as a child way, way before 73-(million)-year-old me dino first heard of Ayn Rand when the AS DVDs came out.
Wish I could remember who the heck told me that "Trees that cannot bend with strong winds can break."

The balance between protecting liberty and prosperity and having a world with coming back to after the economic devastation seen in Atlas Shrugged and now in real life in the COVID-19 situation is a very delicate one.

We have several fine authors in this forum. Perhaps one of you should write a COVID-19 based sequel to Atlas Shrugged.

Excellent article. For me, the only way I made it through the 8 years of Obama was to remind myself everyday of all the things I had to be grateful for. I always felt I was being somewhat like a Pollyanna, but it was what kept me from being depressed. So I am gratified to read this article. Thanks

Lucid article, much needed at these times.

Thank you for posting it.