Update: August 21, 2022
Like many (most?) of you, I found myself in the middle of tense debates with family, life-long friends, and even with random strangers in the Soviet-style store line-ups, grocery aisles, and checkouts from the beginning of the COVID-19 response disaster.
While standing in line at Bulk Barn one afternoon in early 2020, I surprised myself when I made a short speech to everyone present, "If this all turns out to be a massive over-reaction, governments will fall." While replaying that scene in my mind on my way home, I realized I was probably dead wrong. Those chiefly responsible for the carnage, starting with the Junk News media, then the rest would NEVER ADMIT their criminal negligence. It would be denied, spun, or memory-holed.
Despite all of the efforts of the major mental content providers dominating news and information distribution to bamboozle the public, less and less people are buying the bullshit.
Update: July 26, 2022
One of the reasons I adopted libertarianism back in the 1970s was something I had read in the literature. It basically stated,
When politicians act to solve a given problem, they almost always end up making the problem worse.
Having had almost a half a century now to compare that statement with my observations, I am more confident than ever of its truth. Furthermore, I have observed that the problems caused by the first round of government interventions almost always serve as justification for further, and equally destructive interventions. And so on. And so on.
This is why I was able to spot the disaster unfolding in the COVID-19 response from the beginning. With the benefit of a further two years of observation, it ought to be obvious to anyone not restricted by a concretized brain, that the political response to COVID-19 has been a gigantic disaster.
Update: March 9, 2021
The Junk News media are finally starting to report on all of damage that has been done to people's lives by their own panic mongering.
As expected, they are doing their best to cover up their own culpbility for this disaster. Instead of blaming the collateral damage on the Chinese Communist style lockdown response adopted by most politicians, fuelled by their own stoking of the fear, they blame the damage on "the pandemic." That they are able to get away with this in-your-face mendacity is a testament to the gullibility of an intellectually lazy and gullible public.
The Scoreboard
May 7, 2020, 10:43 a.m. EDT
Total Confirmed - 3,852,646
Total Critical - 48,030
Total Deceased - 266,076
Total Active - 2,273,897
Total Recovered - 1,317,109
-- source
No lockdowns in Belarus, population 9,449,773.
Deaths - 116
Ontario was converted into an open prison. Population of Ontario - 14,000,000.
Deaths - 1,560
May 7, 2020
Collateral Damage from the Lock-Downs
This is just a preliminary summary of the damage being done by government policies to flatten the economy and test the propensity of the hoi polloi to submit to blind, unthinking obedience.
As the panic slips into the memory hole, look for the scary headlines that will be coming and note how almost all of them will be blamed on the virus, not the government.
Heart Attack Deaths
"Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott did say about three dozen people were reported to have died because they were unable to have heart surgery due to the pandemic."
No. They were unable to have heart surgery because of the lock-down.
Kidney Disease
'He never got a chance': B.C. man dies after surgery cancelled due to COVID-19
Mental Health Crises
"Recent data shows a surge in depression, anxiety, suicides, and alcohol and drug abuse... all hitting the U.S. like a tsunami."
- So what’s up 1,000% in the last three months?
- Crisis line calls up 1,000%
Domestic Violence
"Pandemics, financial insecurity, stress and uncertainty have lead to increased aggression at home which was seen previously with the global financial crisis in 2009." -- <italics: mine>
WHO reports domestic violence calls are up 60%.
"Billions of people are subject to some form of stay-at-home orders across the globe, and experts say women and children are particularly vulnerable to abuse in lockdown."
Also from that article, "The UN agency for sexual and reproductive health (UNFPA) has estimated that there would be 31 million more cases of domestic violence worldwide if lockdowns continue for another six months."
According to Time,
"For people who are experiencing domestic violence, mandatory lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 (the disease caused by the new coronavirus) have trapped them in their homes with their abusers, isolated from the people and the resources that could help them."
Also from that article, "an advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline wrote in the organization’s log book. “Her partner strangled her tonight. While talking to her, it sounded like she has some really serious injuries. She is scared to go to the ER due to fear around catching COVID-19.” -- <italics: mine>
It seems very likely that the typical government response in most countries, to flatten the economy, an untested "treatment" of COVID-19, will now result in a serious economic depression. With the double blow of stresses from job losses and bankruptcies, millions may now find themselves staying at home long after the virus has dissipated.
Other violence:
Shooting over dining area closure hurts 3 McDonald's workers
Fire Deaths
Another report of the collateral damage from government COVID-19 lockdown orders.
51 FIRE FATALITIES BETWEEN JAN. 1 AND MAY 4, A 65 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE SAME TIME PERIOD LAST YEAR
"Ontario’s fire marshal says there’s been an increase in fire deaths this year as COVID-19 measures force many people to stay home and do more home cooking.
Jon Pegg says there have been 51 fire fatalities between Jan. 1 and May 4, a 65 per cent increase over the same time period last year. He says 17 Ontarians have died in fires this past March alone."
The Globe and Mail, May 5, 2020
Poisonings
Canadians are accidentally poisoning themselves while cleaning to prevent COVID-19
Staying Home can be Deadly.
New information suggests that by staying home, in accordance with government edicts, you have a much higher chance of requiring hospitalization due to COVID-19.
"Overall, the data of the days analyzed show most new admissions are of people who have mostly been staying home, with 66 percent of new hospitalizations being of individuals who were admitted from their own residences." -- <italics: mine>
Incentives matter. It’s not enough for voters to endorse legislation that has a nice title and promises to do something good. People need to think through the full consequences of a policy, because often it will lead to a cure worse than the disease.
Wait for it. Next, the politicians will be ordering people out of their homes.
UPDATE: May 22, 2020.
Teressa Tam tells people to go outside.
Death by Ventilator
- Flattening the economy did NOTHING.
Karl Denninger has been right all along.
Enough is Enough!
Junk News Report for January 18, 2021
If the video doesn't play, click here.
Updates
May 16, 2020
I note with disdain the persistent, and dishonest, habit by reporters, politicians, and officials to describe the collateral damage as "caused by the coronavirus pandemic," when an uncluttered mind can clearly see it was caused by government's responses.
3rd World lockdowns may kill more than COVID19
Lord Sumption discussing the police response to coronavirus
The politicians should be locked down for 4 years so we can get the economy and our health back.
ReplyDeleteThey should also forfeit all of their personal assets to compensate those they have harmed with their untested, reckless experimentation with virus containment.
Delete