Denying the virus is bad isn’t going to stop people from suffering. The deniers are going to cause more suffering because people won’t take it serious.
People are still going to get sick, only more of them will get sick if they listen to the deniers.
The economy was going to tank anyway because people would eventually learn the truth.
The more serious we take this, the more preventive steps we take. The faster the virus is dealt with and the less economic harm.
I posted articles early and often to let people know this was coming. If I now make fun of the ostriches, so what.
Here on Free Republic (as in other online conservative communities) the Coronavirus has become the new “global warming”. Not that the virus is not dangerous or that precautions are not in order, but like global warming zealots, anyone who asks for calm sober analysis and discussion is labeled as a “denier” to shut off discussion. Asking if killing the global economy might be more dangerous than the impact of the virus is not denying that the virus is dangerous.
The use of the term “denier” is an ad hominem attack and marks the accuser as being unwilling to engage in civil discourse. Yes, the Coronavirus is dangerous and merits caution. But I fear that the hysteria virus will be far more dangerous, for it shows that the vast majority of Americans and many on this board are willing to become slaves in order to gain temporary safety.
I work professionally as a civil engineer, and I specialize in the planning and design of transportation infrastructure. If you tell me there are 100 fatalities in motor vehicle crashes in this country every day and you want to eliminate them, or at least reduce them by 95%, and you ask me how to do it, I’m going to give you a simple answer that will solve the problem entirely: OUTLAW MOTOR VEHICLES.
Now if you give me the same scenario and tell me that you want to reduce the normal fatality rate by 5% every year for the next ten years, I’m going to give you a much more reasonable and practical set of recommendations that aren’t preposterous on their face.
This is what is happening with all these medical professionals who are advising our political leaders. Are you noticing a pattern in the answers they give in these press briefings? Almost every answer is basically a variation of one of the following:
1. “We don’t know for certain.”
2. “Without any certainty we recommend extreme caution.”
That’s exactly what is happening here. They are medical professionals. They will never even declare an “end” to this viral outbreak until a vaccine is developed that is 100% effective.
Actually not really.
“Flattening the curve” as they call it does not necessarily mean less people get infected. All it does is stretch the pandemic out. So instead of a peak you have a hill, or several hills.
There are studies that suggest that over the next year, 60-80% of the population is going to become infected. They claim that WILL happen. Some think (hope) if we flatten the curve it will prevent the system from being overwhelmed. But even in the better models, it is still overwhelming.
It may not work in the end anyway. Italian doctors are praying for the curve to flatten with these restrictions and quarantines, but so far there is no evidence of it. Instead there are hot spots starting to pop up in the south despite lockdowns.
And lockdowns for the long term is going to be a problem too. Economies could collapse leading to supply chain problems. People wont be able to get food. Hospitals wont be able to get medical supplies. And there could be political unrest.
Congress right now is fighting about a $1,200 check for every one. That’s not going to stretch very far. And like I said, if supply chains are disrupted, it won’t matter. You can have a closet full of gold but you can’t eat the gold.
There are no deniers on FR. There are only people who dislike pushing panic. What good does panic do? It has done nothing so far except crash our economy.
“Denying the virus is bad isn’t going to stop people from suffering. The deniers are going to cause more suffering because people won’t take it serious.”
10,000 worldwide are claimed to have died from this virus, yet, the flu kills 250,000-500,000 per year worldwide.
Yet, you get all scared about this virus.