Lockdowns Are Not the Answer - The Second Act Will Be Worse Than the First, IF WE ARE COWARDLY SHEEP

Posted by freedomforall 3 years, 5 months ago to Politics
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"irst, and most important, locking down most of the population is at best a very temporary strategy at best. Even setting aside the economic consequences of quarantining a majority of Americans and shutting down their workplaces, the lockdown strategy does little to combat the spreading of the virus, since it gives people no chance to build up immunities, which are key to stopping it. Writes Jeff Deist:

From day one the focus should have been on boosting immunity through exercise, fresh air, sunlight, proper dietary supplementation, and the promotion of general well-being. Instead our politicians, bureaucrats, and media insisted on business lockdowns, school closures, distancing, isolation, masks, and the mirage of a fast, effective vaccine.

The problem is that the virus is not going to disappear, so even if one temporarily prevents its spread by shuttering people in their homes, sooner or later people will have to mingle, and when they do, their bodies will not be conditioned to fight it, so the infection rate certainly will increase. In fact, that is what we have seen so far, as we have lockdowns followed by relaxation of the rules, followed by a surge of new infections. That surge then leads to panic in the media and among the political classes, with the new “solution” being even more lockdowns.

One would think that this seemingly endless cycle of lockdown-relaxation-lockdown would lead the authorities to rethink their strategies, but that is not the case, and this willful blindness is not limited to American politicians. We see governments in Denmark, Belgium, New Zealand, and elsewhere reverting to lockdowns after an increase in new infections.

Meanwhile, the Swedish infection rate clearly is falling, and falling relative to the infection rates of countries that have followed strict lockdown procedures, even if mainstream journalists do not wish to make the comparisons. To a casual observer, it made sense to think that over the past eight months, if the mainstream “experts” were correct, Sweden would be a basket case, as Swedes have carried on with their lives—usually not wearing face coverings—in a way that would seem to be an open invitation to mass spreading of covid-19. Moreover, if the media is to be believed, Swedes should be dying in record numbers. We see none of that happening, yet the Sweden-must-lock-down-or-else narrative continues to dominate the news (and certainly Google’s search engine).

Then there is the economic side. For the most part progressives have framed the economic damage as a necessary “sacrifice” in order to bring the covid-19 pandemic under control. Last May, Paul Krugman wrote that unless the government were to aggressively enforce social distancing policies (read that, massive lockdowns), then there would be even more massive unemployment, his thinking being that unless the authorities kept people at home and prevented interactions, people would get sick and miss work, throwing the economy into a depression. So, putting Krugman logic to the test, we must have massive unemployment and business bankruptcies in order to avoid massive unemployment and business bankruptcies.

Anything less than total lockdowns, he argued, would lead to disaster:

retreat from responsibility won’t just kill thousands. It might also turn the Covid slump into a depression.

Here’s how it would work: Over the next few weeks, many red states abandon social-distancing policies, while many individuals, taking their cues from Trump and Fox News, begin behaving irresponsibly. This leads, briefly, to some rise in employment.

But fairly soon it becomes clear that Covid-19 is spiraling out of control. People retreat back into their homes, whatever Trump and Republican governors may say.

So we’re back where we started in economic terms, and in worse shape than ever in epidemiological terms. As a result, the period of double-digit unemployment, which might have lasted only a few months, goes on and on.

Krugman’s scenario, however, never came about. As the diagram in this linked page shows, even when Krugman wrote his column US recovery rates from covid-19 were soaring while death rates were plummeting, and they have continued to fall even as many states and municipalities have relaxed earlier restrictions, the counterfactual of Krugman’s doomsday prediction.

If we should have learned anything in the past eight months, it should be that that massive lockdowns impose huge costs and dubious benefits. The progressive notion that we can just close businesses, churches, sports venues, and other offices—the unemployed being compensated with printed money—until someone develops the magic vaccination and not suffer huge consequences is as fanciful as the belief that if California bans gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles, its wildfires will disappear. The financial and emotional stresses that come from lockdowns are harmful to both physical and mental health and the evidence is all around us.

Lockdowns Serve the Progressive Political Class
We have to understand that the political classes and their media have a vested interest in the lockdown status quo, and that includes regular provision of what only can be called disinformation. The mainstream media this past summer dutifully reported a highly questionable (I use that term charitably) report that the Sturgis Bike Rally in South Dakota led to more than a quarter million covid infections and more than $12 billion of medical costs. It should have been obvious on its face that the report was deeply flawed, yet in their desire to fuel the covid-is-killing-us narrative, journalists took this too-good-to-be-true story and ran with it.

As for politicians, the covid crisis has been a godsend for those governmental executives and bureaucrats who see constitutional restrictions that limit their authority as mere obstacles to be easily swept away. Governors such as Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gavin Newsom of California, and Tom Wolfe of Pennsylvania have received adoring coverage in the media for seizing and employing dictatorial powers, Whitmer even unilaterally deciding that the sale of garden seeds in stores was illegal. Cuomo’s decision to force the housing of covid-19 patients in nursing homes led to the deaths of thousands of people, yet his national media coverage is uniformly positive.

Contrast the affirmative news coverage of Cuomo with the barrage of media attacks on Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota. Noem has emphasized personal responsibility and did not attempt mass closures of schools and businesses in the state, and the mainstream media erupted with fury. That South Dakota has come through this pandemic relatively well does not matter with the media, as the only acceptable action (to mainstream and elite journalists) in response to covid is for governors to single-handedly seize power and lock down their citizens.

Keep in mind that the real losses that Americans suffered because of the heavy-handed governmental response to the covid outbreak are permanent. As Robert Higgs so eloquently pointed out in Crisis and Leviathan, governments often create crises or, at the very least, they manipulate events such as natural disasters and use them as opportunities to expand governmental powers. Even after the crises end, governments keep some of their newly self-granted powers—and most people raise little or no concern even when government has curtailed more of their freedoms."
SOURCE URL: https://mises.org/wire/second-act-will-be-worse-first-lockdowns-are-not-answer


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  • Posted by 3 years, 5 months ago
    Last February Dr. Nabarro of the WHO was chiding the UK for not Locking-Down fast enough.

    Today Nabarro says NO-NO-NO Locking Down Is BAAAADDD.

    Loons are running the World Health Organization.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/who...

    But it's all Trump's fault because he isn't an expert on virology and he listened to so-called expert scientists who have lots of acronym titles. The same "expert scientists" that the morons Biden and Kamaliar are praising and using as reason to lock-down again.
    Biden/Kamaliar aren't leaders. They are power-mongering, sociopathic morons.
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  • Posted by Mamaemma 3 years, 5 months ago
    In addition to all the other horrible things the lockdowns caused, hundreds of thousands of small businesses have gone out of business, while the big box stores have prospered. This serves the left, as no one is more conservative and independent than a successful small businessperson.
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    • Posted by $ puzzlelady 3 years, 5 months ago
      As a very small business, I actually have worked at home for over 40 years. So I'm one of the few lucky ones who are not affected by lockdowns. Amazon sends me what I need, fast and efficiently (unless it's something "not available"—there’s a clue to economic distress).

      I don't mind wearing a mask to a store. It's a protection I appreciate. By the way, it is not certain that catching Covid will not kill you, nor that, if you recover, you will have future immunity. I love my life enough to be willing to be overly cautious. I never did like people in public coughing or sneezing on me, even though I have an unusually strong immune system from having survived an unusually high number of exotic diseases, among them salmonella, giardiasis, and TB. I'll be damned if I will succumb to this year's rapacious microorganism.

      Government should not be telling us what we must do; recommendations are fine, but the choice must be up to each individual. We can be guided by the results we see around us. People dropping like flies? Maybe not be too eager to breathe their air, as on enclosed buses or planes or crowds. Why do lab workers wear protective gear and helmets? Common sense learned from mistakes.

      History is filled with the horrors and devastations of microbes versus humans. We are living through just another chapter. Do we know more now than the people felled by the Black Plague and the Spanish flu? Why have we not solved cancer and dementia? Why have we not resolved wars and destructive psychoepistemologies? Wearing a mask to minimize germ warfare is not a sacrifice. What will it take to end meme warfare?
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    • Posted by term2 3 years, 5 months ago
      One advantage the big box stores have is that you can get more of the things you need in fewer trips that require the damned mask.
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      • Posted by 3 years, 5 months ago
        Or just order from another big box (Amazon) with no trips at all. Both actions support the enemy, imo.
        Unfortunately small businesses cannot compete effectively due to offshoring labor cost and CORONAvirus government edicts that approve of McDonalds and Walmart, but make it impossible for local restaurants and stores to offer the added value they always did to compete before the plandemic.
        For example, "Big Divide in the Restaurant Industry" https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/ec...
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        • Posted by term2 3 years, 5 months ago
          i order most stuff now from amazon, so I dont have to put on the damn mask and endure the shorter hours and crowds. I havent even been to home depot or harbor freight.

          As to fast food, I am almost to the point of not eating it any more. Very sparse dine
          -in , long drive through lines, unsatisfactory online ordering, reduced menus, etc. Who needs it. Time to make/bring box lunch and eat it ppeacefully at my desk or at home. I never liked McDonalds at all anyway. Havent been to one in maybe 9 months or more.
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          • Posted by 3 years, 5 months ago
            The restaurants haven't been supported by me since about 2000 so I'm not responsible in any way for their demise or success.
            I would love to give more business to local stores. I do avoid the big grocery chains in favor of local stores. Haven't even been to TJ's since February, and I miss the coffee ice cream.
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            • Posted by term2 3 years, 5 months ago
              I support the local small restaurants that have dine in, although I dont see how they are going to survive at 50% capacity in Nevada. If it was 25% capacity, I would just NOT open at all. Soup Plantation was smart in March 2020 by closing all 98 of its salad bar buffet restaurants to avoid the inevitable lossses. I did like going there, so I miss the buffets which have almost disappeared in las vegas
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 3 years, 5 months ago
    I sincerely doubt Americans are going to sit still for another lockdown. I predict a strong rebellion to that idea.
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    • Posted by $ pixelate 3 years, 5 months ago
      My local fitness center reopened a month ago. There is an indoor muzzle mandate -- however, I don't wear one. After moving around the place for a few minutes and making eye contact with other patrons, the "big guys" that are often 20 years my junior, drop the muzzles as well. A few older folks on the treadmills, moving with the speed of molasses, keep the masks but we never get more than 20 feet from each other. The guy at the front desk wears a muzzle, but it's hanging from his chin and he often has a grin on his face. It's really just about compliance. The place is monitored with cameras 24 hours, they can figure out who I am from my passcode and camera footage ... but I have gotten no bad vibes. I've behaved in a similar manner in other small business operations and the owner/managers are Ok... they are mandated to place the C19 Muzzle signs on their doors ... but most of the people ignore it and life goes on.

      We just need to keep doing our part to #Resist the social engineering. Elections in a few weeks -- Washington State needs a new Governor -- Culp mopped the floor with Inslee in the one-hour debate. Get to the polls / complete and mail the ballots. This election is important - I would say even more important in terms of the State Governors than the Federal President.
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      • Posted by Lucky 3 years, 5 months ago
        You are in WA? i've just seen:
        https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/10/1...

        Benton Public Utility District has come out with a report very hostile to wind power. " a devastating counter attack to the wind lobbyists"

        But back to the general point, compliance.

        It has grown and spread like a pathogen. As well as you describe, the symptoms include: accountants can not give advice, the family doctor likewise and does not ask questions except to check if you can be sent for tests, stockbroker will not make a recommendation without a big upfront charge and umpteen forms to fill out.

        It has come out of the consumer movement. To protect the ignorant (and the guilty) governments have imposed requirements, qualifications, licenses, disclosures, service standards, and all that, supposedly to protect the gullible from the sharks. But, the shark get the gullible to sign statements that they have read a dozen forms and agree with it all. The net effect is more work for lawyers and consultants. The origin of the consumer movement is in do-goodism, not socialism but it runs in parallel.
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        • Posted by 3 years, 5 months ago
          It's interesting that the 3 countries being robbed by un-clean energy looters (Germany, Australia, and US) all have proven coal reserves to provide domestic power at current levels for 150, 1230, and 345 years respectively.
          Coal power generation is cleaner than it has ever been before and was getting cleaner every year until these looters passed laws to destroy the coal power industry and put thousands out of work.
          There is no evidence that coal power causes climate change. There is plenty of evidence that those promoting inefficient wind/solar energy are doing so for personal gain of money and power.
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        • Posted by $ pixelate 3 years, 5 months ago
          Thank you for the Benton County PUD post -- the content of the article confirms many of the thoughts that I have had regarding "renewables" and the vast eyesore of Windmills. The comments from other readers are also encouraging. I continue to be in contact with the Benton REA folks that are decision makers here as it relates to truly green power: Hydroelectricity. There is a movement afoot to tear down the Snake River Dams in the name of Salmon. I was party to an online Call-in where callers had 2 minutes to voice their opinion on the Dams.... Fully 2/3rds of the callers wanted to tear down the dams "for the fish." The entire session made me ill. Most sane people think that "well, of course they would never actually tear down the hydro dams" -- but the insanity of the far left ... those individuals who "speak for those who have no voice - the Fish" -- these nuts will call, write, vote, stomp to do their part for The Fish. I told my Benton REA reps and management that they need to keep me In The Loop as to what Actions I can take, as an individual, to keep the unthinkable from coming to pass.

          The Compliance in terms of Muzzles is shocking... I will be running a 100 miler race in Arizona later this month ... all participants, volunteers, pacers, crew - to have Muzzles at the ready for when they encounter other individuals. The photos on the race website show "The New Normal" with the runner athletes all wearing the muzzle (buffs, which are, as we know, ineffective cloth masks). This is Do-Goodery run amuck.
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    • Posted by term2 3 years, 5 months ago
      I am rebelling, for one. I dont slow down for the ridiculous 15 mph school zones where there are NO kids because the school is closed. I dont wear a mask outside at all, and I try to reduce the frequency of going to stores that require masks.
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    • Posted by $ gharkness 3 years, 5 months ago
      I keep thinking that, and keep getting disappointed by the comments I read (elsewhere). The problem for ME is that I don't own an establishment to rebel with. I can only go to ones that are open, and if they aren't open, I can't rebel by going to them.
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  • Posted by $ pixelate 3 years, 5 months ago
    I was in S. Dakota visiting Mt. Rushmore during the end of August. The thing that got me was the presence of so many parents placing the muzzle on their children. This is a sign of ignorance + fear + compliance + virtue-signaling. It is also, more to the point, child abuse. While on a hike in the North Cascades last weekend, I noticed a lot of hikers in the high country with the muzzle... pure lunacy - these folks apparently did not get the memo: the concentration of the virus is Infinitesimal in the open wilderness with wind -- folks marching up to the Sahale Glacier are hale and hearty and likely possess a strong fortitude ... the muzzle promotes the recycling of waste gases ... not good for the health of the individual muzzle-wearer. Oh well. The propaganda has sunk in. I think it was SLL who also mentioned that we will likely see folks wearing the muzzle well into next year -- sort of like a Lucky Rabbit Foot or Four Leaf Clover. State indoctrinated social engineering bunk.
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  • Posted by Eyecu2 3 years, 5 months ago
    I am a High School teacher and I haven't been wearing my mask in my classroom. My boss wrote me up for this and in response I told him that if I didn't have to have a job that I would have quit over this.

    Yes, I have knuckled under but as I am not able to retire yet and have bills to pay. I have no choice. I am ready to stand up with a majority if and when a majority comes together but until then I have to go with the flow of these "Useful Idiots."
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    • Posted by $ pixelate 3 years, 5 months ago
      Does the type of mask matter to the enforcers?
      Perhaps wear one of these:
      https://www.teemiami.store/products/this-is-a-mind-control-device-face-mask

      I will sometimes wear a ridiculous huge organic acid-gas respirator. I sound like Darth Vader when I am speaking or breathing. It's my way of saying "this is nonsense."

      I also wear a large tin-foil hat into the big box stores. It gets smiles and comments ... when anyone asks, I tell them that the Hat is to block the nutrinos from the Chinese Nuclear Missiles. Pure bunk, of course, and that is just my version of Going With the Flow ... try to have fun with it.
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  • Posted by term2 3 years, 5 months ago
    I am done with lockdowns. Look no further than the episodes of WALKING DEAD to see what happens. Lock yourself inside your house, and you dont get bitten by the zombies outside. But venture outside eventually, and you get bitten unless you have figured a way to defend yourself or kill the zombies. The author is right about increasing one's immunity one way or another, and that typically happens by in fact going out there and not hiding under the bed.
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  • Posted by $ Stormi 3 years, 5 months ago
    This is one of the most concise and accurate evaluations of the situation I have seen anywhere. Considering this senior went all over during the height of the infection, no mask, and did not catch the virus, even though the week before the shut down, we were gathering as usual with car pals for coffee, 15-20, and one of our group ended up in the hospital the first week of shutdown, I was sitting next to him, a neighbor on the other side and my husband across from him, and we all were fine. None of the group came down with it, even though we went to gathering as usual outside.None of us wore masks, all in the same age group. I shopped as usual, no mask. Then Comarade DeWine mandated masks, and I had to wear them inside anywhere, well, except for a couple free thinking proprietors. So, our positive testing cases tripled within our county. Masks do not do what so-called experts claim, they can even be dangerous. They keep us from getting natural immunities, they cause respiratory infections (on the rise in our area), they can set off asthma. Careful distancing is one thing, but Chinese masks signal something more sinister, a forced way of ilviing, an indoctrinated reaction, socially acceptable protection for theieves. WHO, CDC, AIAID (Fauci), NIH, all lied to us, got it wrong, they all had their hands in the Chinese lab. Bill Gates had accurate spread pattern on virtual roll out, five months before the release of teh manmade virus. Someone should or did see it coming, and did not want to make it known. Why?Why did Trump trust the same medical people Obama used?
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    • Posted by 3 years, 5 months ago
      "Why did Trump trust the same medical people Obama used?"

      Trump is a salesman. That's his talent.
      He knows his limitations to a great extent and he hadn't enough knowledge to pick other experts at the time.
      He does learn though. (imo)
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  • Posted by $ 25n56il4 3 years, 5 months ago
    I think we should reduce the price of the pneumonia vaccine from $250 (my daughter had to pay because she can't qualify for O'Bama care) and then people wouldn't die from the pneumonia the flu seems to cause.
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    • Posted by $ Stormi 3 years, 5 months ago
      I got the first pneumonia shot a year ago, not even a cold after that. Got the second pneumonia shot this year, got COCID symptoms within five hours. Total exhaustion for almost 3 days, chills, and just a little cough, then gone. Outside planting trees a couple days after symptoms left. I did learn, not from my doc, but research that 56% of people have reactions; to second version. It was worth it, as I almost died many years ago from pneumonia, went into coma, awful.U gave not had a cold since and did not wear a mask the first 4 months, pre-shutdown.
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    • Posted by $ gharkness 3 years, 5 months ago
      Wow, didn't realize it was so much. I guess Medicare Advantage plans have some use, anyway. Don't think I paid anything for mine, past the already-deducted payment for the Medicare Advantage plan.
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