Do I surrender my freedom by wearing a mask?

Do I surrender my freedom by wearing a mask?

I grew up in the middle east, but I never saw a veiled woman. It was in Calgary in the late nineties that in a major mall I came across a well-dressed lady wearing a veil. I looked at her in wonder and she met my gaze defiantly with beautifully made-up eyes. I couldn’t help but think she must be beautiful. Why is she hiding it?
After ten years in power, the Stephen Harper government declared before elections that they would block any woman wearing a veil from citizenship in Canada for “security reasons.” The Liberals chose the opposite way and won the elections. In Quebec, the fight was raging about religious symbols.
Now I find myself obligated to wear a mask in public. The governments of all stripes are making a strong effort to convince the population to wear masks because of the Corona Virus threat to people’s health and life. Here it became a sign of caring about each other. We are reminded often that you wear a mask to protect others, just in case that you may carry the virus. Some countries, like Viet Nam, where people wore masks religiously and followed doctors’ orders, are returning to normal. I silently think, Vietnam 2, USA 0.
The United States is our biggest trading partner. Wearing masks became a statement for them, not a safety issue. Over there the government politicized mask-wearing and they can’t dig graves fast enough to bury their dead. I remember when we acted that way. In the late Eighties, Albertans were divided about seatbelt legislation. I still remember people angrily declaring on TV that their personal freedoms were being trampled and they would never wear seatbelts.
Common sense is not the same for all people. Change is always resisted, and it is very hard to determine if a change is warranted or not. Often I witnessed people making changes simply to prove that they have the power to do so.
There have been a few cases of people murdering employees who told them to wear a mask. South of the border if you belong to one political party you deny that there is a deadly pandemic and if you belong to the other you wear a mask. Politicizing important social problems is very dangerous, and costly.
That brings me to my greatest worry. There is a problem with how we manage the world economy. Humans have the means to feed and house all the world’s population, to provide basic education and reasonable health care to all. We don’t have the ability to make everyone rich, or even hand all people full-time year-round jobs. However, if we consider how people lived throughout most of history, we are all rich in the developed modern nations.
There are various ways to handle the problem. We can do what we are doing and force people to work towards an ever-growing economy. We use more materials, energy and human effort towards a race to the top that only a few may win. It will come to an end.
The other option is to use what we already have and know, towards making this a better world for all people. If all the people reach literacy, including girls, the population levels will stabilize. Most people would like it, but seeing others much better off will tempt them to do better. (Lead us not into temptation. From the Lord’s prayer.)
I have a degree in history and I learned about revolutions, fights for independence, and the way ideas spread often leading to violence and the destruction of great civilizations. I can see clearly that we have politicized our opposing ideas of economics and so far managed an uncomfortable balance or a temporary truce. Both fundamental ideas we are following, Liberal and Conservative, are faulty. We need a new one.
I live in the woods slightly higher than Blairmore. This year there are a lot of mosquitoes. I do what I can to be protected from the blood-sucking insects and venture out. When the conditions favour them, I barely manage to do my work and they come in large numbers and chase me indoors. I think to myself, that if we don’t resolve our social problems, we will be overrun by the huge number of people who are not sharing in the Earth’s bounty.
There are seven and a half billion people now. We can describe only less than half a billion as well off. We saw that the West using combined forces could not win a war against the poor worn down country of Afghanistan, or any other poor country including Vietnam. Never mind winning against a reb+ellion of our own poor citizens within. Our option is to act now and reduce the significant gap between the haves and the have nots. We also must show the young people clearly that we will not destroy the world they must live in. In addition to it we must prove to the aging population that they/we will not be discarded to save a failing economic system. The time is now, and the place is here.
The Bible shows that when people disobey God, he sometimes destroys them to teach a lesson. I believe in God and I assume that I am witnessing warning signs. Call me superstitious if you want. I see floods, fires, wars, plagues, social unrest, and a comet. Instead of goodwill, I see digging in and attempts to force people not to complain about injustice. It scares me.
There is a new fashion developing selling masks. People are fighting about which historical figures should be honoured and which should not. Politicians are called to task for influencing who will make money on public projects. The country is using its vast resources to save its people. I see nothing wrong. Great sorrow for the victims, but joy for some long overdue changes. God is constantly creating and we his creatures are evolving.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.