After the Hollister City Council meeting and the attempt to punish local businesses who actively defied the order I felt compelled to write this letter. The real issue is not that Paines and a few other local businesses tried to stay open and defy the order. THE REAL PROBLEM IS THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES WHO DEFIED THE ORDER AND TRIED TO STAY OPEN!
Business owners all over San Benito County, and in my opinion all over the state and nation, need to right now start defying shut down and lock down orders and open their businesses. I say this again knowing that there is real suffering being caused by the virus, but there is also real suffering being caused by the lockdowns and mask orders, and I will say again ALL SUFFERING IS EQUAL.
I believe there are two main reasons business owners and citizens should defy these orders. First: The government has no right to tell me what level of risk I am willing to take. A grocery store worker has to work, but a salon owner can’t? No logic, no science, just plain politics.
Second, (and I am sure I will catch hell for this) it’s apparent from the data that the tighter the lockdowns, the greater the spread and rate of infections. In the three plus weeks since San Benito County went on the lockdown again, the infection rate has skyrocketed.
There is a time and place for a mask, I have no doubt, but it is not the solution to all virus problems. Yet despite all of this the case fatality rate in San Benito county as of Friday night was 23 deaths divided by 2,760 infections x 100 for .83 percent meaning 99.17 percent of all infected people in San Benito county will recover from the coronavirus.
Remember: Do the math yourself, research my claims yourself, don’t just take my word for it. Yet some on the city council and board of supervisors attempted to destroy many of the small businesses in Hollister to supposedly slow the spread of the virus.
I doubt there is anyone on the city council or county board who was alive when Paines restaurant first opened in Hollister, yet they feel they have the moral high ground to put them out of business. My mom used to have a word for that.
Randy Logue
Hollister
