It's Not That Simple

Another blog about the pandemic.  It's funny that I'm the one to say this, since I'm usually the one boiling things down to basics, but:

1."It's just another flu."  No, it isn't.  The mere fact that it has been declared a pandemic is proof of that.  Even if the symptoms and death rates are similar, there's the sheer number of patients.  The CDC and WHO know a lot more about these things than we do, whether you believe they are in on a conspiracy or not.

2. "They're taking our rights!  It's a ploy to take them forever!"  This is logical on the surface.  Yes, our right to assemble appears to be gone.  But is it?  The Non-Aggression Principle adhered to by those anarchists with brains tells us that our rights are void if they cause harm to others.  Gathering in large groups is potentially harmful to ourselves and others during any viral outbreak.

There is also no evidence to support the permanent removal of said rights.  For every Nazi Germany that started by using fear to trick citizens into compliance, there's a Spanish Flu that used these measures temporarily.  I also can't recall Hitler using an actual pandemic to start his purge.  He used nationalism.

3. "It's (insert group with initals for a name)  trying to wipe out their enemies."  Even if this thing was created in a lab, which I doubt, there is no logic to any of these groups killing large numbers of their own people.  COVID-19 isn't checking your political or religious affiliations before hopping right into your system.

4. "Any one who catches it is as good as dead."  Um, no.  Lots of people get it and recover.  Lots of people don't even feel sick when they have it.  The death rate is actually lower than some forms of influenza.  Again, the problem here is the sheer numbers of people infected.

5. "The economy" vs "Karen".  To simply reopen would create a surge in COVID-19 cases.  To remain in complete lockdown is going to create a different surge. Cabin Fever is the common term for a very real psychological  event. We're already seeing a rise in reports of suicide and domestic abuse.  If we wait COVID-19 out, we allow the ecomony to completely fail.  Unemployment and homelessness are leading triggers for suicide and domestic violence.  A pandemic in a capitalist world, populated by social creatures like humans, is a textbook example of "damned if you do, damned if you don't".

6. "Reopening in stages is stupid." The medical community has had time to prepare and the smaller waves which result from each stage can be dealt with.  Our hospitals shouldn't be overwhelmed.  Those of us with mental health issues can see an end to the torment.  Abusers can storm out of the house instead of beating their partners and children.   People can get back to work.  Death is inevitable.  We just get to choose, or try to choose, what form it might take and when it might happen. 

Also, if you don't like the steps taken by our elected officials, remember.  Come Election Day, do your civil duty.  Take your country back.  Just not with AK-47s.  That's excessive.