We are living through an unprecedented time in modern history. COVID-19, which originated in the Hubei province in China, has infected more than 2.2 million people worldwide, and led to the deaths of over 158,200 people. In the United States, the virus has sickened 715,000 people, leading to more than 37,600 deaths.
Allow me to lay out some basic positions so that it may be clear for those who might only read the first few paragraphs of this op-ed before leaping to the comments section with the swiftness of a cheetah in order to excoriate me for what I’m about to say.
There is no doubt that the pandemic spread of this virus is in part the fault of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There is no doubt that some in the mainstream press have attempted to use the pandemic to harm the president politically. There is no doubt that certain governors and mayors have used a heavy hand and unfairly targeted certain people in implementing some of the isolation policies in place during this time.
Despite all these obvious statements, I’m troubled by the protests outside the governor’s mansion in Minnesota and in other localities across the country. Not because I disagree with the message being sent; not because I believe that all state governments are acting appropriately in their handling of pandemic policies; but because the majority of the protesters, many of whom appear to be on the Right, are not following basic, established protocols as it pertains to the spread of COVID-19.
This may seem silly, but it’s deadly serious. Conservatism is supposed to be the ideology of personal responsibility, the ideology of intelligent liberty, yet the behavior I see outside the governor’s home is anything but responsible or intelligent.
Video footage from the event outside the governor’s mansion in Minnesota shows a throng of protesters, estimated by the St. Paul police to be about 800, most of whom aren’t wearing face coverings, and most of whom aren’t appropriately distancing themselves from one another.
Pandemonium outside the Minnesota Governor’s Residence.
Horns are blaring. A few hundred people are here. Many chant “Open Up!” pic.twitter.com/xMGUtTjYQB
— Theo Keith (@TheoKeith) April 17, 2020
How many of these protesters have elderly, immunocompromised, or otherwise medically vulnerable relatives and friends to whom they might bring the virus following their demonstration? How many of the protesters themselves are in vulnerable groups?
If we are to complain, often rightfully so, about the crushing fist of government in this pandemic, how does it look that we protest by refusing to abide by the most basic, easy to follow guidelines as it pertains to not spreading this virus? It’s not as if we cannot protest while wearing a face covering and maintaining appropriate distance from one another. Neither of these things inhibits our being able to express grievance with state governments’ handling of lockdown procedures.
The protest outside the governor’s mansion, in combination with the way in which the media will cover it, creates the impression that conservatives and defenders of rights are unintelligent or unwise, and that those who want to properly balance their constitutional rights with the implementation of certain public health orders don’t care about the safety and wellbeing of those around them who may become ill as a direct result of their actions.
It’s a bad look, and one that conservatives don’t need to be associated with right now.
If we are to exercise our right to protest egregious government overreach, let us do it in such a way as to show that we are the ideology of personal responsibility and intelligent liberty. Let us protest for our rights as Americans without looking like fools in the process.