During our conversation, she asked me an important question: What will America learn about its government after the COVID situation has finally passed?

This question is not only important, but it is interesting, as well. Will people’s views of their federal, state, and local governments change? Could this lead to a paradigm shift in American attitudes on its leadership?

In answer to her question, I predicted that most of the country would learn nothing from the COVID-19 pandemic. After nearly two years of hysteria over a virus with a survival rate of 99 percent that affects primarily older individuals with underlying health conditions, it does not seem the populace has learned its lesson – and you better believe the government has taken notice.

Most Americans do not seem as disturbed by how far the federal government and governors of some states were willing to go ostensibly to curb the spread of the virus. Even the leaders of some conservative-leaning states like Texas bought into the hysteria, albeit to a lesser extent than those like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

And we still have not learned.

Democratic restriction-loving politicians have been constantly schoolmarming the rest of the population from their lofty perches about complying with draconian COVID measures. Meanwhile, many of these hyper-elitists have been caught on camera violating the very rules they have foisted on those living under their governance.

But we have still not learned.

Indeed, we are not yet out of this fervor over COVID-19 and mask and vaccine mandates and it seems that it could get worse. The left seems fixated on finding any excuses they can to justify more restrictions and the upcoming flu season might just give them the justification they need to tighten vaccine and mask mandates and even bring back lockdown orders.

If this flu season ends up being much worse than others, which some are predicting, why wouldn’t the authoritarian crowd try pushing the limits further? After all, dealing with both the flu and the Delta variant would be a prime excuse for enacting more measures, wouldn’t it?

Even then, we will still not learn.

As much as I hate to say it, the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic will cause most everyday Americans to realize that the government is not their friend is minimal from where I sit. Our attention spans are not quite as long as we would like and the activist media never runs out of fodder with which to distract us. Since the press has gone from speaking truth to power to becoming an arm of the state, there will likely be no real change in how most of us view the government.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. I did say I believe most of the public will not wake up yet. But I do think there is a small number of people, on both sides, whose entire viewpoint on our government has changed. Even further, I think there will be more who figure it out before the COVID hysteria has concluded and the left is no longer able to exploit it.

These folks will see that our politicians are not worth the respect and adoration they are given. They will see that the government is not concerned with protecting our rights or even adhering to the Constitution. In essence, they will see that most government officials do not care for the wellbeing of the citizenry as they claim. While this might not be enough for the type of awakening we need to push back forcefully against the state, it is probably a step in the right direction.

For a societal push away from statism to happen, the people will have to experience enough pain inflicted by the government before it reaches a “Popeye Moment” in which they just can’t stand it anymore. The elites and activist media know this, which is why they have become quite proficient at pushing the line without quite breaking it. But they can’t do it forever.

The question is: when they decide to push further than they already have, will America abandon its complacency? Or will Americans continue being suckered into submission by the media and other powers-that-be?