Some things to consider in the Covid-19 panic. I've always known Covid is real, and that it's slightly more dangerous than the flu. I'm quite aware of how the mortality rate is considerably higher than some other viral outbreaks, especially with the elderly and those suffering health conditions. I've been less than convinced there is anything we could have done to stop it, short of shutting the nation down completely in January and keeping it shut down for about 2 months....which seems to be where we've gone anyway. That said, even extreme measures are unlikely to stop the spread. I've always supported an abundance of caution. But now that we're here with extreme measures, let's think calmly about HOW we got here.
Fear. Just fear. Yes, many of us would've gotten sick. Yes, some people would die. We can talk all we want about flattening the curve to keep hospital facilities from being overrun...while ignoring how herd immunity is being compromised. Furthermore, in shutting down in the manner we did, we basically sent people on 5 days of panic shopping whereby anyone infected and shopping was busy spreading the virus. It seems to me, the 'cure' is just as bad as letting it run its course. By increasing fear and panic, and even potentially the spread.
What's really concerning to me, however, is less the health issue and more the socio-political issue. This is the largest non-partisan event of our lifetime, and it's been heavily politicized. To that point, consider this - Democrats, who only a week ago complained that President Trump was abusing power, now are complaining that he isn't using enough power to 'fix' this.
I'm not commenting on whether Trump is a good or bad president. I'm no fan, but this isn't about him at all. I won't even blame the Democrats, because political activities in this situation have been generally bipartisan.
However, despite it sounding partisan, I will comment on hyperbole. As both Democratic politicians and journalists rip the President's response, the level of absurdity they reach for in their complaints is very high. They fail to see the irony of contradictory positions or hypocrisy. They may have complained that Trump is abusing power a month ago, but have no qualms abusing it as long as it's in their interest of increasing centralized power (which, naturally, is YOUR interest, even when it isn't really).
This is not a comment on the fact that Republicans do the same thing (they do when they have the chance). Maybe, just maybe, they need to stop freaking out and overly politicizing (which is just home-teaming points of view) events (like a health issue) that shouldn't be cut along partisan lines.
No, I don't think having people stay home is a good idea. No, I don't think the news cycle is doing a good job by promoting panic every second of every day. Yes, I do agree with being careful, avoiding large crowds, and limiting large events within reason. But I'm far from convinced this is the grand disaster we're being sold on and I don't like being told every day by various commentators how awful Trump has been. After all, even Governor Cuomo said he's had great conversations with Trump and the president has been very cooperative with him (even as he, on the side, makes comments about how this is the president's fault).
Ultimately, my view comes down to a few unanswerable questions. First, after taking these extreme measures, if the numbers are not excessive and we really 'flatten the curve', how will we know we flattened the curve? What are we comparing to? Italy? South Korea? China? What about all the other nations not taking extreme measures and seeing no substantial increases? There are significant differences between our society and our health care, as well as our general health, than there are with China, Italy or South Korea. Point is, proof of 'flattening the curve' will only be knowable based on modeling. But we've modeled other outbreaks very poorly. SARS, MERS, H1N1 - all the final outcomes were vastly different than the models and the warnings we got. No, I don't think we "learned from past mistakes" as one friend suggested. I think we panicked.
Secondly, what if we take these extreme measures and millions die anyway? Do we say "we failed and this didn't work" or "we didn't do it fast enough"? Which will be the correct answer? I certainly don't know, and nobody else can know, either.
Basically, we're engaged in a massive, uncontrolled and possibly unnecessary, experiment. The only outcome can be that we tank the economy and increase political divisions over 'who caused this' - and the answer is nobody caused it. This was a natural event. What isn't natural, and what can be blamed, is the uncontrolled experiment which is completely political in nature and will yield no good answers. It may save lives. But we'll never really know.
Stay safe, stay healthy, but we'll come out stronger from all this, if that's in the nature of our nation. I've always believed it is. Our Constitution is still in effect and that is what we should continue to look to as a guide in the future after the health fears have subsided.
Not too long ago, I shared my views on Covid-19 and the lockdown. I still stand by my (often misunderstood) position and I feel that after this is over, I'll still stand as having a well-developed viewpoint. Meanwhile, as we sit in the midst o
Tracked: Apr 02, 18:31