Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
Bob, that seems quite the didactic statement! I’m assuredly not prepared to “eat and like” the fact that my good friend very recently died of Covid-19 and that thousands upon thousands of other deaths are yet to come. I’m far from ignorant re the economic issues you articulated; however, I think that it needs to be always tempered by constant recognition and mention of the loss and suffering of so many victims -- and ways to mitigate that (I'm not implying you don't feel that way) it just seems to so often get lost when things turn to economics.

It doesn’t have to be all or none. The situation is IMO contextual. If we had nationwide "opening protocols" based on science (in lieu of 50 states left to improvise) the situation would be far better. My county has, per capita, the highest rate in my state. Should not openings, mask wearing, etc., be tempered by those data relative to a county with 1/10 the rate? Suggesting that w/o wholesale opening up we are economically going down the toilet appears to dismiss what has happened in other countries ... countries that didn't go into mass denial, took action, and in many (but not all cases) are now in infinitely better shape than the USA.

Bud

PS Apologies to all for the non-music related post!

I agree about contextual, but then you speak of nationwide protocols which I actually believe the CDC has provided. Our country runs a specific way and the States have a lot of power that the federal government does not or cannot infringe upon. Education is a state run enterprise with every state having different rules and requirements, a national plan doesn't make sense in a state like Wyoming with cases in the single digits each day compared to a state like California with thousands daily. Countries that did not shut down at all had no worse or better outcomes, generally speaking. Many studies recently have shown that the shutdowns have caused some much worse conditions and problems than the virus has, suicides spiking, domestic violence spiking etc.

Just an opinion no better or worse than anyone else's.

My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.