How the COVID-19 pandemic panic turned two weeks into two years

OPINION:

There’s the old aphorism that “time is money.” While this is certainly true, it’s not the whole truth. Time is much more than money; it is irreplaceable. Every second of every day is sacred in that we can never get that time back. Every passing moment is another moment we lack the capabilities to relive. The Democrats can’t just take time from the rich to give to the poor, and the Department of Treasury can’t print more time. Once it’s lost, it’s lost forever.

Most of us will never forget our senior proms, graduating from high school or the first day we moved into our jail cell-sized freshman dorms. As Americans, we connect over these shared experiences. These are moments we can look back on and see how much we have grown.

Unfortunately, the pandemic robbed millions of Americans of these experiences unexpectedly. High school seniors didn’t know that their last day of school was their last day of school until they were a week away from graduation. Instead, they were told that schools would be temporarily closed down for two weeks to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Two weeks turned into two months. America shut down in March 2020 and didn’t reopen in time for high school seniors to attend their proms or walk the stage on graduation day. While these may not seem like major sacrifices to us, imagine how you may have reacted if you were about to enter adulthood and the government was demanding that you stay in your home and comply with their every order. Soon-to-be college freshmen weren’t even sure if they would get the college experience strategically marketed to them their entire lives.

During America’s lockdown, hospitals instituted policies that prohibited families and loved ones from visiting patients, even if it was to say goodbye for the last time. People were forced to social distance from their dying relatives as they took their last breath, dying alone. Many people were robbed of the opportunity to find closure, make amends or say “I love you” for one last time.

It’s important to remind you that all of this was being done in the name of the greater good. Allowing high schoolers to attend their senior proms would have seriously compromised their lives, despite COVID-19 being relatively harmless to their particular age group. Visiting our dying relatives may have risked more sudden death. We had to be protected, not only from the rampant virus but from each other.

The media covered COVID-19 during every news cycle, reporting on the number of fatalities resulting from the world’s deadliest virus. Many Americans watched, terrified, as uncertainty lingered in every facet of life. Policies at our jobs were changing every day. Small business owners, who were deemed nonessential by the government, didn’t know if or when they were ever going to open their doors again. We didn’t know if we would be allowed to celebrate Independence Day. Time was of the essence.

Two weeks turned into two years. By now, the government has divided Americans based on their vaccination status as many state and local governments refuse to lift the remaining COVID-19 restrictions in fear of losing funding from the federal government. As long as there’s funding available, individual rights remain a secondary priority to the “greater good.”   

It has been two years since life as we knew it was a reality. While we may not have entered the “new normal” just yet, and many restrictions have since been lifted, we’re certainly headed in their desired direction. Record-high spending continues to be approved without question, inflation is at a 40-year high, making any savings obsolete, and the overreaching hand of the federal government continues to expand its role, further making our rights secondary to the “greater good.”

Through inflation and record-high spending, the government has robbed us of our wealth. Through their corrupt partnership with the mainstream media, Hollywood celebrities and Big Tech, they have robbed us of our individual liberty. But most unforgivable of all, throughout the entirety of the ongoing pandemic, they have robbed us of time we will never get back.

We can never have the time taken away from us back. We can make the most of the memories of the past two years. Still, a true retelling of this decade is history would center around unconstitutional, nonscientific mandates based on popular demand that forced the American people to sacrifice much more than they would have potentially lost.

We never get to graduate high school again. We can’t say goodbye to a loved one who has already passed. We’ll never get this time back. We cannot just forgive those responsible for this theft. We must hold them accountable. While we can try to recover any damages resulting from lost time, time lost is lost forever.

• Chadwick Dolgos is a local journalist from Pittsburgh and a communications expert for a political consulting firm. He received his degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh and his master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University. Check out more of Chadwick’s writing at thewashingtonwick.com.