Non-essential: Under this label, heroes are found

Imagine your elected politician has deemed you “non-essential.” You’ve lost your job, savings, business, livelihood.

Imagine watching your peers deemed “essential” continue to be employed on government construction projects as you in the private sector are unable to work.

Imagine being deemed “essential” as doctors and nurses, then getting furloughed by hospitals and clinics because there aren’t enough patients.

Imagine your elected politicians respond to prisoners’ protests by releasing them into society, then threaten the law-abiding citizens who protest recreational fishing closures.

Imagine trying to exercise your 2nd Amendment rights, only to find that gun stores are deemed “non-essential” while pot stores are “essential.”

Imagine politicians cheerfully telling you “We’re all in this together,” while they and the bureaucracy they lead remain employed as “essential.”

Imagine your politicians picking economic winners and losers, and you – a hard-working, law-abiding citizen – are the loser.

Imagine living under socialist authoritarian rule.

No imagination necessary.

Our real heroes are “non-essential.”

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Non-essential: Under this label, heroes are found."