I think this will be the last post I do on this topic. The disease is not gone, nor is it likely to be gone no matter what we do. But we know enough now to say that it will not kill us off and that it is not of such societal severity to justify economic and social suicide. That makes it no longer a medical issue other than for the health care system and the afflicted. It remains primarily a political phenomenon now that must be dealt with in the same way all political policies are: through petitioning the government, the ballot, and the courts.

The chart above demonstrates the wisdom of a light touch of government in response to an epidemic. Let people know the best information and advice you can muster and then have them act accordingly. As in the US, Sweden suffered losses in their elderly and infirm population. But they did so without destroying their economy and their children’s future, And whether this has come about by “herd immunity” or whatever, the results are plain: the epidemic has lost any strength or vitality in Sweden. It is trending in that direction in the US as well, but California is determined to keep fear alive. The Governor has set totally irrational guidelines for reestablishing fundamental liberties. Others on Ricochet argue as to why this is, but the fundamental remains that it is wrong-headed to look for contagion when the consequences of contagion fall below the threshold for government concern.

Craig Medred, an independent journalist in Alaska, has posted periodically about COVID-19 and has added an additional chapter today:

As this was written, Our World in Data (a website maintained by the respected University of Oxford) was reporting a daily death rate in the widely-masked U.S. at 2.7 per million with the rate in little-masked Sweden at 0.01 per million.

Sweden has been much criticized for its approach to the pandemic. It asked Swedes to practice social distancing and refrain from large gatherings, especially indoors, but tried to maintain life as normal as much as possible.

The result was a daily eath rate that peaked at almost 10 people per million in mid-April. The U.S. rate peaked at 8.2 per million days later. Both then began falling.

The daily death rate in Sweden is still falling. The U.S. rate fell through early June and then began tracking upward.

The latest hope is that a vaccine can be developed to protect people. It is a wonderful hope, but it is increasingly looking like the world might be forced to live with this new virus as it has learned to live with the HIV virus that causes AIDS and others pathogens before that.

Where we find our comfort level between fear and some sort of acceptance of the new norm that it can’t kill us all only time will tell.

The real story will not be told for years, if ever. The sturm und drang of the epidemic is such that data collection has been rushed, haphazard, misinterpreted, and massaged to a point that there is little confidence in it. The latest salvo is the CDC report that only about 10,000 or the 160,000+ deaths “associated” with COVID-19 are due to the virus alone. This data is being suppressed insofar as the social media tech giants and media allies can do so. And yet the accuracy of this data and meaning is also suspect. The conclusion is based on death certificates solely listing COVID-19 as the cause of death versus most death certificates listing multiple disease processes along with COVID-19. Were these sole listings simply rushed? Are they credible? How does this number compare with the likely over-reporting on other certificates with people dying of unrelated causes but with confirmed infection? These are the things that must be examined carefully and thoughtfully by future researchers. But that is not going to happen in the near term. And it is in the near term that people’s lives and livelihoods are being destroyed.

And so it is that with imperfect data public decisions must be made. We are in the thrall of petit tyrants and the courts have thus far let us down. We thought we had a constitution that secured our liberty. We have found out how terribly naive we were. But worse, the petit tyrants have discovered something about us that does not bode well for the future: we do not vigorously assert our liberties. Yes, we act subversively whether it is in pool parties or house parties in the Hollywood hills. But we do not turn out like the progressive shock troops to assert our demands. The universe does not end with a bang, but with a whimper. The powers that be do not feel the prickle of fear that other tyrants have felt when the crowds of freedom-starved peoples came for them.

Thomas Jefferson said —

The people can not be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …[W]hat country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.

We are now in a political season. We must assert our liberty — if by no other means then by the ballot at least. Only favor politicians who favor liberty. COVID-19 is not our oppressor; it is only a tool of our oppressors.

[Note: Links to all my COVID-19 posts can be found here.]