Posted on 03/29/2020 6:39:13 AM PDT by Kaslin
The drastic measures elected and unelected officials are taking to stem coronavirus (COVID-19) contagion reached new heights when President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on March 18, 2020. The Korean War–era law grants the executive branch emergency powers to require American companies to increase production to combat shortages. Meanwhile, at the state level, governors have prohibited people from making purchases by closing bars, restaurants, spas, and salons.
Officials speculate the pandemic may overwhelm our limited medical resources. But as long as their data remains woefully incomplete, we must remember Newton’s Third Law of Physics: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The draconian restrictions officials are imposing could spark an economic catastrophe more disruptive to American life than the coronavirus itself. So, officials should restrain themselves from depriving people of their freedom to transact unless or until irrefutably necessary.
Imagine if I told you that, by taking a drastic action, we could prevent tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations every single year. Would you deem that a worthy intervention? The reflexive reaction is, of course, “Yes.” However, if I told you that action was outlawing all motor vehicles so we could eliminate motor vehicle accidents, then you may rapidly change your mind. You may decide that the benefits of driving justify the risks, and you would be correct.
That is little consolation to someone who has lost a loved one to a motor vehicle accident. But even those who suffer that loss rarely respond by never driving again. They have instinctively made the internal calculation that the benefits far exceed the risks.
We are in an analogous situation with COVID-19. The government has taken extreme, desperate measures to slow the virus’s spread, but in doing so has functionally shut down large segments of our economy. That choice has ramifications. People live and die based on a functioning economy.
This is not merely a money argument; it’s a people argument. The movement and exchange of goods and services brings us food, educates our children, builds our homes, and keeps us safe. A healthy economy, in many regards, implies we are living our lives. But our lives have been brought to a screeching halt by interventions to slow COVID-19. Like the hypothetical elimination of motor vehicles proposed above, there is a tipping point where the disruption is so profound, and the consequences of the disruption so severe, that the treatment is worse than the disease.
Further confounding the situation is that governments are acting on models that replicate the spread of infection, but not the effects of their draconian measures on the economy. Even worse, statistics about COVID-19 currently available are unreliable. Based on these flawed numbers, the absolute number of deaths globally from COVID-19—in a world of nearly 8 billion people—are actually quite small. Anecdotal reports coming out of Italy and other places counter these numbers, though, suggesting far worse casualties are possible.
Because our data on COVID-19 is so incomplete, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is placed in a classic Cornelian dilemma. He is in a no-win situation. If his interventions succeed and the pandemic is nowhere near as severe as expected, people will scoff and complain that he overreacted. Alternatively, if the infection runs rampant, people will ask why he didn’t do more.
So, what is the right answer? That’s hard to know, but a wrong answer is easier to identify. If it is clearly right for officials to impose restrictions when the lack thereof would irrefutably encourage the spread of COVID-19, then it is clearly wrong for them to restrict freedom except when doing so would irrefutably discourage the spread of COVID-19.
I’m not declaring invalid every harsh measure the federal and state governments take against liberty to contain COVID-19. But we should not long confer god-like powers of life and death on officials who lack god-like knowledge. And facing any uncertainty, those officials should err on the side of liberty.
I feel like the frog in a pot of water that has been increasing slowly in heat and suddenly the fire was cranked up exponentially.
Our freedoms have been eroded for a long time... namely freedom of speech... it’s accepted to not use words the left don’t like... accepted by the media and those who want to control humanity.
And scarbo can say unforgivable things about Trump.
You are correct it is definitely happening. You see it even here on a site that dedicated to liberty.
Instead of punishing everyone perhaps more severe punishment for the idiots who don’t use any form of common Sense - those who gather anyway, lick toilet seats, host virus parties, etc. They should be punished somehow. Most people follow common sense practices. Yesterday I was in Lowe’s...place was packed...some idiot was walking around swearing at everyone because they were in the store exposing everyone to this virus, yet here he was with a cart full of non essentials doing the very same thing.
I refuse to live in fear but at the same time use common sense to protect myself and my family.
When this is over, the American people must demand that each and every impingement on our freedom be repealed, without exception.
If goernors o mayors can’t stop idiots from congregating in large groups and keep spreading you might see Marshal Law imposed to stop the spread. Next bioweapon out of china will be more deadly, wiping out half the world.
Not a chance.
There is virtually no one questioning the soft martial law that we have now.
We are the frog in the pot.
Next bioweapon out of china will be more deadly, wiping out half the world.
I’m not even 100% convinced this is out of China. They may have been complicit in this exercise,by being first in the “dry run”. Sounds crazy, but
How about designated cities for people who want total freedom and ZERO infringement on their lives. Isn’t that the better choice? Every eight months we can go clean out the bodies and move in a whole new bunch. It might be an effective way to deal with pandemics.
Of course these ‘pandemic cities’ won’t have any medical care...(because no one can be forced to live in a selfmade-death camps) but other than that it’s total freedom.
Chicken Little.
Make NO mistake. ANY slowdown of economies helps Democrats, if policies meant to alleviate problems are allowed to fester. The Democrats have literally been GLOATING about their unprecedented windfall in the ability to control our lives. Yes, I will state this with absolutely no flinching: The Deep State reaction to the Wuhan Virus is far, far worse than the cumulative health problems, compared with H1N1 and even our ongoing flu seasons.
You’re good with things like this?
If you question it is ‘off with your head’
Hear Hear!
‘some idiot was walking around swearing at everyone because they were in the store exposing everyone to this virus’
I posted recently that if this keeps up much longer we would be at each others’ throats...’much longer’ seems to be about a week now,before people venturing outdoors will have cops descending on them, cops alerted by ‘concerned citizens’...
“hey should be punished somehow. “
Well, I guess you’ll volunteer for the first beating and whipping since I know you probably passed on the flu and common cold viruses sometime in your life, and far more have died from those viruses.
‘you might see Marshal Law imposed to stop the spread’
what does he look like, so we can recognize him...?
My God you sound like a raving lunatic moron. You do realize that not everyone is dying don’t you??
The reaction to, control of and suppression of the economy is what the “global warming” faux crises was supped to do. COVID-19 is the “green new deal” implementation on STEROIDS sped up to warp speed.
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