This is a new thing for all of us. Never before have you been asked to sacrifice your livelihood and freedom, or a large portion of those, to help some percentage of the population avoid getting sick. From what I’ve read, as of about a week ago, the US had tested about 10k per 1 million people. About 20% of those, or 2k/1,000,000, tested positive. This amounts to about 2/10 of one percent positive, based on testing. And it seems that 99% of those recover, and many have mild or no symptoms. Sorry, I know testing is a moving target, but it’s all we have that gives us any number on positive cases. And if I misstated numbers, please feel free to correct me.
The thing about this is that when you want to promote economic recovery, you’re frequently addressed with the statement, “Well, if it saves even one life, it’s worth it.” The problem is, deciding to get our jobs back and our economy back has nothing to do with weighing life against money. One can use the ‘saving one life’ argument at any time, and nobody will respond with, “Yes, getting our economy back (or my job, or my freedom, etc.) is actually worth the loss of xxx lives.”
In my head, I’ve occupied both sides of this discussion for weeks. I see both sides, and I’ve read most of the arguments on here. I have a son with Down Syndrome, and if he ever got sick to the point of having to spend a couple weeks in the hospital with no contact from us, it would explode his mind. He would have absolutely no idea why we’re doing this to him, and would fight everything and everyone who was trying to help him. Never mind my wife and me, and his brothers – we would be heartbroken and beside ourselves. And me – if I were to somehow succumb to this disease, my wife would be lost. She would have him to raise all by herself. And he can be a handful at 17, believe me. So I get the fear factor of this thing.
My perspective has moved around as this progresses and I learn more about it. Today, I’m leaning harder and harder toward getting the economy roaring again, and we can do that wisely. Personally, I need to do what I can in my own world to mitigate/avoid this in the lives of my family members. But I think we’re beyond the point where I should expect all of you to do this on my behalf, especially at the expense of your jobs and freedoms. I'm a big boy and I've learned how to distance myself.
This thing is moving at the speed of a glacier, and I don’t think we can afford to wait for it to be totally squashed and gone. Life has risks, and disease is one of those. I believe that everyone wants the best outcome, including those people with whom I disagree politically or morally.
