I'm not getting the COVID vaccine.  I'm not recommending that course of action and, although I do have my reasons, it's mostly just stubbornness.  I don't want to follow the herd, and I won't be told what I must do for my own well-being.  Not in this country.  I'm still an American, even if we are becoming an endangered species.  It amazes me to watch my countrymen going about their business every day having completely forgotten who they are as Americans.  We must somehow relearn our heritage of liberty.

It's laughable to see otherwise normal people walking around outside with masks on.  Regardless of what anyone on TV or elsewhere has told them, it's extremely unlikely that you'll catch the virus while walking your dog.

I see more people alone in their cars all masked up.  In the past, this made me chuckle, but it's become so common that the foolishness of it gets under my skin.  Does your car have COVID?  Are you going to infect yourself?  Where has common sense gone?

Some people I talk with are still masking despite having received the vaccine.  If the vaccine is so useless, then why take it at all?  They're quick to say their mask is for my protection, but I don't want or need them to protect me.  And if the vaccine works, then how is it that you are protecting me?  This is America.  I can make my own decisions about my welfare.  We are adults in a free country.  We can make our own choices about living our lives.  We can and should be responsible for ourselves.  If we're not careful, that responsibility will be taken away from us.

There's a small chance that COVID may kill me, but I won't live in fear of it.  That would just empower the people who feed off fear.  I will take the appropriate precautions where I think it's prudent, but the law shouldn't require it.  When the government forces us to stay in our homes, places limits on our ability to gather in groups or eat at restaurants, and closes "nonessential" businesses, and forces Americans to wear masks, it is violating our rights under the Constitution.  Nothing in the Constitution provides for its suspension during national emergencies.

The vaccine was a rush job, and we don't know the long-term effects — but everyone is waiting in line for a chance to play Russian roulette.  Many of them have virtually no chance of losing their lives from COVID, but they are willing to risk it all on an unproven vaccine.  There's an almost 100% COVID survival rate for young people.  They often have very few symptoms and sometimes are not even aware that they're sick.  Only the elderly — and primarily those with underlying health issues — are at greater risk than they would be from the common flu.

Is this why we've turned our society upside-down and relinquished our freedoms to greedy, power-hungry politicians who want to keep it this way forever?  Wouldn't it be smarter to protect those who are at risk?  I know that the country is turning against the old America, but I refuse to yield.  Americans don't cede their autonomy to anyone, and least of all to the government that is our servant.

COVID is being used as a pretext to unravel the Constitution and implement a socialist government.  Sadly, our population has been so hopelessly indoctrinated by the media, teachers, professors, and entertainers, that it seems impossible to reach them.

We know about people turning in their neighbors for not wearing masks in public or for gathering in groups larger than the prescribed limits.  Informing on people is the hallmark of a Marxist regime.

Now we're being told we can't travel if we don't get the vaccine and a COVID passport.  How long before "anti-vaxxers" will be required to wear an identifying armband?  And even as this is being pushed for American citizens, you don't need ID to vote or enter the country at our southern border.  This is the new America.

This has all happened so fast that the new nation-scape still seems surreal to me.  Sometimes it feels as though the old America is still alive but there's an unsettling distrust in the air and people walk around dressed like bandits, trying to communicate with each other through half a face.

Relearning and asserting our birthright of freedom is the only way forward for America.  We must remember who we are as a nation and what it is that made us great.  It seems appropriate to recall the words of Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775, at the dawning of the American revolution:

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Frank Liberato is a pseudonym.

Image: Currier & Ives print of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.  Public Domain.

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