Posted on 08/01/2020 10:14:11 AM PDT by Kaslin
2020 has been a year of firsts: the world faced its first (modern) pandemic, killing hundreds of thousands and shuttering vast swathes of the global economy. Along the way, the political world was turned upside down: for the first time in living memory, leftists found themselves castigating, rather than idolizing, socialist Sweden.
The reason? The Swedes, hard-headed contrarians that they are, had the temerity to buck the global fad for strict lockdowns and obsessive masking. They reasoned that such measures would be unsustainable, economically and socially, so instead of shutting businesses and schools, and harassing or fining anyone caught in public without a mask, they advised people to practice sensible social distancing and to avoid unnecessary outings and exposure.
At first, the mainstream media throughout the Western world gleefully reported the high death rate that Sweden's mild model of pandemic control produced, especially among the elderly and nursing home residents. Sweden's “experiment” with liberty (never a concept beloved of left-wingers) had failed, or so it seemed.
Now, though, Sweden's light touch with respect to coronavirus countermeasures is looking sounder and sounder. Sweden's numbers of new infections are low and trending lower. Daily deaths are approaching the vanishing point. There is speculation that, because the disease was allowed to spread more freely among those least vulnerable, Swedes may already benefit from a degree of herd immunity.
Sweden's successes don't end there, however. The toll of the pandemic, while it is often measured in raw numbers of "COVID deaths," stretches far beyond mortality. Among the worst aspects of the crisis has been the economic carnage it has visited on the worst affected countries. In the U.S., second-quarter GDP is down by almost 33 percent! Unemployment peaked at almost 15 percent. These are numbers generally associated with a depression, although economists expect that the downturn, sharp as it is, will be brief.
Sweden, meanwhile, was the only country in Europe in the first quarter of 2020 to see its GDP rise. Sweden's overall economic contraction in 2020 is expected to be modest, compared to the EU as a whole and to badly-hit countries like the U.K., Italy, and Spain. Swedish companies are also outperforming expectations, while Swedish unemployment is lower than ours: most recently, it stands at 9.2 percent.
Lest we forget, economic pain (and the limitation thereof) also correlates to many other factors that govern a country's degree of suffering during the pandemic. Poor economic performance can and usually does foster a rise in suicides, violent crime, drug use, alcohol abuse, domestic disputes, child abuse, as well as anxiety and depression. Moreover, long and rigid lockdowns, combined with scaremongering in the news media, can even produce more sickness and death, because many people in need of urgent medical care choose to defer it, assuming that it is too dangerous to leave their homes. We can safely assume that all of these problems are less pronounced in Sweden, given the tempered nature of its pandemic response, and the shallowness of its virus-related recession.
There are many ways to measure a country's performance in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, but surely the simplest is this: has a given nation managed to minimize the “pain” (and death) afflicting its citizens while maximizing the “gain” they seek in terms of employment, economic activity, and the preservation of their freedoms and quality of life?
Sweden, it would appear, has struck this balance remarkably well. After a rocky start, especially in nursing homes, Swedish authorities have managed to wrestle the virus into submission, such that it is now almost unheard of for Swedes to die of COVID-19. Simultaneously, Swedes are going to work, going to school, visiting restaurants and businesses, and enjoying normal human interactions without the constant need to wear facemasks.
That sounds, to a mere layman, like a story of success, not failure. And, if the “socialist Swedes” have found a pandemic strategy that works, we have to ask: why are their “progressive” allies around the world afraid to admit it?
Seems like a sentence like the following ought to have been in this piece, just for context:
“On a per-capita basis, Sweden far outpaces its Scandinavian neighbors in COVID deaths, with 567 deaths per million people compared with Denmark’s 106 deaths per million, Finland’s 59 deaths per million, and Norway’s 47 deaths per million. The Swedish figure is closer to Italy’s 581 deaths per million.”
American COVID was purposely used as a political tool since day one and still is.
There is speculation that, because the disease was allowed to spread more freely among those least vulnerable, Swedes may already benefit from a degree of herd immunity.
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This is what I’m curious about. Wondering if Sweden might be more likely to avoid a second wave than the other Scandinavian countries.
Yes, they didn't go full lockdown. But yes, they killed more people per capita than most other nations, and were Cuomo-level efficient in killing the elderly. Further, this really poor piece of reporting fails to mention that the second quarter economic record remains to be written for Sweden...maybe their approach DID work, but maybe not.
Perhaps the biggest conservative failure in fawning over Sweden is the way at which this approach crystallized. In short, they "trusted Science." Yep, the nation that gave us St Greta (I blame the parents and handlers vs the clearly mixed-up child) and happily decomissizoned it's last fossil fuel power plant recently, chose "science." A handful of non-governmental bureaucrats (in Sweden, the govt doesn't control this policy) picked which approach to use, and the public fell into place.
We had a donnybrook in America over the approach that works best, and we are STILL having it. In contrast, because of the fallout from the high fatality count in Sweden, they'll likely go full lockdown when the bug flares up again, because ya know... "science." And the public will happily fall in line.
Again, I like a lot of what Sweden did. But I'll take the American demolition derby approach over Sweden's any day. As for the fan-boying over SE, as Frank Zappa would say, no one looks good in brown lipstick.
some of us werent surprised
Sweden explicitly eschewed a policy of herd immunity. It’s a common misconceptions and, if you ask me, an intentional MSM fake News thrust.
compare the death rates when all is said and done, it in the middle of the different models. also she. comparing death rates look at the age and overall health if the population as well as the quality of medical care available. You also have to take into consideration the death rates caused by the lockdown in suicides, addictions and delayed health care
But the first question is...what would the editors of either publication do if they were in receipt of such a work?
Seems like a sentence like the following should be added to your post.
"Sweden didn't shutdown and destroy its economy while Italy did."
On a per-capita basis, Sweden far outpaces its Scandinavian neighbors in COVID deaths.
Seems like another sentence should be added to your post.
"If Sweden does have herd immunity while for instance Denmark doesn't, then Denmark will add to its COVID deaths while Sweden won't."
"When the bug flares up again"?
You're missing their argument.
They're claiming that they have herd immunity. If true, then the bug will not flare up again.
It may not have been their policy to achieve herd immunity but they may have achieved it nevertheless.
I think unplanned herd immunity may have happened in NYC too, thanks to their leaving the subways open.
Sweden's death rate is equal to Pennsvlvania and NY and NJ are 300% GREATER than Sweden and we know that those three states went into total nazi lockdown.
The mask gestapo, padlocked gym, churches, bars and threw barbers in jail for cutting hair.
The three demonRAT gubbernors of these states MURDERED 10 of thousands of their citizens that lived in senior living homes.
So while Sweden has a much greater death rate than their neighbors, compare them to US states that are demonRAT controlled and ...get back to me.
Pure bullshit.
Fredo killed them at over 1600+/million compared to 567/million.
If they were as efficient as fredo, their death rate would have to TRIPLE.
Fredo had a triple death rate in the general population, if you only consider the elderly in homes it is six times their rate.
Fredo-level is what your IQ equates to.
So far, it looks that way.
And they didn’t destroy their economy either.
How many Americans relapsed on drugs and alcohol?
How many people with depression killed themselves?
How many people became alcoholics and drug addicts?
How many people lost their business and went to their garage with a belt like Jackson Maine?
Our economic pain and its repercussions are not over.
And thats the bottom line.
Once the deaths from lockdowns are added up, Im betting our numbers are comparable or surpass Sweden.
Well Have a trashed economy to show for our trouble.
Oh, and possibly a President Biden.
How many more deaths will a country have when they shut things down cutting their GDP?
“Seems like a sentence like the following ought to have been in this piece, just for context:”
babble-on: Without citing the culpable math-ignorant such as yourself (I’ve pinged all who replied to your ignorant statement above)...
...here’s a math lesson for you:
567 x 330 = 187,110
I’m not going to outline the significance of those numbers other than the following:
As I predicted months ago now, the US and many other countries will meet or exceed Sweden’s death rate when all is said & done. All “flattening the curve” has accomplished - as predicted by me and many others, including FReepers - is extended the term of the epidemic. Thus all who adhere to the line of thinking you espouse are culpable in tarnishing Trump’s reelection chances, playing right along with the Dems.
Way to go.
As an aside, some dumb liberal b$tch at The Atlantic wrote a piece entitled Beware The Fact Man.
I’d say she was describing you and others here at FR.
Please send my your address so that I may submit my expenses - AND FUTURE TAXES - for which you are partly responsible. /s
As for the cogent responders to your comment, keep up the pressure: The stupid among us cannot prevail.
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