To the editor:

Ever since we signed the Baraga County Manifesto, we have seen a massive tidal wave of support and encouragement. This feedback comes from people and places I never heard of before, all wishing to give us a pat on the back or to inquire how their community can follow our lead.

Clearly we struck a note that is resounding throughout the nation.

The few unfriendly contacts have been uniformly mean-spirited, threatening and/or idiotic (my “favorite” is having an ancient Sami curse put upon my head). These pathetic criticisms do not deserve a response, especially when they are outnumbered by the positives 9-1.

I have been questioned by well-meaning people, however, about why we are not following “medical advice” regarding COVID-19? This is not true. Nothing in the Baraga County Manifesto suggests ignoring “medical advice.”

Further, the question itself implies that the medical community is infallible and that such “medical advice” is sacrosanct and should be blindly followed to the exclusion of all else. This too is untrue. At the risk of offending the doctors in my own family, as well as those I respect and admire in the medical community, I cannot support the abrogation of our civil liberties and the destruction of our economies based on government-mandated “medical advice.”

Here’s why.

We are in the midst of another epidemic which has raged on for over a decade with no end in sight. To date that epidemic has claimed nearly half a million lives and the death toll rises daily. Factoring in the emotional devastation of family and friends of the victims, this epidemic dwarfs that of COVID-19. Did the medical community offer “medical advice” to prevent this ongoing crisis? NO! On the contrary, despite early warnings from many observers, including myself, the medical community created and encouraged the flood of opioids into our communities. Instead of protecting us from an opioid epidemic the medical community profited from the misery it spawned, to the tune of tens of billions of dollars!

Given this very recent history, why would anyone trust “medical advice” enough to allow it to restructure the very fabric of our society?