So this post is intended to be an interactive experience. Go to the fridge, grab a beer, grab a chair and push play so my personal theme song can echo in the background, while you read my rant.
Let me first say that I get that Covid-19 is a serious virus, and that we are in the midst of a pandemic and that smarter people than I are calling for the “flattening of the curve” in Alberta and Canada. But I also know that the world is blowing this entire thing out of control. Our media is to be held to a large account for this, fostering fear and panic over the past six weeks, putting the Corona Virus as the lead story every night, because they live and feed off of mayhem and fear.
I have questions as to why the news doesn’t draw our attention to the fact that 3,000 people die every day in the United States in car accidents? Why doesn’t the media make the first story in their line-up that 2,200 people die every day globally from pneumonia? Why isn’t the news covering the fact that 440 people die every day around the world from Whooping Cough, a disease which should have been eradicated through existing vaccines decades ago. Even the measles claim 247 deaths daily around the globe. I get that Covid-19 is serious and that it is spreading, and yet it ranks far lower on the list of diseases that adds to global mortality (56 per day) than so many others. And we haven’t even brought into the equation war, poverty and hunger. Is it because those things don’t affect us personally, don’t cause people to lose their minds and rush out and strip shelves of toilet paper in the cities we live in. Is it because there aren’t fancy arenas and stadiums full of overpaid athletes and their corresponding entertainment value being affected in those parts of the globe? Is it because so much of the suffering that occurs daily on our planet happens in Africa, or India, or some other less developed, less fortunate part of the world?
What I know is that our propensity as a society to react in irrational fear and panic has initiated an unnecessary global recession, which will take untold months to recover from. Before the craziness is over, it will likely severely affect many businesses in Edmonton and across Canada and beyond, affect jobs, and will probably result in business bankruptcy. This craziness has already stripped years of value off of most people’s personal wealth, their pensions, and their future. We are shutting down schools when our youth are the least likely to be impacted by this virus.
I simply don’t understand how we got to this place? I don’t understand how we collectively have chosen to believe lies and misinformation in the face of truth and reason. Most days I can dial up Billy Currington and beer in hand, shake my head and chuckle, but with this one, that just doesn’t seem to be enough.
Yes of course, wash your hands, do the elbow bump, and, take a breath. By all means, be a responsible citizen if you find yourself feeling unwell, and avoid spreading it around, but until then, quit buying toilet paper and get outside and go for a walk.