The title could stand without further explanation with the obvious references that most readers will immediately link to the present situation for which we have embroiled ourselves in. But the truth is that expounding on them is still a necessary penitence while articulating the ugly truth that few of us wish to acknowledge or focus on.
Globalization is easy. An index case comes down with a communicable disease and it spreads to the rest of the world through the ubiquitous, elaborate lattice of real-time air travel, as invasive as poison gas escaping into an enclosed room from an airduct. Advances in technology, computer science, engineering, and a mobile world of integrated entities makes it nearly impossible to prevent the near instantaneous spread of an increasingly adaptable viral pathogen. One might argue that even IF China had disclosed all it knew at the time to the rest of the world, that the speed of global dissemination of the virus would have outpaced the warning of its threat to mankind.
Deception is also easy. Does anyone remotely tuned into world order question the desire for global dominance of the Chinese communist party? What I think surprises many people is the extent to which China has mostly achieved its goals. And to detail all of their efforts, both with front door and the back-door methods, are beyond the scope of this writing. No question that deception plays a big part in everything they do. A positive self-image in China is an essential enabler of its success. Clearly, China does not want to share their knowledge of (or take responsibility for) the origins and timing of the emergence of the coronavirus in the Wuhan province.
Decadence defines the greatest swath of the American people. Yet we live in the most knowledgeable time in existence. We know the consequences of eating too much, especially fatty foods, too much red meat, or fried with too much fat, avoiding fruits and vegetables, exercising too little, breathing in city pollution or (e) cigarette smoke, depending upon drugs to sleep or feel high, drink alcohol in excess, treat legitimate and contrived psychiatric ailments, overdose on opioids and other pain medications, or remain reckless and/or feckless and prone to risk taking and/or being accident prone and doing nothing about it. While we understand these factors in the pathogenesis of obesity, chronic diseases, and other morbidities and death, most of us do little to nothing to remedy commonly understood modifiable behavior. Like an ostrich with its head in the sand, we know what is beyond our view, but we choose to keep our heads buried. It’s too unpleasant or too difficult to maintain self-control; you only live once so the heck with living healthy when you can eat like there is no tomorrow, ignore what we all know promotes good health, and continue to fall into the abyss of the unhealthy. Even people recovering from a heart attack typically fall back into their pre heart attack behavior within a matter of months. To pose the obvious rhetorical question, is it no wonder that COVID19 preferentially takes the lives of the aged, the chronically ill, the obese, and the frail? But to add a responsible disclaimer, not all chronic diseases are due to nurture, some are inherited and based on genetic predisposition for which not much can be done. And unfortunately, nothing much can be done to reverse the aging process.
Much of the present mess related to COVID19 is exacerbated by the media! Characterized by self-righteous pronouncements and profligate ignorance, as well as arrogance and narcissism displayed by the chosen few high salaried news and opinion TV personalities, this omnipresent environment is compounded by the behavior of our legislators and our president creating a constant aura of unbelievable hostility, mendacity, and acrimony. Taken together, what we have is a canopy of perpetual mass disparagement and deprecation. Yes, big words for lying and fake news. Everyone fails with an F- for their amateurish and adolescent behavior. The media has become a ping pong ball game – the left says one outrageous thing and the right reacts; the right says another outrageous thing and the left reacts…and the pattern is repeated ad Infinium. Not intelligent enough to simulate a chess game, it seems that the “person” of the day with the most outrageous outburst gets the most attention. No matter what, everyone that shows their media face get beaucoup bucks, far out of reach of those who truly contribute even a modicum of worth to society. Footnote: not all of the media are ghastly freaks; there are a few that I feel are socially responsible and well-intended……but none come close to the late Walter Cronkite. However, truth be known, the CURRENT stew of media is likely more hated by the public than the those in public office. I certainly feel they should all be trashed and we should start over with a new cohort of reporters, this time with equipoise and high moral standing as a requirement for employment.
Twenty-four-hour news, every COVID19 hospitalization, every COVID19 death, a real-time ticker of the world’s COVID 19 burden, death after death after death, frightening the bejesus out of all of us. And yet, death is not a new concept but it has never been covered so prodigiously as it has with this biting pandemic. And it has largely achieved its purpose. Stay at home, wash your hands, wear a mask, flatten the curve – we could probably all give a lecture to the public using these worn-down sound bites! And we have flattened the curve, but Americans are really sick of staying at home, and some states are beginning to open up their doors. So what do you think the chances are for a fall resurgence given the impatience of some American’s to follow the experienced and thoughtful logic of Birx and Fauci?
Death is indeed not a new concept. But we don’t fall over ourselves trying to reverse and eliminate all of the factors that predispose ourselves to cancer, heart disease, mental illness, substance abuse, accidental injury, etc……. Here is an idea - Perhaps if there was a real-time ticker of cancer patients dying and heart patients dying, and chronic diseases patients dying in public view 24/7, it may generate some positive response. What do you think? COVID19 is a human viral pathogen that we didn’t invite or welcome in our world of humans. But the striking thing is that many preexisting conditions that are in general modifiable which increase the risk of death in the conditions mentioned above, also greatly increase the risk of death in COVID19. Indeed, even if you’re lucky enough to avoid COVID19 infection, you still are at risk for death and disability resulting from increasing age, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and many other conditions that suppress your immune response to infection.
Perhaps the fear of a fall resurgence of COVID19 is a prompt for those of us to clean up our act, eat more healthily, exercise some or more and in general follow the common sense rules of healthy living. We might find that not only will we be able to fight off COVID19 infection but also live a few days longer and maybe even reverse some of the risk factors that are bound to shorten our lives even without the specter of COVID19 looming on the horizon ready to attack. Or we could just keep our heads buried in the sand, hope for the best, stay at home for the next few years, eat and drink and be resigned to our ultimate outcome.
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