If you haven’t yet had whiplash from Coronavirus news, the latest headline from The New York Post might just give it to you. The World Health Organization (WHO) is now lauding self-regulating, lockdown-ignoring Sweden and calling the country a “model”, with “lessons to be learned” going forward.

After COVID-19 reached pandemic status, Sweden went about business as usual for the most part. Students were in schools, people dined in cafes and by golly, ladies of Sweden were able to get a very much-needed root touch up. Yes, not going to lie, your American counterparts are jealous.

The WHO, the very organization that commended China’s response to COVID-19 and all but called President Xi Jinping a rock star, even though China flat-out lied about the severity and number of cases out of Wuhan, is now praising Sweden on their lax lockdown rules.

I think there’s a perception out there that Sweden has not put in control measures and just has allowed the disease to spread. Nothing can be further from the truth. Sweden has put in place a very strong public health policy around physical distancing, around caring and protecting for people in, in long-term facilities, and many other things.”

What it has done differently is it has very much relied on its relationship with its citizenry, and the ability and willingness of citizens to implement physical distancing and to self-regulate, if you want to use that word.”-Dr. Michael Ryan

I know what you’re thinking right now. Who actually listens to what the WHO has to say anymore? Are they even relevant or credible at this point? Has ANYTHING that The WHO has provided to us in light of this pandemic been the least bit useful to us as Americans? Why are we still funding this organization?

Andrelationship with its citizenry? What in the heck is that? Ryan does go on to explain that Swedes have the ability and willingness to implement physical distance and self-regulate. Unlike those Italians who like to hug and kiss a lot of random people or us dumb Americans who haven’t a clue how to social distance and self-regulate, right?

Oh, the irony of this all! How many times have we heard our friends and family members and other random people we may know who vote Democrat talk about how awesome our economic structure would be if we were more like Denmark or Sweden? Except during a pandemic, that is. We Americans have no discipline to self-regulate. We want to be told to stay at home. I mean, in some states, we rely on our governors to make tough decisions for us like closing down schools for the rest of the year in the name of “more science”. I mean, we really DO need those lines of tape measured out in 6-foot increments to keep us from crawling up our neighbor’s bum in the check out lane. And those “one way” signs at the grocery stores? Well, they are just brilliant! And let’s not forget the little notes on the shelves in front of the toilet paper that say “only one package for customer”. We LOVE this stuff! Regulate us, oh, powers that be!

I think if we are to reach a new normal, Sweden represents a model if we wish to get back to a society in which we don’t have lockdowns.-Dr. Michael Ryan“

We could wish all we want. Weeks ago, Sweden clearly did not care about its people and the immunocompromised weeks before, so they say. News outlets criticized Sweden’s approach. Regardless, because Swedes are so great at self-regulating and listening to the government, according to The WHO, they were all out living their best lives during the pandemic. And perhaps, petulant little kids that we are, we could learn from this, The WHO says.

Swedes have a high level of trust in the government, and tend to follow its instructions.”-Gabriel Leigh, Forbes

And, there it is. Bad Americans, you need to trust your government on all counts. Self-regulating Swedes trust their government and this is why they are able to enjoy an open-air lunch at a cafe. As for some of us big, dumb oafs in the U.S.A., we don’t. Why? Perhaps despite hopeful news of antibody testing, possible and promising treatments for COVID-19 and downward infection and mortality rates in some of our states, we are continually being slapped in the face with the reality of a crashing economy and told to wait a little longer. How much longer? Who knows? We’re prisoners in our homes while violent offenders in prisons come close to getting released. One of these violent prisoners? Gary Ridgeway, Washington State’s infamous Green River Killer. We missed having this monster released in a narrow 5-4 vote. A criminal, who has an inability to self-regulate to the point of raping, torturing and killing-give or take-49 young women was almost granted his freedom but some innocent Americans can’t leave their house and go to their jobs because their jobs no longer exist. Business owners cannot open their doors because if they do, their governor will shut their business down. All because of the same pandemic.

This “new normal”, as people are calling it, is not healthy. The WHO has no credibility and should NOT be a source of reliable information. The WHO has lied to us about China’s management of COVID-19. The same WHO that is now saying that Sweden is a “model” for self-regulating citizens and “population partnership” only adds insult to injury at this point. As far as I’m concerned, my self-regulation has gone out the window. I’ve got two fingers and they are pointing the WHO to heaven. Self-regulate this!

Photo Credit: WikiMedia Commons/United States Mission Geneva / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)/Cropped