Musician Lashes Out Against the COVID Cult

A musician who’s weary of the COVID hysteria just sent me the following, and I thought (with her permission) you might also want to read it:

I’ve been an avid fan of yours, as well as an effective Tom Woods proselytizing device, since the day after Trump was elected in 2016.
 

You don’t have much time with everything on your plate, so I’ll cut right to the chase: Thank you so much for supporting live concerts, especially in this ridiculous and frustrating year. My ears perk up and my heart warms every time I hear how much you enjoy classical music. It reminds me why I sometimes put up with the insane narrow-mindedness of my colleagues in the arts world: to entertain and inspire musical aficionados like you!

A symphony orchestra in the Midwest who shall remain unnamed recently rolled out their virus protocol for rehearsals and performances. A serology test upon arrival into town. Chairs separated by 6 ft, and the eradication of stand partners (any musician can tell you of the difficulty this deviation-from-the-norm causes). Absolutely no shifting around of any equipment or it must be re-measured and readjusted by the stage manager. And — of course — our issued N95 masks. Wind players are allowed to remove the mask when the instrument actually touches their lips…how benevolent.

The kicker: The concert was performed outdoors in a baseball stadium to avoid all the dangers of the concert hall. Due to 20mph winds and rain, we performed only a Mozart overture before being sent home.

It was a rough weekend for an outspoken libertarian. Incensed, I returned to my hotel room after the first rehearsal and composed a 1000-word op-ed to the New York Times and a few other publications closer to my hometown of Kansas City. The self-explanatory title: “No, It’s Not ‘Better Than Not Playing.'”

No one accepted my writing. Why would they? It doesn’t suit the arts-world narrative of “mask up, stay safe, protect your fellow musicians.”

I am in incredible disbelief that virtually no one else in my industry is willing to speak out against this madness. It is crippling our livelihoods, and they ignore the root of the problem.

Following this gig debacle, I have made the sad decision not to take another restricted playing opportunity until the hysteria has died down. Enough is enough. We’re not making music anymore, we’re following draconian orders — usually mandated by some higher-up authority who clearly has no concept of how musical ensembles operate.

I digress. Thank you for being an arts supporter. Thank you for speaking reason and balance and sanity into the void — even if it doesn’t reach as far as my statist compatriots in the orchestra field.

Musically yours,

A disgruntled symphony violinist

It’s hard not to come to the conclusion that since we live in two different realities, it’s time for us to live in two separate societies.

One can live actual human lives — with all the risks and joys that entails — and the other can live as moral scolds in hermetically sealed underground bunkers, from which they can broadcast their outrage at the rest of us over Zoom.

It’s so remarkable to observe headlines about how “surprising” it is that schools haven’t been significant vectors of the virus, or how “baffling” it is that Italy is having a resurgence of the virus despite — as the Daily Beast openly admits — having done everything that people like Dr. Fauci recommended.

It’s remarkable because you and I weren’t surprised at all.