Nothing But The Dead and Dying
Consequent to a phone conversation with a friend yesterday, I was asked to write about the covid-19 epidemic that is much in the media. His suggestion seemed like a good idea to me. Who is not aware of the recently discovered virus, belonging to the corona family that has made many sick in Hubei province? Some have died. Clearly the panic is growing by the day. The stock market has fallen dramatically for three days in a row. Investors worry that the panic caused by the disease will impact factories, and whole supply chains — that Walmart, Home Depot will run short of all manner of goods. Naturally a plummeting stock market, adds another wave to the panic already beating against our psyche.
Such is life in the early years of the 21st century. There is no refuge from the news feed on our cell phones. The mathematical formula, the algorithmic program used by Apple News or by Facebook “knows” the types of stories that you and I dwell upon for the longest period of time — and serves up more of the same to us. Panic, misinformation, and xenophobia surrounding emerging pandemics capture eyeballs, and sell advertising.
My friend mentioned this fact of media, and a fact about human nature as well. I thought of that just yesterday, on Friday morning here in the Geneva Starbucks. Unaccountably the house was packed at a few minutes till 7AM., standing room only with so many customers. I looked around from my table in the corner, and observed many, if not a majority holding their iphone in hand, entranced by whatever the device was offering. Not being an exception I know that the graphics, the vivid colors of curated video, whether advertising or news, is extremely persuasive. Inevitably one assumes the truth of what one sees. Seeing is believing, right……
This is the entire issue.
By chance I learned of an article in Popular Science magazine about the covid-19 contagion, a measured discussion of epidemiology, the science of measuring the spread of a disease, and the measure of the lethality of a contagion.
According to this source, we are not all going to die, at least not of this virus. The potential for the spread of covid-19 is approximate to that of influenza. 2.5 persons will contract influenza from one infected person. The same for covid-19. Are you worried about dying of the flu? I doubt it. I’ve had the flu more than once in my life, — I am here to write this. I recognize some have died of the flu. I wash my hands often and avoid mass crowds during flu season.
To wrap up, here is a representation in graphic form comparing the degree of contagion of covid-19 to other types of epidemics. Also, click on THE LINK to the Popular Science article here.
Truth be told, you and I are going to die. From the moment of our birth our process of dying begins along with all else that lives. This has to be accepted. I can think of no better reason for asserting our ownership of the one magnificent life that we have been given. And let us celebrate with those around us the wonder of this world and of the opportunity to make this a beautiful and meaningful world. — Jerry
I almost forgot to make clear my reason for the title of this post. Here is a profound tune from 1975 by Paul Simon.
2 thoughts on “Nothing But The Dead and Dying”
First off, this is not yet a pandemic, probably more like a media-demic.
It is an unpleasant respiratory illness, but it is not an organ-destroying horror like Ebola. Precautions are being taken, a vaccine will emerge, and life will continue as usual.
Here are five specific reasons to chill out.
1. Coronavirus is a familiar illness, and not as bad as others. It is from the SARS family — and less deadly. As Ha’aretz noted, “the mortality rate from the current disease ranges from 0.5 to 2 percent, and is significantly lower than the mortality rate from the 2002 SARS outbreak (9.5 percent) and much lower than the 2012 SARS outbreak (34.4 percent). It may even be close to the mortality rate from an ordinary flu outbreak in the United States.”
2. The U.S. response has been exceptionally good. There have only been 16 cases thus far, none deadly. President Donald Trump bought precious time by stopping travel to China last month — a step critics said was overly drastic. Democrats are screaming about funding and staff cuts that never actually happened. The latest outrage: the White House is controlling the message. As they should! The people in lab coats are not always good communicators.
3. We are going to have a vaccine soon. There are private companies in the U.S. and around the world racing to develop a vaccine — not just because of the urgent public health need, but because whoever finds it first stands to make a lot of money. (This is where the profit motive, and the pharmaceutical industry, are so crucial — contrary to what Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and other Democrats running for president have been saying about them.)
4. China is going to be all right. The number of cases in China sounds large — until you consider the size of China. True, the Chinese government has been duplicitous about coronavirus, as it is about everything. (Amartya Sen famously observed that India, unlike China, has never suffered famine because India has a free press.) And U.S. firms are learning a long-overdue lesson about the risks of investing there. But China will eventually pull through.
5. The same people who want you to panic about coronavirus want you to panic about everything. The news business thrives on chaos. In addition, the media want to destroy Trump, which is why they spread the Russia collusion hoax. Coronavirus is not a hoax, but pundits should be asked if they cared enough about flu — which kills far more people — to get their shot this year. If not, ignore them. Remember to wash your hands, and stay cool.
Gary, I only take issue with your comments in points 2 and 5. The president has proven himself to be a compulsive liar over and over because it is a business strategy that works as he seeks to maximize his return from every single deal. Life is one deal after another for him, and he despises losers, as he demonstrated with scorn for Senator John McCain. We have the president that we have, and he must be who he is, crisis or not. He and his White House are not good communicators, but practiced liars.
Who are “the same people who want you to panic”? Yet another conspiracy minded expression of paranoia. You need to take the needle of alt-right media from your arm. Covid-19 is what it is. ….And many of us are more inclined to trust someone in a lab coat who has earned a MD than anyone associated with the White House.