Are we ready for the long term effects of COVID-19? As we watch so many parish around the world, as a country we need to prepare for what we are giving away... Our civil liberties. In Michigan, it will now be a crime to go to your neighbors house. Should we social distance for our health? Yes, of course. But when we allow goverment to dictate when, how and who we interacte with, we are losing a lot more than just our lives. We are losing what it is to be an American.
MIKE DONOVAN: The America that we are living in right now is not a free America. If we're going to shut it all down for this,
we'll shut it all down for everything. We're losing it folks. What it is to be an American, what it is to be free, and what even it is to be human.
Good evening everyone. Welcome to another episode of Not Free America radio podcast, episode nine. Tonight we discuss COVID-19 specifically… folks, we are in the midst of a very, very rapidly changing culture, society, government, country, and every day the hysterics of the COVID-19 reaction just become more and more difficult to bear.And you know, I'm going to start off this podcast by saying… I’m Mike Donovan, I don't talk a lot about this when we do the podcasts, but I'm a business owner. I employ hundreds of people. I do know and I have an understanding of these issues. We fund a law firm. We file lawsuits… section 1983 civil rights lawsuits all across the country to protect disadvantaged individuals.
The reason that I mentioned it is because everybody needs to be aware of something. We started this crisis off with a doomsday scenario. We were literally about to watch all of our family and friends die. We might die ourselves. It was so bad that we needed to shut down the American economy and really in large, waving sort of ways, the world economy. And now we're hearing from the government that things are better and that maybe we can come back to work. Maybe we can bring the economy back… and then there are other people saying, no, we can't because it's too dangerous. And I think we all need to stop. Stop listening to the noise for a second and ask yourself, “What is going on here?” What is going on here now?
I see this radical shift, and the way that the United States of America has reacted to COVID-19, is one of the scariest things I think I've ever seen. It's not to say that the policies of social distancing, the policies of closing schools, the policy of encouraging telework, the stimulus packages to help people get direct access to cash… all of these things make total sense.
The one thing that doesn't make sense is to abdicate civil liberties to allow big government to come even bigger. In the news today, we find out that Apple and Google have combined resources and are going to be able to provide contact tracing to over 3 billion people. Again, welcome to the new COVID-19 reality folks… where Apple Inc. and Google have gotten together and are going to add technology to their smartphone platforms that will allow users to be alarmed, alerted if they come into contact with a person with COVID-19.
Now I want you to think about that. So as you're walking around, your phone is finding out… is communicating with apps and other phones to determine if a person has COVID-19 positive and if they are, it alerts you. Do you think it alerts anybody else? I don't know. I mean, do you think maybe -- where do you think that information goes?
Where do you think that kind of information collection ends? Well, world history is a really good indicator and it never ends well. Okay. The government tracking this type of information and having private companies do it, private companies that are such a staple of our lives, Google and Apple -- that we couldn't possibly divorce them from ourselves even if we wanted to. This is the danger of this disease. The disease is real. It is killing people. Not the way we were told it was going to. I'll even grant you that maybe it's the crazy social, you know that that sort of locked down stuff. Even if that contributed to the flattening of the curve. What we've also done is elongate the curve, so it's going to be longer to get through this. It sucks that a virus like COVID-19 exists. And it sucks that it kills people.
And it is horrible what it does to people. And it is sad and it is something that we as the American people and the people of the world have to deal with. But folks, we have to deal with it… hiding in our homes and hiding under our beds, digging in our heels and refusing deal with reality, giving the government and private companies working with the government, dramatic supervision and surveillance capabilities over our lives… allowing the state to become Draconian in its process and its policies… This is what we're doing.
And we've done it in a relatively few number of weeks. The United States of America, which was built to withstand tyranny, enemies, foreign and domestic. Now we have a -- by the way, Michigan. Wait, what? What's going on in Michigan? So Governor Whitmer issued a new order strengthening the state's already incredibly strong stay at home order.
And Whitmer’s stay at home order now will forbid people from going to their neighbor’s homes… will forbid people from going to visit a family member who lives across the street… Grandma lives across the street? Too bad. Can't go see her. Why? Because it's a crime. It's a crime. What is wrong with us? What is wrong with us? This isn't America. This is stupid. This is stupid. Not because it's a bad idea to stay in your house and not go next door, but because Gretchen Whitmer shouldn't be able to tell the people of Michigan that they can't leave their house or go to their grandma's house.
Listen, if I have to convince you of why that is, just stop listening. Okay? Like if you don't get it, if you don't understand why we don't want the government to tell us when we can go to the store, whose house we can go to, what neighbor we can visit, what family member we can see… If you don't get why that's a problem, you're in the wrong podcast. Save yourself some time. And you're also in the wrong country. You're also in the wrong ideology, okay? There are plenty of places in the world where the government will tell you exactly what to do every second, every minute, every hour of every day. That is not this country. At least it didn't use to be. I'm not going to accept this. This is not our new reality. It is, but it doesn't have to be because what we do as Americans in response to this is critically, critically important.
Dr. Anthony Faucci says that Americans could eventually have to carry certificates of immunity to the Coronavirus. You get that? We don't even know if people are immune to it yet. Guys, you want to carry around papers? Are you listening to this? Will people with this government paper be allowed to move and people that don't have the government paper won't be? Do you honestly think that's any crazier than the stuff that's happening right now? The American people, you need to listen to me. Wake up, wake up, because we're going to lose it all and it's going to be too late to get it back. Stay at home. Don't go next door. Don't visit grandma. Are you kidding me?
This is the United States of America. This is a different place. We were decidedly made different, created different, because we knew that we as people could rule ourselves. We didn't need a King, but look how scared are, I guess we need one now. You know, I'm going to leave you with this. Maybe, maybe just, maybe we should just embrace this new position of stopping things when we can avoid problems?
If the going gets tough, the tough shelter in place, right? So we just, maybe we all need to think about this here. For example, did you know that more than 38,000 people are going to die this year in auto crashes and another 4 million are going to be injured significantly?
We have the capability of immediately saving 38,000 lives right now by criminalizing driving. Now it's going to be inconvenient. It's going to be difficult, but if we do it, we know we can say 38,000 lives. What are you people waiting for? You don't need to drive. You're going to tell me that your right to drive is worth my grandma's life… to quote a CNN anchor. You’re going to tell me that my grandma, who may be passed away in a car crash, that her life is less important than you going out to the store, right?
Oh, how about this one? 72,500 people this year projected to die from alcohol related deaths -- alcohol related deaths, but yet we continue to sell alcohol. Why? Because people like it. Because it makes them feel good. Is my grandmother's life less important than your drink?
Stop. Listen, think. What does this mean? If we're going to shut our society down, if we're just going to put our heads in the sand, and if we're going to shut it all down for this, we'll shut it all down for everything. We're losing it folks… what it is to be in America. Okay? What it is to be free… and what it is to be human. Shelter in place, lock down, don't visit grandma. You can't go next door… registries? iPhone tracking?
Wake up folks. I don't know how much longer we're going to be able to talk about this before they shut us up.
Thanks for joining us tonight. Folks, join me tomorrow in case we can still talk about these things. We will discuss the death toll and what is actually happening in hospitals. You know, it's interesting to see video around some of the most ravaged hospitals and talk to folks there. We do have someone at the Detroit medical center. We are going to be bringing you some information from Detroit specifically tomorrow as well. So make sure you join us. Thank you so much for joining me on Not Free Radio. Take care guys.