{"id":4962,"date":"2020-09-17T03:10:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T03:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/?p=4962"},"modified":"2022-08-04T23:29:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T23:29:27","slug":"an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/featured\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The deadly dilemma. To have to choose between two evils: living with covid or trying to hide from covid.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are faced with two clear\nchoices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– To continue on the path\nthat we are currently on, choosing to no longer live our lives. To remain\nwithdrawn, our borders closed to the outside world as all the countries of Asia\nhave been doing since March. This path has but one outcome, to condemn entire\npopulations to misery, poverty, hunger, economic ruin and physical death. There\nis no hope in this path. Covid is here to stay. We will probably never have an\neffective vaccine (viruses by their very nature constantly mutate) and so there\nis no hope of a safe exit from this strategy.
\n
\nContinuing on the current path will just lead to an ever-increasing ruination\nof lives and livelihoods. The future of a country\u2019s key asset, the youth, will\nbe damaged through denial of access to education and investment. International\nbusiness will grind to a halt, and the destruction of a country\u2019s economy will\nfollow. The social problems that will arise as a result of a continuation of\nthis strategy will be immense and hard hitting, the cost of which in damage to\nlife and death will far exceed the damage to life that the covid virus could\ninflict on a population – as is clearly borne out by the established facts of\nthe real effects of this virus. The endgame of this strategy of closing a\ncountry, is the total destruction of that country\u2019s economy, immense damage to\nthe health and welfare of society, and plunging that country\u2019s future into darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– The other path, that of\nopening the country and dynamically mitigating infection risk, offers a path\nwhere there is hope for the future. Where life can go on as normal for the vast\nmajority. It is a path where the rewards will far outweigh the cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reopening borders certainly\ninvolves risks of increased infection, but we are in a position to mitigate\nthese risks now. And it has also become clear that for the vast majority of\npeople covid presents no real risk of harm or even symptomatic illness. But is\nit possible to live without risk? Clearly not. A life without risk is\nimpossible. Is it possible to escape death? No. It is the very condition of\nliving, life is terminal for us all. And death comes to us in 1000s of forms,\nnot simply covid. We cannot hide from death. How many people have died through\nhiding in fear from a perceived threat from covid? How many people are dying\ndaily as a direct result of covid policies through limited access to hospitals,\nhealth screening not happening, cancer treatments not happening in a timely\nmanner, economic ruin driving people to make poor life choices and turning to\nalcohol, drugs or suicide as the solution to the problems dealt to them by covid\npolicies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living life is risky,\ndriving your car to work, taking a flight, eating out, taking part in sports,\nall these activities and many more can result in death, but does it stop us\nfrom doing them? No. Should it stop us from doing them? No. It is living life,\nmitigating risk as much as possible, but living a full life. A life without\nrisk is impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it possible to live life\nand avoid illness? No. We can mitigate risk through taking sensible\nprecautions, but we cannot guarantee a life without illness. Is it possible to\nhide from life behind closed borders, behind closed doors, and avoid illness?\nNo. While you may avoid some illnesses while hiding from life, there remain a\nmyriad of other illnesses that can arise in a person\u2019s life at any time and can\npotentially kill you. So clearly hiding from life guarantees nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current policies are\nillogical and are at odds with the scale of the problem as we now understand it\n\u2013 hospitalizations and death in decline since April despite infections going up\nin populations such as the UK where covid is prevalent for example. The clock\nis ticking for millions of people, not through any risk from covid infection\nbut from economic ruin, educational ruin and life\u2019s hopes and opportunities\ndestroyed. As this draconian and unnecessary policy of locking the world down\ncontinues, the sands of time for life as we know it are running out, and all\nthat lies beyond this policy is devastation and with covid remaining at large\nin the world regardless. So what do we gain from the current world lockdown\npolicies? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time to make the\nchoice between living life with covid, or certain social and economic ruin with\ncovid. It is already too late for millions, but millions of livelihoods and\nopportunities can be saved if the world\u2019s leaders change direction NOW! And\nallow us to get back to living life. Covid remains at large with or without\nthese draconian policies. Surely learning to live with covid and the vast\nmajority getting back to a normal life, has to be better than all of us not\nliving life, hiding from life with the social and economic ruin that is\nguaranteed and yet covid remains regardless. What is the point of that? What do\nwe gain from these lockdowns, border closure policies? Between a certain death\nand a hypothetical risk, isn’t it better to choose the risk? The risk of living\nlife. Why do you, our world leaders, continue to choose to keep us all locked\nwithin this eel trap of your own making? Why don’t you make what is clearly,\nand backed by the science of what we have learned of this virus now, the only\nsensible choice, of learning to live with covid and allowing us to get back to\nliving LIFE?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you waiting for?\nThe arrival of a vaccine? This is no plan. There are no guarantees that we will\never have a reliable vaccine. And no vaccine in history has ever been developed\nwithin the space of a few months. So were a vaccine to be successfully\ndeveloped then we are still talking years, not months, before one can be safely\nand globally deployed. Even if a vaccine is possible by late-2021, between now\nand then, what do we do, wait? Wait and watch oneself, and one\u2019s compatriots,\ndie of hunger, depression and helplessness as a result of the economic and\nsocial ruin around us. Who will be responsible for this inevitable yet totally\nunnecessary death? Is mass death as a result of social programs more legitimate\nthan the death that would arise from choosing to live with mitigated (and hypothetical)\nrisk?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider the obvious. If a\nvaccine is deployed, how long will it take for 7+ billion people to get vaccinated?\nAnd will it be available to all, rich and poor? Who is paying for all of these\ndrugs? How many of the world\u2019s economies are flush with cash right now? Or will\nthe poor be left with what will become another social disease, one that\ndistinguishes the life of the disadvantaged from those born of privilege? If\nthe vaccine is not distributed globally and to ALL then covid remains a threat\nto ALL as no vaccine will protect you for the duration of a human lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So what do we gain in\nlocking down for months on end if once we re-open the world, covid remains a\nthreat? A pointless policy. More lockdowns, is that plan? This policy requires\nan endless cycle of world lockdowns to the end of time as there is no endgame\nto the Eel Trap plan, every time you pop your head out you will face the same\nthreat, covid is in the community and is here to stay. The sooner we start to\nlearn live with it, the better for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many airlines,\nairports, cruise operators, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, attractions,\nagencies, parks, rentals, or souvenir shops, from both the formal and the\ninformal markets, will have to close for you to realize the damage that is\nbeing done to society and economies? How many millions of employees have to\nlose their jobs for you to realize? How many families\u2019 futures will need to be\ndestroyed for you to realize? How many bankruptcies and with them whole\ncommunities to lose their livelihoods and hopes for the future for you to\nrealize? Sat in your ivory towers insulated from life\u2019s hardships simply by an\naccident of birth into privilege, it is time you looked beyond your own personal\ncomforts and tried to appreciate the lot of the common man! How many suicides\nfor you to realize? Regardless of the emergency powers and changes to the law\nto restrict personal freedoms, every society has a breaking point, and at some\npoint, people driven by misery and despair will revolt: do we have to wait\nuntil then for you to react and appreciate that this policy DOES NOT WORK? This\nis not the scenario of a disaster movie, this is what will happen if we don’t\nreact and change policy direction NOW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time to change policy\nand to learn to live with the threat of covid before it’s too late. Let\u2019s take\nthis risk, this is our only chance to avoid, social and economic ruin and the\ninevitable cataclysm that will follow. Fear paralyzes and is often a bad counselor.\nLet’s dare to live with risk, as humans have done successfully since the dawn\nof time. We are at risk of jeopardizing the vast majority in the name of\npossibly protecting the few people who are at risk of serious illness or death\nfrom covid. And it is only \u2018possibly protecting\u2019 as even with these policies in\nplace the risk of infection is still there and always will be. Covid is here\nnow, and it is going nowhere, it is time we learned to LIVE with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

World leaders, trust us!\nTrust the collective intelligence and give us a chance to survive this instead\nof condemning us all. Open the borders, re-establish the air links, carry out\nthe necessary tests on arrivals and departures, but let us move. Let\u2019s choose\nto live. We agree to commit to respecting health protocols, physical\ndistancing, wearing a mask and regular hand washing and use of hydro-alcoholic\ngels. But let’s return to life before it\u2019s too late. Let us live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The deadly dilemma. To have to choose between two evils: living with covid or trying to hide from covid. We are faced with two clear choices: – To continue on the path that we are currently on, choosing to no longer live our lives. To remain withdrawn, our borders closed to the outside world as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,1,26],"tags":[342,341,339,338,331,340],"yoast_head":"\nAn Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The deadly dilemma. To have to choose between two evils: living with covid or trying to hide from covid. We are faced with two clear choices: – To continue on the path that we are currently on, choosing to no longer live our lives. To remain withdrawn, our borders closed to the outside world as […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Secret Retreats Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-17T03:10:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-04T23:29:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/nl195-wow.gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bree\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bree\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html\",\"name\":\"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-17T03:10:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-04T23:29:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef9d0b09ee9a4a6b39fca1ad54d3525f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Secret Retreats Blog\",\"description\":\"Unveiling the essence of Asia\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef9d0b09ee9a4a6b39fca1ad54d3525f\",\"name\":\"bree\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/671c4b2758f23cc11e246201411154b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/671c4b2758f23cc11e246201411154b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bree\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog","og_description":"The deadly dilemma. To have to choose between two evils: living with covid or trying to hide from covid. We are faced with two clear choices: – To continue on the path that we are currently on, choosing to no longer live our lives. To remain withdrawn, our borders closed to the outside world as […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html","og_site_name":"Secret Retreats Blog","article_published_time":"2020-09-17T03:10:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-04T23:29:27+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/nl195-wow.gif"}],"author":"bree","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bree","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html","url":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html","name":"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us - Secret Retreats Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-09-17T03:10:25+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-04T23:29:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef9d0b09ee9a4a6b39fca1ad54d3525f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/general-info\/an-open-letter-to-our-world-leaders-who-suffocate-us-in-the-name-of-protecting-us.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Open Letter to our World Leaders who Suffocate Us in the Name of Protecting Us"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/","name":"Secret Retreats Blog","description":"Unveiling the essence of Asia","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ef9d0b09ee9a4a6b39fca1ad54d3525f","name":"bree","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/671c4b2758f23cc11e246201411154b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/671c4b2758f23cc11e246201411154b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bree"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}