“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine in late 1776, when the newly independent American states were at war with the mightiest empire in the world and not doing terribly well. Seven more years of hardship lay ahead, during which even John Adams’ family would struggle to keep body and soul together during the lean years of the Revolutionary War. Abigail Adams sold pins, handkerchiefs, and other trade goods sent home by her husband to feed the family while he was away making history.

 

246 years later, things aren’t nearly so bleak for Americans…yet. But they do suffer from the worst inflation in decades, growing shortages of food and other items, and an impending economic “hurricane,” if JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is correct.

 

The difference is this hardship is completely self-inflicted and unnecessary. Americans don’t suffer deprivation now to preserve newly declared independence and found a republic that will go on to inspire the world. They suffer from policies their own government imposed upon them, starting with Covid lockdowns, that have done no good whatsoever while causing immense harm.

 

With Washington, D.C., it’s always all pain and no gain.

 

In April, 2020, I asked, rhetorically, “When the Coronavirus Shutdown is over, will anyone blame their governments for the economic devastation they caused?”

 

    Long-term and permanent damage is being done. Some businesses will close.     Some will never rehire all the staff they once employed.

 

    Risk aversion will skyrocket because there is no reason to believe     governments     won’t do this again in the future, perhaps perennially over less     and less significant threats.

 

    Would you put your life savings into a business knowing the government might     close it down indefinitely next flu season?

 

    Will anyone bother to track the increased suicide and drug overdose rates     caused by massive unemployment?

 

    Will anyone bother to track the increased mortality rates of other illnesses     untreated, either during the shutdown or because of the government-inflicted     economic depression after it?

 

    Will anyone question the wisdom of previously allowing the FDA to limit     competition in drugs and medical supplies (face masks, ventilators, etc.)     resulting in shortages when we needed them most?

 

    Will anyone point to these and other obvious negative consequences of     government policies and not ask for more government to address them?

 

    In other words, is there any chance we emerge from this epidemic bearing any     resemblance to a relatively free and prosperous society?

 

Two years later, the answer to every one of those questions seems to be, “no.” Not only do Americans not blame the government for the social and economic damage it has caused; a large percentage of them still fiercely defend it.

 

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