This whole thing is starting to converge on the climate emergency in terms of overhyped projections and rhetoric, the main difference being that the “scientific community” managed to talk governments out onto the ledge this time.
In both cases, the prescription seems far worse than the disease. Shutting down the entire economy for a death toll this moderate (in net terms some have shown a decline in overall death rates) is not only counter-productive, it is borderline insane. Much like the worst case scenario outlooks of the climate doom-sayers and the things they are trying to do to economic growth.
The problem is that science has some sort of immunity from the checks and balances of other parts of public life. Nobody else gets to dictate public policy from their narrow perspective. Imagine what America (or western countries in general) would be like if radical feminists could dictate policy, or agri-business, or any given religious sect.
They have some input in each case and are not totally ignored, but the consensus that emerges from balancing different perspectives makes us a free society. However science came along and said, “you know what, we’re the new global religion of people smarter than anyone else, just shut up and do what we say.”
And in this case, to make a rather marginal difference in the chances of survival of the elderly and immuno-compromised, we all stayed in our home prisons and many lost their jobs or businesses. It is disproportionate. More people would see that if there were not promises of massive government assistance, but how long can that last? A few months, then we face total ruination.
Correct. Notice how the most dire predictions are always "2 weeks away"? Far too many shades of the climate alarmist tactics.