It looks like masks are making a comeback just in time for fall fashion. Is it okay to joke about such a serious subject? I think it is, given that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) can’t make up its mind from one hour to the next about the best way to protect people from Covid-19. Do we wear masks? Do we wear masks only indoors? Do we wear masks only indoors on Tuesdays from 3-9 p.m. with no more than two other families present and standing 3 feet away from the kitchen sink at all times in order to best protect ourselves from a highly survivable disease?

State governments also struggle to make these decisions, usually falling back on “this is a new disease; research is constantly changing” as an escape route for their actions. At one point, California said that all kids have to wear masks for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. Then it almost immediately retracted that statement and said “Just kidding – it’s okay to see your peers’ and teachers’ faces. You’re just kids. We want you to have a fulfilling educational experience, as long as you show up to a public classroom for state-led indoctrination.”

The CDC recently said that the Delta variant makes it easier for vaccinated people to spread the virus. Yes, you read that right: It is EASIER for fully vaccinated people who did what their government said and got the shot to protect themselves, their countrymen, and the world. Sounds like propaganda to further divide the vaccinated from the unvaccinated. Except instead of the fully vaxxed being afraid of and infuriated by their fellow citizen’s choice to not inject a brand new vaccine into their bodies, the non-vaxxed have reason to be spooked that the double-jabbed might share their germs.

Except those who remain unvaccinated probably don’t scare that easily. Because given the high survival rate of these viruses and the way our leaders have wielded fearmongering like an iron fist, choosing personal freedom over accepting a controversial vaccine forced on you by your government is a logical choice. It’s okay – brave, even – to want to keep your business open, go to your job, attend school, and visit other people. Allowing our government to make an increasingly large number of choices for us is a bigger threat to American freedom than any strain of the coronavirus.

Now, the Delta variant that originated in India is all over the news, usually with an alarmist tone. Is the Delta variant going to shut down schools again? Close businesses who barely survived the first round of lockdowns? Ruin people’s hopes for a more normal future, one that involves socializing with our fellow humans and having hope for a brighter tomorrow?

More than likely. Not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic. The Delta variant has been found in all 50 states. It is now the dominant strain of the coronavirus that started the pandemic, but it isn’t the only strain still circulating. The Alpha and Delta Plus are both strains that can infect people and keep the pandemic and restrictions in place. Because after a pandemic ends, the disease becomes endemic, and the infections (and increased regulations) never fully leave us.