South Dakota is known for Mount Rushmore, but now it’s also gaining attention for something else that’s truly remarkable.
The Mount Rushmore state led by Republican Governor Kristi Noem never instituted lockdowns and has tried to put freedom first as much as possible.
Now South Dakota has just posted up 3% unemployment, which is lower than their state’s unemployment before the COVID pandemic. That’s highly impressive to say the least.
Noem Knows What She’s Doing
Noem didn’t buy into the World Health Organization propaganda or go for a hardcore lockdown. The mental and physical cost of lockdowns has been enormous, and there’s very little evidence that they’ve actually caused rates of COVID to go down.
If lockdowns work then why are we currently at record highs globally for the coronavirus? What about believing in science?
In December Noem wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal where she explained her approach to COVID and how her state responds to it.
“Rather than following the pack and mandating harsh rules, South Dakota provides our residents with information about what is happening on the ground in our state—the science, facts and data,” Noem wrote.
“Then, we ask all South Dakotans to take personal responsibility for their health, the health of their loved ones, and—in turn—the health of our communities. The state hasn’t issued lockdowns or mask mandates. We haven’t shut down businesses or closed churches. In fact, our state has never even defined what an ‘essential business’ is. That isn’t the government’s role.”
Can I get an amen?
NEWS: South Dakota's unemployment rate dropped to 3.0% in December.
That's lower than it was BEFORE the pandemic.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) January 22, 2021
While Other States Suffer, South Dakota Soars
South Dakota has a thriving economy thanks in part to oil and gas and other industries, but it can’t be ignored that it’s also doing very well with such an impressive unemployment rate because it didn’t buy into the lockdown hype.
By leaving residents free to make the decisions that are best for their healthcare the state is representing a model to the rest of the nation.
As for South Dakota’s COVID rates, they’re very low compared to the US national numbers that we’re currently seeing. There have been 106,700 recorded COVID cases and 1,684 COVID-related deaths in the state total, while the rest of the country is seeing 82,000 new cases per day.
It’s clear that what South Dakota is doing is working. Health is important and anyone with symptoms or who is vulnerable should be staying home, wearing a mask and not having the chance to be infected or infect others.
But by leaving others free to do what’s best for them, Noem has allowed South Dakota’s economy to flourish and keep building during the unprecedented upheaval that other states have been experiencing.
Learning from Noem
Other states could learn from Noem. Both red and blue states right now are buckling under COVID pressure and scrambling to come up with rules to stop the spread. Especially now that it turns out President Joe Biden doesn’t actually have a plan to stop COVID except to try to get people a few more shots, states are panicking to come up with their own solutions.
The dilemma in this case is that if they try to go for strict lockdowns they are going to face two primary problems. Firstly, the lockdowns and stricter rules show no signs of being effective and second, they will cause the local economy and small businesses to collapse, leading to widespread unrest and economic devastation.
The Democrats may want to have generations hooked on government assistance and moving towards a socialist surveillance state, but there’s no reason conservatives and libertarians should go along with it.
