The curious case of COVID-19
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
These last few weeks have proven very interesting on many levels. For instance, on one hand, people are being let out of jail because of COVID-19. On the other hand, people are being arrested for not social distancing and not wearing face masks.
Is this not a confusing message?
Why is the world’s population obeying stay-at-home orders and en masse obeying orders to close their businesses and commit financial suicide? It is as if Jim Jones has shown up with the Kool-Aid and everyone has willingly consumed it.
There is also an unspoken assumption at work here. That assumption is that everyone is well-connected through various communications channels such that they are getting the news without the governments having to go door to door and tell them. Yet, that does not explain why they are obeying such orders. Is this somewhat akin to us obeying traffic laws without authorities having to monitor our every move (although that is coming with all the traffic cameras and automatic speed traps that are being installed, at least where I live)?
What is the source of this blind obedience to destructive behavior?
The population’s behavior during this possibly manufactured crisis has at least explained to me how Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler and others have been were able to subdue populations in the past. It also shows that such a mass action could be accomplished again by another charismatic despot.
Then we come to COVID-19 and ponder why it is getting such attention and causing so much disruption. You can go to https://worldometers.info (read the “About” at the end of their home page; impressive credentials) and grasp how small of a problem, from a fatality standpoint, COVID-19 is.
I grabbed these numbers the morning of April 10. Since their site is live, when you check it, you will no doubt get other numbers. When I looked at the site, the Coronavirus cases stood at 1,625,213 and the fatalities at 97,298. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
But staying on the worldometers.info site, at nearly the same time (within 10 minutes), it is reported that so far this year, there have been 3,570,398 communicable disease deaths; 133,753 seasonal flu deaths; 2,090,551 deaths of children under age 5; 85,010 deaths of mothers during childbirth; 462,385 deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and on and on.
So why is COVID-19 such a big deal and inflicting such pain on all of us? No one has explained this. Some, in response to my column last week, thought I was blaming the medical profession. Sorry for the confusion. What I meant to get across is that the medical profession, being true to their training, has taken up the cause, and when asked, given their best explanations and advice. Good for them.
However, since no one has asked them publicly and daily about the 3 million-plus communicable disease deaths, the 2,090,551 deaths of children under 5 and so forth, they have appropriately not brought up or answered questions about those topics. They have simply answered for what they have been asked.
All this still leaves the question of why this is being treated like a big deal?
Who started it, and who is keeping it going? I think the second question can be answered – the media is clearly keeping it going. As for who started it, we can laugh and say WHO (the World Health Organization) started it, but I remain unsatisfied with such a simplistic answer.
And, like I said last week, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t think we have any realistic idea how this is going to play out. The general population has clearly demonstrated they will go along with anything those they perceive to be in authority tell them to do regardless of the personal injury it causes. Further, the whole scenario has been nonsensical so far; hence, the next phase is not predictable.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
These last few weeks have proven very interesting on many levels. For instance, on one hand, people are being let out of jail because of COVID-19. On the other hand, people are being arrested for not social distancing and not wearing face masks.
Is this not a confusing message?
Why is the world’s population obeying stay-at-home orders and en masse obeying orders to close their businesses and commit financial suicide? It is as if Jim Jones has shown up with the Kool-Aid and everyone has willingly consumed it.
There is also an unspoken assumption at work here. That assumption is that everyone is well-connected through various communications channels such that they are getting the news without the governments having to go door to door and tell them. Yet, that does not explain why they are obeying such orders. Is this somewhat akin to us obeying traffic laws without authorities having to monitor our every move (although that is coming with all the traffic cameras and automatic speed traps that are being installed, at least where I live)?
What is the source of this blind obedience to destructive behavior?
The population’s behavior during this possibly manufactured crisis has at least explained to me how Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler and others have been were able to subdue populations in the past. It also shows that such a mass action could be accomplished again by another charismatic despot.
Then we come to COVID-19 and ponder why it is getting such attention and causing so much disruption. You can go to https://worldometers.info (read the “About” at the end of their home page; impressive credentials) and grasp how small of a problem, from a fatality standpoint, COVID-19 is.
I grabbed these numbers the morning of April 10. Since their site is live, when you check it, you will no doubt get other numbers. When I looked at the site, the Coronavirus cases stood at 1,625,213 and the fatalities at 97,298. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
But staying on the worldometers.info site, at nearly the same time (within 10 minutes), it is reported that so far this year, there have been 3,570,398 communicable disease deaths; 133,753 seasonal flu deaths; 2,090,551 deaths of children under age 5; 85,010 deaths of mothers during childbirth; 462,385 deaths caused by HIV/AIDS and on and on.
So why is COVID-19 such a big deal and inflicting such pain on all of us? No one has explained this. Some, in response to my column last week, thought I was blaming the medical profession. Sorry for the confusion. What I meant to get across is that the medical profession, being true to their training, has taken up the cause, and when asked, given their best explanations and advice. Good for them.
However, since no one has asked them publicly and daily about the 3 million-plus communicable disease deaths, the 2,090,551 deaths of children under 5 and so forth, they have appropriately not brought up or answered questions about those topics. They have simply answered for what they have been asked.
All this still leaves the question of why this is being treated like a big deal?
Who started it, and who is keeping it going? I think the second question can be answered – the media is clearly keeping it going. As for who started it, we can laugh and say WHO (the World Health Organization) started it, but I remain unsatisfied with such a simplistic answer.
And, like I said last week, I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t think we have any realistic idea how this is going to play out. The general population has clearly demonstrated they will go along with anything those they perceive to be in authority tell them to do regardless of the personal injury it causes. Further, the whole scenario has been nonsensical so far; hence, the next phase is not predictable.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.