I don’t disagree that there could be an element of truth to your comments re: #2.
But what that ignores is the fact that people ARE getting sick. And many hospitals ARE overwhelmed. I know several doctors and nurses and they have told me that it’s bad - truly bad. They are short on all the things you hear about in the media and it’s not hyperbole. They have no reason to lie.
If we do the best of social distancing, (and we’re not) a quarter of a million people may die. If we didn’t do anything, I think it’s pretty clear that millions may have died. Trump never - EVER - would have won with that hanging around his neck even if the economy powered on.
Good discussion. And hey, I’m still not convinced this wasn’t a Chinese accident. OR... more craven, a deliberate release to 1) kill their elderly population and 2) suppress the Hong Kong unrest. (except it went off the rails)
The Tom Clancy view is that they did for the above PLUS, to get vengeance on Trump for the trade war. I think this is less likely because they have screwed their own economy - and reputation - in the same breath.
Shutting down the economy is highly counterproductive. Society didn’t cease to function in 1918 during the Spanish Flu, during the Black Plague epidemics, nor any other diseases that have inflicted mankind since the cave men. Venal, power hunger people saw an opportunity to create a mass panic, and took advantage.