The events of the past week have made it clear that cooler heads are not prevailing in the present crisis. The question that US residents should now be asking themselves and their leaders is whether preemptively creating an economic collapse is worth buying a few weeks of slowed spread of COVID-19. Should the entire world economy shut down to slow the spread of virus that is beginning to appear to be about as serious as seasonal flu? One wonders. What happens when the curfew lifts and we find that coronavirus is still here and still infecting people? As of now, the world is staring into an abyss entirely of its own making as it scares itself to death over the phantom illness. COVID-19, as frightening as it may seem to some people, is nothing compared to a collapse of world trade, hyper-inflation, or martial law, or the abrupt rise in authoritarianism that is sweeping the globe. If you go to the grocery store to find it empty, coronavirus will never again enter your mind. If the cash in your wallet suddenly becomes worthless, you’ll wonder what the media-hyped hysteria was all for. COVID-19 is apparently everywhere, with many of the infected either asymptomatic, or experiencing a mild illness similar to the common cold. The average age of the dead appears to be hovering around 81, Despite the hyperbolic fearmongering, Italy has experienced just three deaths from coronavirus where no other illness was present.
Many other sources are pointing to a far lower mortality rate, one closer to, or even less than, that of seasonal flu. Is this really what we’re burning our way of life over?
If COVID-19 is here permanently, meaning it will return every winter, then we need to realize very soon that we can’t cower in fear and shut down the country every single year. We have to go on with our lives, and we have to refuse to give credence to the fearmongering of the national media.
Humanity’s true problem, one that it must solve as soon as possible, is the addiction that world governments have to creating Pandora’s Boxes. Whether it’s the atomic bomb or other weapons, lethal viruses, or fragile economic systems that are built upon foundations of silt, or even precariously limited powers granted to government, constitutions created with built-in back doors for totalitarianism to enter, our real problem is irresponsible governments gambling with doomsday devices. Our problem is that Leviathan’s ashes remain unscattered, and so it suddenly appears during crises, as it has now, and grows in power and influence after each. When will our government relinquish its total power over the economy? It’s getting a taste of the immense freedom and power it currently has, and it will not be easy to take it back.
