Please live

Some of us trust big pharma, or scientists, but we are mostly not scientists. So, it is still about faith. Beyond our limited effort and capability to actually understand the science, we have to choose who to trust.

I often come down against the norm when I take positions against fluoride, and statin drugs, and anti-depressants. And I’m an anti-vax sympathizer.

But I’m not against vaccines. I am for the right of people to choose for themselves, and I am personally selective. I prioritize the vaccines that protect me from death or debilitation. It’s not my goal to avoid discomfort. To the extent that there is any risk to vaccines, I figure the more you take the greater the risk.

That’s why I don’t get the flu shot, or the shingles vaccine. I’ll take my chances.

But this I know:

4 million people have died of covid out of about 200 million cases.

I know some.

3 billion people have been vaccinated. How many deaths depends on who you ask, but it’s comparatively few.

And I don’t know any.

I don’t believe that people should be forced. If we want to get this done right, our challenge is to convince them. This is as true for vaccines, as it is for everything else. If we want the society we deserve, then we need to get people on board.

I don’t know if anyone can be convinced of anything these days. But I have faith that it’s possible.

So, I am here today simply to say, please live. Live to fight another day.

We need to work together

When this virus first spread, I was thinking, you can’t just close the world. Economic collapse also ruins lives.

When we did start closing the economy, I was frustrated that we didn’t have an exit strategy. How long will it take? This can’t go on indefinitely.

I’m still frustrated that we don’t have an exit strategy, a plan to get where we want to be and an end date. But to those who still think that the closing of the economy is unwarranted, that we should brave the risk of Covid and keep everything open, for the sake of the economy, I have this to say.

There is no recovery of the economy without controlling the spread of Covid.

Because we can force businesses to close, or we can allow them to open, but we can’t force people to patronize them.

And as long as the virus is out of control, people won’t go to sporting events. They won’t eat inside restaurants or have business meetings face to face or take dance classes and yoga and go to the gym. They’ll even stop going to bars, and weddings (and funerals). They certainly won’t take cruises. Even if the virus wasn’t that big a deal, unless everyone knows that, a surge in cases is going to hurt business.

People don’t want to get Corona. They believe it can be serious, that there could be lasting repercussions, and that they could spread it to someone who is even more vulnerable, most likely someone they know.

Even if they’re wrong, that’s what they think. So they’ll stay home.

For a case in point, look to Sweden. Of all its Nordic neighbors, Sweden was unique in that it decided not to shut everything down. To them, it wasn’t worth the effect on the economy, and now, among their neighbors, they have the most cases and the worst economy.

Covid doesn’t scare you, I get it. I’m not that scared myself. But when you don’t wear a mask, you scare other people. And then their fears are realized with a spike, and maybe someone they know gets sick, and they change their behavior and the economy suffers. It’s not an unreasonable or unexpected reaction. It’s logical. These are smart people.

See, unfortunately (or fortunately) there are still more smart people than stupid people. So, if you care about the economy, practice behaviors that will get the smart people supporting the economy again.

We need them. Smart people serve a purpose too. We need to work with them.