The truth lies in the middle
Running to the extremes will not solve anything
One of the life lessons you learn as a parent is the truth often lies in the middle. One child comes running to you claiming the other child did some horrible thing (something like throwing their favorite doll) completely unprovoked and without any reason. The other child quickly objects and claims the doll slipped out of his hand and only after the first child committed some heinous act that caused the dreaded doll incident. Sound familiar? After a few of these, you quickly learn that the real truth lies somewhere in the middle of both stories and that both children are guilty of embellishment.
Many of our adult problems and challenges now feel like two small children each pointing their fingers at the other side with the truth somewhere in the middle. When we think about the last two years and where we should go from here, we would be well advised to start looking for the truth in the middle and not get trapped on either end.
Take COVID-19 as an example. One side would have you believe that the coronavirus pandemic was blown way out of proportion and that many of the “so-called COVID-19 deaths” were not really COVID-19 at all but rather those people had died from another cause. These people would also tell you that the vaccines are not effective and that they even “change your DNA” and can cause death. They would take the position that COVID-19 was man-made in a lab in China and released on purpose. They would also say that Dr. Antony Fauci was behind the whole thing just so he could get rich. They will even take the position that masks do nothing to stop the spread of the virus and are just a form of government control, just like the other restrictions and mandates.
Wild and crazy, right? Let’s take a look at the other side. The other side would have you believe that COVID-19 could be the end of humanity. They would suggest that we should all wear masks, multiple masks all the time, until the end of time. They would suggest that mask mandates should never be lifted and that universal vaccines mandates should be put in place and enforced. They take the position that natural immunity has no value and that everyone should be fully vaccinated and boosted every six months.
The problem is that both sides have legitimate claims in some cases and the truth lies in the middle.
The reality is that COVID-19 was (and is) the worst pandemic any of us have ever seen. It did kill almost one million people in this country. Masks and social distancing do help slow down the spread of the virus and the vaccines are very effective at keeping you out of the hospital and alive. Oh, and no, the vaccine does not kill people or alter your DNA.
That all being said, we can’t live under mandates and wear masks for the rest of our lives. We need to get back to as close to normal as possible and now is the time. The virus is now acting like most viruses in that it is mutating where each mutation is more contagious and/or less severe. If it continues to progress in this fashion, it will eventually reduce its severity to the point where we really don’t have to worry about it, much like we really don’t worry about the common cold. Additionally, the combination of vaccines and natural immunity will also help curb the virus and its spread.
So, yes, we still need to be aware of the virus but no, we don’t have to live in fear of it like we did when it started. The truth is in the middle.
We can learn a great deal from this pandemic, such as how we reacted to it and how we can apply the lessons we have learned to future issues, like how we reform health care in this country.
Taking extreme positions on COVID-19 is similar to taking extreme positions on healthcare reform; it keeps us from finding creative solutions to the problems we face.
The people that believe the only solution to our health care problem is a single-payer or Medicare-for-All plan are wrong. Their belief that simply passing Medicare-for-All will solve all our problems is about as crazy as the people that believe COVID-19 is all a big hoax developed by the Government to create a reason for them to inject tracking devices into us under the guise of a vaccine.
The camp that believes our health care problems can be solved by simply allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines (remember that one) and that the free market will take care of things are also wrong. Their plan has about as much chance of fixing our issues as Trump does of getting the 2020 election overturned.
The truth lies in the middle. Healthcare reform and fixing all the other problems we have in this country won’t be easy and the solutions won’t be simply Republican or Democratic. There is no magic bullet and many of the solutions we need will anger both the left and the right.
These are serious problems, and they are going to take serious discussion and compromise to fix. If we fail at that we could see our health care system crash like the housing market did in 2008. Also, don’t forget that the healthcare market is far bigger than the housing market. A crash in the healthcare market would make 2008 and 2009 look like a slight downturn.
Ron also discussed the problem of the “opposition virus” yesterday here on FLATLINING.net and on the FLATLINING Podcast. You can listen here:
