Are we really—and shamefully—just going to slink down the path of complete subservience to bureaucrats and big tech, or are we going to stand up and say no?

We’ve lost our damn minds over the Chinese coronavirus.

We’re like a kid cowering in a dark basement after someone pranked him by shouting “Boo!” His reaction in that instant is sheer panic, fear, flight, hysteria, and the desire to escape as quickly as possible. Rational thought and common sense go right out the window. Except that’s what happens with kids. It’s not supposed to happen with rational adults endowed with common sense. It’s not supposed to happen to freedom-loving Americans.

But instead we cower in our dark basements, lacking the ability to take a step back and examine this situation rationally. Why did we respond this way? Because the so-called experts trotted out their models and told us to. But why are we listening to them? Seriously? Why do we listen to a pampered idiocracy and act like they’re Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai with God’s unadulterated truth? On what are their assumptions based? What are their motives? What are their incentives? No one, absolutely no one, is as pure as driven snow when it comes to power. We all have biases and presuppositions that influence our decision making and behavior. So it’s best if we start questioning everything and everyone until they actually come up with real stats and real facts.

For example, is this virus as deadly as the so-called experts thought five to six weeks ago? Most likely not. The Imperial College dunces look like Chicken Littles now, screaming “The sky is falling! Millions of Americans will die!!” when in fact their models were based on garbage assumptions and data. What we now know, in fact, is that it’s estimated maybe 60,000 could potentially die, if that. Or basically just a smidge over half of the Americans who died of the Asian flu in 1957-58, and basically half of those who died of the Hong Kong flu in 1967-68. Yes, kids, we’ve had over 100,000 Americans die in a year, multiple times, from a deadly flu. But we didn’t shut down our economy for either of them.

There are plenty of doctors out there who think there are 10 times the number of people with the coronavirus than the actual confirmed cases. Meaning the real mortality rate is below one percent, or as Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford, stated on Fox News, the coronavirus is “much likely, much closer to the death rate you see from the flu per case.” Denmark has seen that, realized the mortality rate is more along the lines of a bad flu and is reopening schools. To give perspective, another Stanford professor of medicine, John Ioannidis, has concluded that the risk of death for people under 65 years of age, even in hotspots, is equivalent to the risk of a fatal car accident for daily commuters driving between nine and 400 miles.

Another great question: did this virus hit in January, as the so-called experts thought? Or more like November or December? I think more and more, based on the CDC’s own numbers, the evidence leans towards the likelihood that this hit months earlier than people thought, meaning more people have had this virus and have built up immunity. Reports coming out of one Chicago hospital show that upwards of 50 percent of those tested for coronavirus already have antibodies. This all means we’ve probably already hit the peak of the curve, maybe back in February, absorbed it and didn’t even notice.

But we’ve acted like the world is coming to an end. We’ve shut down our economy, thrown tens of millions out of work, and caused untold damage. But even worse, we’ve just sat here and watched our civil liberties walk out the door and we’re doing nothing about it. Lil’ Emperor King Fauci is talking about immunity cards. Some benighted folks in the White House have even suggested a national coronavirus surveillance system. Google and Apple have developed a coronavirus tracking app that is going to be voluntary (supposedly). Take two seconds and think what would happen if you had an unfettered bureaucrat like Fauci working with big tech? How long do you think “voluntary” tracking would last?

All of this feels like the American people are letting go of their freedoms, not with a bang but with a whimper, and a pretty quiet whimper at that. Are we really just going to shamefully slink down the path of complete subservience to bureaucrats and big tech, or are we going to stand up and say, “no”?

There are red state governors like Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona who are strongly contemplating reopening their states in early May. More red state governors should join them and start a red state revolt. I’m not talking concerts or mass gatherings in May, but responsibly reopening 90 percent of society. People should wear masks. Restaurants should add a little more distance between tables and possibly check people’s temperatures coming in. Businesses should do the same. Heck, schools should do the same: anyone with a fever stays home, and then there are temp checks at the door.

It’s time for the economy to get going. People will try to shame those who say such things as not caring about people’s lives. This is wildly unfair. Unlike many of the fear mongers, I have a record of caring about people’s lives. This is just a further extension of being pro-life. If we do not get back on track ASAP, I am convinced we will have more suicides and bankruptcies combined than coronavirus deaths. The “cure” will have been on the level of decapitation. But by God, at least we didn’t let that little old virus kill us. We will have done it to ourselves. It’s time to stand up and say enough is enough. The consent of the governed still matters and we do not consent to this behavior anymore.