Of Plague and Prophecy (excerpt)
Perhaps it is for the same derelict reasons, for which I have taken such a cavalier attitude towards this quarantine (not en masse, but discreetly by keeping a few lonely souls company, while simultaneously outrunning this microscopic fiend), that it also seems to be unfathomable to me, this stance, that the world has taken, just to avoid a little death.
We are about to put the entire US Economy in unsurmountable amounts of debt, we are knocking off all the gains we have made thru this past time, simply, because we are afraid of a little death. I don’t think people realize, how hard a recession can be in the economy. I remember perfectly, how long it took people to feel safe again after 2008.
I heard somebody say the quirky remark about COVID-19, “the economy rises, dead people don’t”. You think that’s clever, don’t you? But in the end, you are still trading lives, because you’re buying lives now at the expense of lives later.
Here’s my math: Life = time. That’s it.
That is, the sum of our lives is our time on this earth, if somebody takes 1 year of your time, assuming you’d live to be 100, for easy math, they’re taking 1% of your life. That is what the economy tracks, in a way… FYI.
I have been called a faulty pragmatic.
Yes! Often in fact, enough, to believe it so, particularly of late. And maybe it’s because I’ve played too many games, but I think this analogy should convert:
Assume you have a country, a square, in a map of squares, it is your job to protect that country, and maximize its potential as much as you can.
You have 100 people that make it… Make it what? Work, defend itself, feed itself and keep itself sustainably content. But then… lo and behold… a nasty sickness came, and you realized you had 2 options:
Scenario 1: Lose 2 of your people… not permanently… 2 more would eventually be born and grow again, but you would lose 2 right now, and it would take about 3 years to get them back. By the way… It would also happen to be the 2 people that are not really doing much anyway.
… Or…
Scenario 2: You don’t lose any right now, you keep your 100… but you’re going to lose control of the 100… I mean about 70% — 80% control, for how long… weeks, months, years, maybe… oh wait!… and then the longer you wait the more you’ll lose control of your country. Weaken it to foreign enemies, weaken it amongst itself, and slowly regress. You do know this… for at least 2–3 months, but at this point it looks like at least 6 months of massive loss, then slowly coming back for another year or two, but who knows how slowly, really… we don’t have a cure for at least 6 months… if we’re very, very lucky.
What would you pick? As the ruler of the country.
— — If you didn’t pick Scenario 1, your journey ends here. Thank you… and better luck next time — -
If it holds true for them why not for us? Because we are selfish by nature. We are unable to put the good of the many in front of our own. As a species, it is our major limitation.
But beyond that… I think it’s Fear. We are afraid of Death. Afraid of the end of our own path, and the triviality that it ultimately represented.
And we fall prey to this fear.
People will say… No, No, No! We’re not being selfish. That’s not why… It’s because its inhumane.
Yeah? Let me ask you this… If as a species, or as a country (to return to my former analogy) people could truly act as one, behave as 1 individual being, why would we pick having a very nasty flu vs. having a stroke that paralyzed us for 6 months, while leaving us to a slow recovery that would affect our quality of life for at least a decade? How you would you chose to spend your time… and if time = life? Are we not trading lives?
I don’t know, man?
SOME OF THESE DECISIONS ARE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE!
- P
