“Common Sense & COVID-19”-Sydney Williams
http://www.swtotd.blogspot.com
A desire for more power for themselves and the state, identity politics and unadulterated hatred for Mr. Trump, have driven common sense into the nether regions of the progressive mind. The Oxford English Dictionary defines common sense as “good sense and sound judgement in practical matters.” It is, as Harriet Beecher Stowe put it, “seeing things as they are,” not as we might like them to be. It is, according to Thomas Edison, an imperative quality: “The three essentials to achieve anything are: first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense.” A lack of common sense infects all issues, from the economy, to climate, to the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is the effect of a lack of common sense regarding COVID-19 and reactions to it that concerns this essay.
We have always lived in a politicized world, but we now live in one made more pervasive by the advent of the internet and social media. Attitudes toward masks have become flashpoints in the battle against COVID-19. It is said that opinions regarding masks differentiate Democrats from Republicans. Perhaps, but it sounds too simplistic. I do believe, however, that one can distinguish the individual who abrogates rational behavior to a political narrative. A friend wears a mask when driving alone in his car, but unlike many on the left he is honest as to his reason. He admits the purpose is to send a signal that he cares – not to protect himself or others against the virus – but a sign of his righteousness. But he ignores risks to his health; for, no matter how “woke” he may feel, we all need the fresh air an open car window provides. Dr. Margarite Griesz-Brisson, a German Consultant Neurologist and Neurophysiologist is quoted: “We know that the human brain is very sensitive to oxygen deprivation. There are nerve cells, for example, in the hippocampus that can’t be longer than three minutes without oxygen – they cannot survive.” It is an opinion that resonates common sense. Yet, Mr. Trump is ridiculed for removing his mask, when ten or twenty feet from others, while Mr. Biden has spoken of imposing a nation-wide mask-wearing mandate.
Believing it helps Mr. Biden, mainstream media highlights the number of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. and compare them unfavorably with the rest of the world. They ignore an inconvenient perspective – a higher number of tests per thousand people yields a higher number of positive cases. The U.S. has been testing 2.87 people per thousand, while Canada, France and Germany are testing a third fewer. More tests generate more confirmed cases. Hospitalizations, a more important number, get little attention probably because those numbers are down by two thirds since a bump in July, despite more people testing positive. And positivity rates likely do not indicate the extent of the spread. Most officials argue the number of 7.5 million Americans having tested positive for COVID-19 is likely off by 90%, suggesting the real number is closer to 75 million, with the vast majority being asymptomatic.
The Left prefers draconian “lockdowns” to a system that, first, protects the vulnerable and then, with commonsensical safeguards, opens the economy. Their priority, as explained by Mr. Biden, is to defeat the virus before addressing the economy. It is an elitist attitude that assumes everyone can either work from home, can live for a year without an income, or assumes taxpayers will make up the difference, oblivious to the fact the economy has been stunted. As Dr. Scott Atlas said, a “lockdown is a luxury of the rich.” It is a policy that has forced school closings and encouraged remote learning, despite the fact that, for school-age children, the virus is no more dangerous than the flu. The policy has been especially harmful to the nation’s most needy. Nearly 100,000 U.S. businesses, mostly small ones, have gone bankrupt. While the labor participation rate has improved since April, it is still down almost two percentage points from before the pandemic, which means there are still three million fewer people employed than at year end 2019. Lockdowns have unintended consequences. For example, in my state of Connecticut, domestic violence shelters are running at 150% of capacity, requiring victims to be placed in hotels.
The Left claims to “follow the science,” yet the science they follow is one that accords only with their political views. When the science is at odds with their predetermined narrative, it is rejected. The Great Barrington Declaration is a case in point. It is a treatise prepared by three epidemiologists from Stanford, Harvard and Oxford: Doctors Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff and Sunetra Gupta, respectively. Joel Achenbach, writing for the Associated Press, referred to them as “maverick scientists,” a comment that says more about Mr. Achenbach than it does about the three doctors. The doctors urge adoption of what they term “focused protection” of the vulnerable, while publicly acknowledging the increasing evidence that “current lockdowns are producing devastating effects on short and long-term public health,” and that “keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.” The paper has been signed by over 30,000 doctors and scientists around the world. The Left’s denial of the group’s authenticity is based on the fact that the research was underwritten by the American Institute for Economic Research, a think tank in part funded by the “hated” Koch family. Science is never fixed; it is always a work-in-progress.
Common sense says listen to all sides, then form your decisions. In my case, it means wearing a mask when inside and around strangers, or outside if people come within six or ten feet. I wash my hands, often and carefully. I avoid crowded venues and socially distance. I use sanitizers. Most importantly, I try to employ common sense and try not to be fearful. If you are not infected and you know the same is true of those with you, i.e. your family, a mask is unnecessary. When outside, alone and in the fresh air, a mask does more harm than good, as we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The idea that a mask mandate should be imposed is ridiculous, harmful and serves no purpose other than to fire up a partisan divide. There has been no such talk of mandating surgical gloves, yet when I pump gas or go into a supermarket, I wear them, because my judgement tells me it makes sense. Public policy should assure protection of the vulnerable, but it should also be cognizant of the harmful psychological effects of loneliness; it should let students return to schools and allow the economy to sensibly reopen. We should be fully aware of and never forget the unintended consequences of public policies gone awry.
A lack of common sense is manifest across our culture and society. It could be seen last year when 181 CEOs of U.S. companies, desirous to be “woke,” committed to “stakeholder capitalism, a “collective creed of workers, customers, communities, climate and country,” as Andy Kessler wrote in The Wall Street Journal. The term “stakeholder capitalism” stirs the emotional loins but is redundant. Businesses that do not treat its workers well, keep customers happy, pay taxes, and heed rules and regulations will be out of business. That’s the way markets work. It is common sense. Milton Friedman’s advice of a half a century ago remains applicable: “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” If it does, workers, customers and the community thrive. If it does not, they do not. A lack of common sense can be seen in the adamancy of climate advocates who claim anyone who questions their advocacy is a “denier.”
Philip Stanhope, Lord Chesterfield, in a letter to his son, wrote: “A weak mind with no common sense magnifies trifling things and cannot receive great ones.” Those words characterize progressives intent on abandoning rational discourse for the sake of a narrative that serves their desires – more power for themselves and the state.
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