A Message to the Protesters Spreading the Pandemic

April 20th 2020

By James Rogers Bush

From 1941 to 1945, Americans endured war, death, loss, and rationing. We had a wartime President who gave his life to win the war for America. And giving up the freedom to resist and protest what the President and the government were doing, like the draft and rationing, was never questioned by the American People.

Now we have a President who claims we’re in a war just like WW2. He claims to be a wartime President. And his supporters claim we should believe and follow everything he says and does. And yet, those same followers are now saying that they don't want to sacrifice their jobs or their 'freedom' to go out if they choose. The healthcare professionals and scientists say that people staying home is definitely helping to 'flatten the curve' and save lives. But many lives are still being lost and the war with the coronavirus continues. Now Donald Trump, hoping to be reelected, is joining the people who are demanding that the country and its economy be reopened, by tweeting that states like Michigan be "liberated."

Franklin Roosevelt led the country to complete victory over its enemies. The American People did not stop in the middle of the fight. They did not say that they were tired of fighting and sacrificing. They did not claim that the war was fake and they just wanted to stop and go back to their previous lives. They toughed it out until the war was completely won.

Sometimes I think we Americans have become weak. We are not as strong as 'The Greatest Generation.' We don't know how to endure hardship. If we did, we wouldn't be crying about how we can't stand staying at home, or losing our jobs, or shutting down our businesses, even though the government is sending money and promising to help, both now and when the pandemic is over. And though many will claim that Trump is strong, we seem to have a weak President as well, because a President who divides us from each other, instead of uniting us, as Roosevelt did, is not a strong President.

This is no time to lessen the restrictions on our lives that are helping us to combat COVID-19 and save lives. If we do, we risk losing many more lives and damaging our economy even more than it’s being damaged now. We need to increase testing and we need to wait until we have a vaccine, before we go back to 'normal.' We need to proceed slowly and carefully. And most importantly, we need to work together as one people, united as a nation, knowing that sometimes true freedom comes from real sacrifice, not just from believing whatever we want and doing whatever we choose.