As I write this, 1.6 percent of the U.S. population have tested positive for Coronavirus— 5.2 million out of our 330 million people.
This figure probably shocks most people, because the mainstream media has tried as hard as possible to make this pandemic seem far worse than it actually is.
Every day there are repeated news reports about passing another “grim milestone”.
Over 166,000 have died with their deaths being attributed to the virus.
However, there have been numerous reports that many, possibly even most, of these deaths have been with “comorbidities” that could have been the primary cause.
Age could also have been the main factor in many of the deaths, with some countries reporting two-thirds of the deceased being over 70 and many over 80.
Having had deaths in my own family (although not from the virus), I am certainly not making light of these deaths.
Every day, in the U.S., approximately 8,000 people die, and every death is sad, tragic, or even horrible.
Yet the best news about this virus is that well over 90 percent who have tested positive recover without medicines designed to treat it (or a vaccine designed to prevent it).
In the 1957-58 flu season, when I was 10 years old, the world was hit by another pandemic which also originated in China.
It was called the Asian Flu, and 1.1 million died from it, with 116,000 of those deaths being in the U.S. That would be the equivalent of 220,000 U.S. deaths now due to or much higher current population.
Nothing was shut down then. No mayors or governors were holding daily Asian Flu news conferences. There were not constant, 24-hour news reports about the numbers dying or testing positive.
The news readers on MSNBC and CNN can barely suppress their glee at reporting new hotspots and big increases in the numbers dying or testing positive, especially if they are in so-called red states with Republican governors.
Because of their absolute virulent hatred for President Trump, they are also eager to report bad economic news and seemingly grimace when they have to report that the stock market has gone up once again.
Blue state governors and mayors are doing as much as they can to keep things shut down and acting very heroic or holier than thou in doing so.
It is pretty obvious, though, that almost all who want to keep businesses closed and schools shut are people who are still drawing their paychecks or pensions.
They don’t seem to realize that this can’t go on much longer without even those checks or pensions cut back or stopped altogether.
And if the Congress keeps voting to spend money like the worst drunken sailors in history, inflation will just about wipe out those checks and pensions anyway.
The saddest thing about this virus, without question, is the number of people who have died and who have become seriously ill.
However, it is also very sad that so many thousands of small businesses have been forced to shut down, a very significant number of which will never be able to re-open.
And it is especially unfair that so many big giants have been allowed to stay open, even seeing big increases in business they have gotten from the little guys that are no longer open.
All businesses, large and small, should have been allowed to stay open. Were it not for the fact that history is often written by the victors, this shutdown would soon be looked back on as one of the biggest mistakes this Country has ever made. Unfortunately, though, the losers in this situation are clearly those who have been made to close.
John J. Duncan, Jr. represented the Second District of Tennessee in the U.S. House for 30 years from 1988 to 2018. He is a Member of the Ron Paul Institute Board of Advisors.
