Posted on 05/05/2020 7:25:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The idea that the worldwide lockdown of virtually every country other than Sweden may have been an enormous mistake strikes many -- including world leaders; most scientists, especially health officials, doctors and epidemiologists; those who work in major news media; opinion writers in those media; and the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people who put their faith in these people -- as so preposterous as to be immoral. Timothy Egan of The New York Times described Republicans who wish to enable their states to open up as "the party of death."
That's the way it is today on planet Earth, where deceit, cowardice and immaturity now dominate almost all societies because the elites are deceitful, cowardly and immature.
But for those open to reading thoughts they may differ with, here is the case for why the worldwide lockdown is not only a mistake but also, possibly, the worst mistake the world has ever made. And for those intellectually challenged by the English language and/or logic, "mistake" and "evil" are not synonyms. The lockdown is a mistake; the Holocaust, slavery, communism, fascism, etc., were evils. Massive mistakes are made by arrogant fools; massive evils are committed by evil people.
The forcible prevention of Americans from doing anything except what politicians deem "essential" has led to the worst economy in American history since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It is panic and hysteria, not the coronavirus, that created this catastrophe. And the consequences in much of the world will be more horrible than in America.
The United Nations World Food Programme, or the WFP, states that by the end of the year, more than 260 million people will face starvation -- double last year's figures. According to WFP director David Beasley on April 21: "We could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries. ... There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself" (italics added).
That would be enough to characterize the worldwide lockdown as a deathly error. But there is much more. If global GDP declines by 5%, another 147 million people could be plunged into extreme poverty, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Foreign Policy magazine reports that, according to the International Monetary Fund, the global economy will shrink by 3% in 2020, marking the biggest downturn since the Great Depression, and the U.S., the eurozone and Japan will contract by 5.9%, 7.5% and 5.2%, respectively. Meanwhile, across South Asia, as of a month ago, tens of millions were already "struggling to put food on the table." Again, all because of the lockdowns, not the virus.
In one particularly incomprehensible act, the government of India, a poor country of 1.3 billion people, locked down its people. As Quartz India reported on April 22, "Coronavirus has killed only around 700 Indians ... a small number still compared to the 450,000 TB and 10,000-odd malaria deaths recorded every year."
One of the thousands of unpaid garment workers protesting the lockdown in Bangladesh understands the situation better than almost any health official in the world: "We are starving. If we don't have food in our stomach, what's the use of observing this lockdown?" But concern for that Bangladeshi worker among the world's elites seems nonexistent.
The lockdown is "possibly even more catastrophic (than the virus) in its outcome: the collapse of global food-supply systems and widespread human starvation" (italics added). That was published in the left-wing The Nation, which, nevertheless, enthusiastically supports lockdowns. But the American left cares as much about the millions of non-Americans reduced to hunger and starvation because of the lockdown as it does about the people of upstate New York who have no incomes, despite the minuscule number of coronavirus deaths there. Or about the citizens of Oregon, whose governor has just announced the state will remain locked down until July 6. As of this writing, a total of 109 people have died of the coronavirus in Oregon.
An example of how disinterested the left is in worldwide suffering is made abundantly clear in a front-page "prayer" by a left-wing Christian in the current issue of The Nation: "May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake."
"Merely inconvenienced" is how the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, a Protestant minister and president of the North Carolina NAACP, describes the tens of millions of Americans rendered destitute, not to mention the hundreds of millions around the world rendered not only penniless but hungry. The truth is, like most of the elites, it is Barber who is "merely inconvenienced." Indeed, the American battle today is between the merely inconvenienced and the rest of America.
Michael Levitt, professor of structural biology at Stanford Medical School and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, recently stated, "There is no doubt in my mind that when we come to look back on this, the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor."
To the left, anyone who questions the lockdown is driven by preference for money over lives. Typical of the left's moral shallowness is this headline on Salon this week:
"It's Time To Reject the Gods of Commerce: America Is a Society, Not an 'Economy,'" with the subhead reading, "America Is About People, Not Profit Margins."
And, of course, to smug editors and writers of The Atlantic, in article after repetitive article, the fault lies not with the lockdown but with President Donald Trump. The most popular article in The Atlantic this week is titled "The Rest of the World Is Laughing at Trump." The elites can afford to laugh at whatever they want. Meanwhile, the less fortunate -- that is, most people -- are crying.
May be? I sincerely want to see leaders punished for it.
The world wide lock down is political not medical.
THIS is EXACTLY what the NEW GREEN DEAL will look like.....NO MEAT....NO PLANES....NO BOATS.....NO JOBS....NO FUN.....and DEMOCRATS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING!!
It is simply indefensible that our government, which is sitting on more data than any other country, has not put out any information showing the fatality rates by demographics. While there is a lot about this coronavirus we still do not know, it is incontrovertibly clear that there is a lopsided danger for 15%-20% of the most vulnerable population and most pronounced in nursing homes.
It makes no sense to use meaningless top-line numbers lumping in the whole population, including those least at risk, to shut down our society and kill more people with the lockdown itself.
Subject:: It was never about your health! “When the State tells you it’s safe to go to Home Depot to buy a sponge but dangerous to go and buy a flower, it’s not about your health.
When the State shuts down millions of private businesses but doesn’t lay off a single government employee, it’s not about your health.
When the State bans dentists because its unsafe, but deems an abortion visit is safe, it’s not about your health. When the State prevents you from buying cucumber seeds because it’s dangerous, but allows personal lottery ticket sales, it’s not about your health.
When the State tells you it’s dangerous to go golf alone, fish alone or be in a motor boat alone, but the Governor can get his stage make-up done, and hair done for 5 TV appearances a week, it’s not about your health.
When the state puts you IN a jail cell for walking in a park with your child because it’s too dangerous but lets criminals OUT of jail cells for their health- It’s not about YOUR health!
When the state tells you it’s too dangerous to get treated by a doctor for chiropractic or physical therapy treatments yet deems a liquor store essential- It’s not about your health!
When the State lets you go to the grocery store or hardware store but is demanding mail-in voting, ITS NOT ABOUT YOUR HEALTH.
WAKE UP PEOPLE — If you think this is all about your health you’re mistaken! Please open your eyes! Stop being lead like blind sheep.”
Time to open the economy, except NYC. Keep Cuomo’s dirty city closed.
Let the chips fall where they may, people should protect themselves if they feel that is necessary. There will be more deaths, there always is when a seasonal virus strikes.
The Deep State’s greatest battle victory in the war for world domination. Let’s hope it’s their last one!
They thought they knew it all. They didn’t. Not even hardly.
In the world of Post Modern Progressivism Mary Ann would be an overweight bull dyke and Ginger really a guy named Bill who claims to be a woman.
What is just as bad is that the vast majority of people who have been harmed or ruined by these deliberate actions will accept this rationalization without question.
“Massive mistakes are made by arrogant fools; massive evils are committed by evil people.”
What we have is arrogant fools/evil people all wrapped up in one...the democrat party.
In other words, the quick action by the government of India prevent the virus from gaining a foothold there and killing millions of people.
I am amazed by the number of people who think that preventing something shows that there was no need to prevent it. Sheesh.
Michael Levitt, professor of structural biology at Stanford Medical School and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in chemistry, recently stated, "There is no doubt in my mind that when we come to look back on this, the damage done by lockdown will exceed any saving of lives by a huge factor."
Michael Levitt may have won a Nobel Prize, but he is not an epidemiologist, nor has he ever worked in anything related to the field. His Nobel Prize was for developing models to predict complex chemical reactions. Not even close to epidemiology.
The biggest mistake in history was the Empires of Europe starting WW1 over the Prince Ferdinand murder.
This cascaded into entire generation of huge mistakes.
It could even be easily argued that this one event, set in motion Communism.
I know one thing, after this is all over congress should pass a law that NEVER, NOT EVER, should the economy be shut down again in the history of mankind.
Because it was a HUGE mistake.
It was us, the peons who carry this country on our backs, who made this thing not turn into a disaster. Soon as it came to be Americans were sharing and working and being creative and not being assholes. WE kept this stupid stunt from being a disaster.
But the natives are restless and while we used our common sense and the happiness talent we obtained by being allow to follow it per our government, we still have our common sense and we ain’t gonna wear stupid masks much longer or not be allowed to buy paint.
If another virus or some such comes upon us, we can keep the vulnerable at home, take care and volunteer our efforts, keep our distance, cut the restaurants down to half capacity....do all the things we’ve learned to do by this event.
REMEMBER, WE SAVED THIS ECONOMY, NOT THE GUBMENT.
It wasn’t a mistake. It achieved the objective. It crashed economies, taught the sheeple to submit to u reasonable and unproven demands and made millions more dependent on government. It is also achieving vilification of those pesky christians who do not want to give up meeting together. depending on which side you look at it, it has been a smashing success for some
Hindsight might be 20/20 too.
Roll back the calendar and see how smart these people were THEN.
There is no question that the lockdowns are attempt collectivists to punish Trump voters - but it’s a trap Trump himself walked right into. He can begin to fix things by lifting his own nationwide state of emergency, effective immediately. This will take away cover from Democrat and RINO governors.
“May be? I sincerely want to see leaders punished for it.”
This is a wide open statement.
You mean US leaders both Republican and Democrat that supported the Lock downs?
You, on the other hand, are an expert in such things. Sorry, but I’ll take Prof. Levitt’s word over yours (and other experts who obviously have an agenda). :)
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