An Advantaged Disease, Indeed

Real Clear Politics ^ | 4/6/2020 | William J Bennett

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As you know, the coronavirus—if you catch it, and get very sick—is a terrible thing to go through and you may even die.  The virus and the fear of it are sorely testing our medical capacity in some places.  And the body count will get much worse this week, right before Easter.  The heroic efforts and sacrifice of many doctors, nurses, and volunteer civilians are all notable and praiseworthy.  Millions of Americans are pulling together.  We all know this.  But do you know the odds of any American getting this virus?  One would think that number is easily known or available.  It’s not. A lot of digging into various municipal data portals reveals, based on the population tested, that rates can vary from, at most, eight-tenths of a percent in New York City to two-one-hundredths of a percent in Phoenix.

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The last paragraph for those that don’t want to click on the article pretty much sums it up:

The president’s instincts to re-open this country as soon as possible are right. This country is not prepared for a worsening of all the other social harms and deaths brought on by an incredibly overwrought, self-induced, hysteria and panic that doesn’t parse. It better be. But remember with all the nonprofits, volunteer, and self-help communities organized to address these problems being shuttered and harmed, direly and financially, be prepared for massive social failure and more death. This is what happens when sanity is at discount and hysteria reigns supreme. This is what happens when societies get used to pandemonium. As bad as the coronavirus is, and it is bad, unless we arrest the frenzy and panic mongering, we should be prepared for things worse than the virus.

[MikeHu]

While it might be alluring to some to think they can live forever — that they are “immortal” — the fact of the matter is that we all have our own time on earth, and then we pass away. That doesn’t make it nothing, or meaningless if it doesn’t last forever. It is good for however long it lasts — and then life moves on — giving more a chance at it. There has always been the few, who if they could not live forever, then were determined to take everybody else down with them — as the Pharaohs, Emperors, and chieftains of old. That was the elixir of their immortality — that if they go, everyone must — so therefore, everybody else should work to see that that does not happen.

That was the master mind, and master plan. “All for one.” Everyone would die — unless the king could live forever. There is no such Magic Pill. At best, one can live to 100 — without looking like they are 100. Beyond that, only the charlatans promise humans can become immortal — and live forever — even as badly as they’ve lived so far. It doesn’t work that way. Each subsequent year, is earned by each present moment — and how one does with that — and even all the billions in the world, cannot change that.

Of course there are always those old before their time, who assure us they have the fountain of eternity they drink from daily, yet at the rate of their deterioration, why would they live forever? But if they have a way of reversing that deteriorative process (aging), they are good to go for as long as that is happening. That doesn’t happen sometime in the future — but in each present moment. One is either getting better or worse — and that trend, over a long time, are their present circumstances and capabilities. It can’t just happen out of the blue — no matter how hard one wishes that were so, and how much money they have.

Death is the Great Equalizer — and how we come to grips with it. That is the story of Easter — and how we prepare for it. The best is to live one’s life as though each day is one’s last; the worst, is to live as though one will live forever — no matter what. Of course one promises to do better in the next life — or the one thereafter. Anything but to escape the consequences of this life.

From that lesson, life is reborn. Those who live well, always seem ready to go — or stay, while those who live badly, just want one more lifetime — to do right. And so a natural passing is always a terrible thing — and all they think to avoid. They won’t do anything promising unless it is 100% guaranteed — as though anything in life was that ironclad. All one can do is improve the chances — and that is good enough for most. Some would settle for any chance at all. Those people usually make the most of it. They don’t demand unlimited chances just so they can waste them. That is an allegory in every bible everywhere.

So when people have these unrealistic expectations of an equal chance as though they were never given any, one has to ask, “What is this world coming to?” Unhealthy people will die in greater numbers than healthy people. That should be understood — as a large part of the reason we live. It is not a random walk down Main Street — but a very deliberate path to that reward. It doesn’t just happen — or should it. So it behooves one to do the best they can — and not just hope that everything equals out — despite anything one does. It is very fashionable to believe that is so — and the way the world is.

There is no vaccine for Immortality. You have to take your chances. And life goes on.