I transitioned to my current libertarian perspective from a more conventional conservative one during the Tea Party movement during the early Obama Administration. I had already embraced an unfettered position on immigration and free trade, so this was simply a logical extension of those principles. Unlike many new libertarians, I was not influenced by Ron Paul's GOP POTUS campaigns in 2008 and 2012. In part, I didn't think he had public sector experience. Ron also seemed uncompromising, preachy, and spoke judgmentally about blowback to foreign policy. I saw him more as a gadfly than a leader, even when I agreed with him on many issues like neo-con foreign policy and the unaccountable Federal Reserve. I also have differed from him on specific issues, like his constraints on immigration and opposition to vaccine mandates. Via Google AI:
Now I share many of my fellow libertarians' concerns about the pandemic — I was unemployed at the beginning of the pandemic and was one of those not declared "essential" workers. Out-of-state travelers were stopped under "stay at home" rules; maskless transit passengers were ejected. Some cities required vaccine cards to dine. I recall having to make an unprecedented reservation to get my hair cut. I understand the resentment towards an unaccountable, unelected technocracy of public health experts, guidelines being implemented with the same fervor as climate change alarmism. It became more difficult because COVID spread largely through bioaerosols that were hard to filter (for most, e.g., cloth facemasks). A significant percentage of COVID-infected individuals (maybe 35%) have been asymptomatic, along with a delayed rollout of testing for the virus and limited hospital capacity and qualified health professionals, which exacerbated public safety concerns.
Still, it wasn't healthcare professionals who directed infected patients to highly vulnerable nursing homes like Andrew Cuomo. They didn't have the power to establish "stay at home" directives, patrol church parking lots for unauthorized worship services or pick winners (e.g., Walmart) and losers in a largely closed economy..They didn't constitute the incompetence of the Trump Administration in a failed, delayed original rollout by a federal monopoly of COVID tests, which could help contain infection spread, or quarantine returning American tourists from global hot spots. They didn't attempt to mandate things like vaccine cards to access business or go to work.I have no doubt that political power seekers exploited public panic and used dubiously evidenced guidelines under the pretext of "following the science".They didn't largely shut down in-person public education with disastrous educational outcomes..
