Can man live by garden centers alone?
That question was implicit in one aspect of the public-health response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which, five years ago, had already begun its march to mow down Americans’ civil liberties and personal freedoms.
Half a decade ago—so long ago, so strangely fresh in memory—workers, students, worshipers, and pretty much everybody else whose post was deemed “nonessential” were instructed to cocoon themselves within their homes. As public health officials and the elected officials who putatively worked for them saw it, the population was akin to a juvenile delinquent who, upon getting in trouble with the teacher, is sent home to Mom with a suspension.
In addition to those who were restricted from their place of business, education, or worship, countless others were prohibited from the pleasures of everyday existence. In Ohio,…
