Penny Thoughts: The Real Costs of COVID-19

We have been bombarded with all kinds of “statistics” during this COVID-19 panic. If we examine the real costs of this panic, however, there are some very revealing and disturbing facts.

Here are some numbers to consider:

• Total number of deaths in the U.S. attributed to COVID-19, May 13, 2020: 83,000.
• Total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Alabama, May 13, 2020: 442.
• Total number of unemployed in the U.S. as of May 8: 22,000,000.
• Total number of unemployed in Alabama, April 30, 2020: 94,000.

From the outset, I want to emphasize that I extend condolences and heartfelt sympathy to all who have lost loved ones due to COVID-19. The tragedy of losing someone you love is difficult to comprehend and to deal with. I lost both of my parents within six months of each other not a year and a half ago. Even though they were in their late 80’s and mid 90’s respectively, I grieved deeply and still feel the impact of their absence.

I also lost a dear friend less than six months ago who died in a tragic fire in his home and was burned to death. I understand that loss, as well as loss through sometimes senseless deaths.

But with COVID-19, we have been driven to absolute FEAR at the hands of the ravenous media which really wants to be the first to report some ideas, which they present as “fact”, and for which they wish to lay blame at the feet of their extreme object of hatred and scorn, President Trump!

Add to that the myriad of different “statistical models” which have contradicted each other incessantly and we have a serious formula for a total collapse of every aspect of our societal structure! Here, I am specifically focusing on America’s economy, and more specifically, those unfortunate citizens who are unemployed!

Making a comparison of the raw numbers, roughly 83 thousand have died in America whose deaths have been attributed to COVID-19. With all the strictures and governmental edicts which have been precipitously mandated by governmental executives who have relied on the so-called medical “experts,” we all are suffering a faltering economy which has produced 22 million unemployed!

In other words, my fellow Alabamians, there are more than four times more unemployed in America than the total population of Alabama!

Let that sink in for a moment!

We can extrapolate that those 22 million represent, at the very least, one more person as part of a family. This yields 44 million who are suffering from not being able to work!!

Using the same metrics, add at least one person who has suffered from loss due to a COVID-19 attributed death and we have 188 thousand.

Let’s compare, then – 188 thousand versus 44 million!  Which group suffers more – those at a funeral or those who are struggling to feed, clothe, and house their loved ones? Those who have lost their jobs have become victims of .42% of their numbers! And applying this to Alabama’s numbers is it .47%. Note that both percentages are less than 1%!

Given this data, contemplate the real devastation of our response to COVID-19!

Here, I reflect on a quotation from Gandhi: “Poverty is the worst form of violence,” to which I would add that unemployment is the midwife to poverty!

Our knee-jerk reaction to the fear promulgated by medical researchers has brought about devastation to many elements of American society – because we fear dying!

Let me recap here – 188,000 deaths have brought pain, misery and loss to 44,000,000! Is there supposed to be some kind of equity here?

And please spare me the nonsensical drivel about those collecting “unemployment”! It is you and I who are paying that bill with our tax dollars! And it does little to enhance the self-images of those who are collecting it.

Consequently, do we have to free all prison inmates to protect them from COVID-19, then imprison citizens who violate governmental dictates prohibiting certain actions to “ensure” our “safety” from COVID-19? The loss of liberty absent the fiat of war is a slow and subtle dissolution, barely perceptible until the notion of “liberty” is not recognized at all – and becomes a “new normal”.