Keep it Simple: The high cost of freedom by Michael Jones

Almost two years ago, just prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic which would change the world in a drastic way, claiming the lives of more than 5 million people, I was asked to do some writing for a history project with a group called History Matters. At the time the group's goal was to write a book a year over the next five years to document the history of Otsego County.

Two books later and we are now well into the third of this ambitious project. The first two books, "Otsego County, Women in History," and "Places of our Past, Otsego County, Michigan," are, as they say, in the books. The third, "Otsego County After I-75," should find its way to the printer sometime this spring.

I've contributed several chapters, as have a number of other local history buffs, to our latest endeavor and just before Christmas I was asked to add one more. Specifically the county's response to the current once-in-a-century pandemic; the one before being the Great Influenza pandemic, which dominated the pages of the Herald Times from 1918 to 1920, just like our own pandemic has dominated the local news of the past two years.

Early into my research I must say things look rather dismal as to our county's response to the current pandemic. Like much of the country, which early on was intent to politicize this latest health crisis, we seem to have seen fit to take sides politically, with far too many of us choosing the side of misinformation and lashing back at the science and medical advice to keep ourselves safe. Instead an overwhelming number of us have chosen to hide behind the idea of protecting our supposed freedoms, while shunning mask wearing and vaccinations, our two primary tools to getting out from under our current situation.

In our county, we have paid a high, and quite deadly price, for our supposed freedom — to do whatever the heck we want in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Our supposed freedom to not wear masks and to abstain from life-saving vaccines has resulted in an obscene number of COVID-19 deaths: 77 as of Dec. 20, 2021.

Compare those deaths; which 77 families have had to mourn, with those of the three other counties encompassed by the Health Department of Northern Michigan: Antrim with 48 deaths, Charlevoix with 50 and Emmet with 58 deaths. We top the list walking away. Those are hard facts to ignore.

On Dec. 14, 2021, one year after the first vaccinations began to be administered in the United States 60 percent of us had been vaccinated nationwide. At the state level Michigan had not fared as well, with only 55 percent stepping up to the plate, while here in Otsego County the vaccination rate stands at a lowly 52 percent — more facts which are hard to ignore.

I'm afraid when the history of the county is written our lack of a compassionate response to the pandemic will not look pretty. Not when you add some anecdotal information such as Gaylord having the only restaurant in Northern Michigan that refused to close its doors after a statewide mandate was issued last winter to help control the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Or the parent group who sued Gaylord Community Schools for having the audacity to follow a mask mandate implemented by the health department and designed to keep all of our children free from illness. They failed to understand mask mandates protect the freedom of all concerned in their right to stay healthy — never mind, they seemed to say, we just want our kids to have their supposed freedom to do whatever they/we want to do — is not my idea of freedom.

Even our county commissioners saw fit to become embroiled in a brouhaha challenging and attempting to undermine the health department which has been charged with mitigating the impact the pandemic has had on all our lives.

Strange reactions by many of those who call our county home. Strange to think their misguided ideas of freedom have imperiled us even more in their attempts to strip all of us of our freedom to pursue community safety and wellness.

Yes, we have paid a high price for our supposed freedoms here in Otsego County. Too bad, it didn't have to be this way. History will remember even if we won't. History matters.

— Michael Jones is a columnist and contributor for the Gaylord Herald Times. He can be reached at mfomike2@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Keep it Simple: The high cost of freedom by Michael Jones