Our Post Covid World

Darrell Castle talks about the world post Covid, in term of the most prominent things happening in the world today — what has been gained and what has been lost in the past 15 months. Transcription / Notes OUR POST COVID WORLD Hello this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. Today is Friday, May 28th in the year 2021. This is also Memorial Day Weekend. Those of us fortunate enough to have jobs in this post COVID world will get a 3-day weekend. This Castle Report will talk about the world post COVID, known here after as simply the virus. What are the most prominent things happening in the world today and what has changed in the world post virus? What have we gained and what have we lost? The Castle family is doing well this Memorial Day Weekend. Despite the virus, we are looking forward to 3-days off work. Joan and I will pause to remember on Monday as we usually attend a ceremony at the local Veterans Cemetery to pay our respects. The family daughter is doing well with her husband in California as she told me by video just a couple of days ago. This Memorial Day Report is a good chance to also pause and remember or at least review what is happening in this country and in the world since the advent of the virus protocols some 15 months ago. Yes, approximately 15 months ago we were told to just shelter in place for 2 weeks to flatten the curve. Two weeks became 15 months and counting as the virus protocols have caused what will probably be irreparable damage to the American and world economies. The world is different now and today I want to take a brief look at some of those differences. The most obvious difference that I see is the atmosphere of fear that seems to pervade the country. Fear seems to have subsided a little, however, at least among those low-risk people who just needed an excuse not to be afraid. Here in the River City of Memphis Tennessee we are fortunate to have good leadership at both the state and local level, so we were kept well informed, and fear stayed at a minimum. When the mayor sought to comply with federal and state guidelines, he did not simply order churches to close as did Gavin Newsome in California. Instead, he gathered as many pastors as he could on a conference call, explained the situation, and asked for their permission and cooperation. I know of no harassment or threats against pastors as occurred in California. The situation in California became so bad that pastors were threatened with arrest, but some did not back down to the intimidation and sued the Governor for what they alleged to be discrimination in the way he determined what business was “essential” and what was not. Just a few days ago the court ruled in favor of the churches and ordered the governor to pay $1.35 million in attorney fees. Basically, the court ruled that a state cannot arbitrarily rule churches non-essential, while ruling other favored businesses essential. So many were upset with the Governor of California’s heavy-handed tactics which he demanded ordinary people obey while he did not have to obey, that a recall petition was circulated against him. The last count I saw had the signature totals at about 3 times the number needed to put the measure on the ballot so a recall election will be held pursuant to California law. California was not the only state to reject their governor’s actions. Tom Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania, had his emergency powers taken away and given in part to the legislature by referendum vote. The primary thing that came out of the lockdown protocols as far as I am concerned is that they did more harm than good, and apparently, they did not stop the spread of the virus. The states that did not lockdown, such as South Dakota, and Florida, fared  no worse and in many respects much better than those who locked down for the entire year. Some states are still not fully open despite CDC guidelines stating that they can be. The fear continues to inflict itself on those who internalize it.