Shutdown Could Kill More Americans Than COVID-19
The writer makes a very valid point. The number of possible deaths calculated is a worst case scenario, so of course it is fairly certain to be fewer than that, but the absolute number is not the real point. It would in fact add up to thousands of deaths but beyond that, the a huge number of families and individuals undergoing really serious hardship. Businesses destroyed, savings gone, relationships damaged, loss of homes, etc. Doctors focus on lives they can save through their skills, their remedies, their advice, relating to sicknesses. That's their job, but it's a narrow vision. For them, whatever happens to the economy is beyond their ken and perhaps beyond their focus. But it's not immaterial to the people of the society, and it cannot be immaterial to the leaders of the society whose responsibility is the overall welfare. It'd be nice if all choices were between the obviously good and the obviously bad, but that's so seldom the way things work. Everything we do has more than one consequence, everything we don't do has more than one too. Personally I hope that Trump and the governors decide to not wait for the close to perfectly safe time to start up the economy again. No matter when things start up, some people will die of this flu or related to it after then. The question is how many other lives will be saved or saved from ruin by starting up? I'm hoping slow start up steps begin in May and by June we're back building towards normal. -Del
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