Keep Your Eye On The Bug: Don’t Let Anyone Distract You From Key Attributes Of Coronavirus

Let’s start by calmly, coolly noting five key attributes of the novel Chinese Coronavirus as it actually exists and has been observed to function in the real world:

It has a much higher fatality rate than the average seasonal flu. Despite many a meme and wishful proclamation to the contrary, this bug is 10-30 times more likely to lead to death than the flu, though that figure spikes significantly from that already high level when the Coronavirus overwhelms medical systems, as it has repeatedly done already. (See: Italy, China, etc.)
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It causes a much higher rate of serious complications than the flu. This is a big deal when it comes to medical system capacity issues. When a person requires a hospital bed or intensive care unit as a result of Coronavirus, that vital resource is then unavailable for another person. Once these very finite resources are spoken for, they are gone, at least for the time being. This reality is a primary motivation for the #FlattenTheCurve movement.
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It is frequently transmitted by asymptomatic hosts. This means that you can be carrying it even though you don’t have any symptoms and appear to be completely healthy. Obviously, this makes spreading the bug very easy, especially in a culture unaccustomed or unwilling to embrace social distancing.
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It spreads much more easily and rapidly than the flu. Asymptomatic transmission combined with mind-blowingly easy/rapid transmissibility make it a lightning-fast moving contagion capable of quickly transforming cities, states, and nations from “nothing to worry about” to “it’s everywhere and our hospitals are overwhelmed” status. (See: New York City, Italy, China, etc.)
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It is very capable of overwhelming medical systems. This is the Big Thing that we should all be acknowledging and addressing on an individual level, regardless of what any government, politician, or “expert” has to say.

These things have been clearly known since January.

We cannot and should not try to wish them away.

We cannot emote them away.

We cannot ignore them away.

We cannot berate, pout, or deny them out of existence.

These attributes of the novel Chinese Coronavirus have been well documented and held true over the month and a half that’s passed since January. While we should keep in mind that, as a new beast on the scene, there is much that we do not know about Coronavirus with perfect certainty, and even some of the things that we think we know now may well be revised as more and better information becomes available, these five points are generally accepted as reliable statements of truth by thinking people making a serious effort to understand and deal with the threat posed by this bug.

These truths remain true even if Big Government types attempt to use the carnage created by the virus to strip even more of our liberties in order to expand its power over us. Are Big Government tyrant wannabe types likely to do that? You betcha! Even so…1. Coronavirus is much more deadly than the flu, 2. inspires higher rates of serious complications than the flu, 3. is frequently transmitted asymptomatically, 4. spreads much more rapidly than the flu, and 5. is well equipped to overwhelm medical systems, which then significantly increases serious complication and death rates beyond their already-much-worse-than-the-flu levels.

Get it?

Got it?

Good.

Pointing to how bad people will try to do bad things because of Coronavirus, or how painful things will happen if we choose to deal seriously with Coronavirus, is in no way justification for denying or minimizing the five key attributes of Coronavirus.

The fact that Big Government control-freaks will try to use the Coronavirus threat to their ideological advantage in no way minimizes the actual threat posed by Coronavirus itself which, as is made plain by the five attributes noted above, is a serious threat indeed.

Now let’s run through ten examples of other similar gimmick pseudo-arguments routinely offered up as distractions by those attempting to dismiss or minimize the seriousness of Coronavirus:

BUT THE MEDIA IS JUST TRYING TO JUICE RATINGS BY HYPING CORONAVIRUS

Yes. This is surely true.

And...1. Coronavirus is much more deadly than the flu, 2. inspires higher rates of serious complications than the flu, 3. is frequently transmitted asymptomatically, 4. spreads much more rapidly than the flu, and 5. is well equipped to overwhelm medical systems, which then significantly increases serious complication and death rates beyond their already-much-worse-than-the-flu levels.

The fact that the media is doing what it typically does in order to boost its ratings and advance its agendas in no way makes the Coronavirus any less inherently dangerous than it is based on the five attributes of the bug that we know to be real.

2. BUT THE DEMOCRATS ARE JUST TRYING TO USE CORONAVIRUS AS A WEAPON AGAINST TRUMP

Yes, this is surely true as well.

And…1. Coronavirus is much more deadly than the flu, 2. inspires higher rates of serious complications than the flu, 3. is frequently transmitted asymptomatically, 4. spreads much more rapidly than the flu, and 5. is well equipped to overwhelm medical systems, which then significantly increases serious complication and death rates beyond their already-much-worse-than-the-flu levels.

3. BUT BIG PHARMA WILL JUST USE THIS TO PUSH ITS VACCINES

Yes, this is true too.

4. BUT BIG GOVERNMENT WILL JUST USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO BUILD MORE AND BIGGER GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

Yep. No doubt about it.

5. BUT CHINA IS JUST GOING TO USE THIS TO TRY TO GAIN AN ADVANTAGE OVER THE U.S.

Duh! Of course they are.

6. BUT TRYANT WANNABES IN GOVERNMENT WILL JUST USE THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO CRACK DOWN ON FREEDOM AND CONTROL US EVEN MORE

Yep. They’re very likely to try that, I agree.

7. BUT MANY BUSINESSES WILL BE DESTROYED AND LIVES WILL BE ECONOMICALLY SCARRED IF WE TAKE CORONAVIRUS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING SERIOUSLY

Yes, this is tragically true.

While most U.S. citizens have spent their lifetimes shielded from the reality of hard decisions like those associated with the social distancing and #FlattenTheCurve movements, the simple reality is that adults are often charged with making very difficult choices between unpleasant options. Believing that hard and painful economic decisions have to be made is not the same as “wanting to destroy the economy” or “not caring about people who will suffer”.

8. BUT…THE RUSSIANS!!!

Well, no, not the Russians, actually…

9. BUT WARMONGERS DESPERATE FOR DISTRACTIONS FROM A COLLAPSING ECONOMY WILL JUST USE CORONAVIRUS AS COVER TO GO TO WAR

Very likely.

10. BUT CENTRAL BANKS WILL JUST USE CORONAVIRUS AS A REASON TO PUSH FOR A CASHLESS ECONOMY

Of course they will.

I hope that these ten examples have been helpful in promoting focus on the things that matter when it comes to rightly understanding and responsibly dealing with Coronavirus.

The next time someone tries to distract with one of these gimmicks, kindly nod, say “yeah, I agree,” and then calmly ask them: And how exactly does that alter the basic realities of Coronavirus itself?

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