The Coronavirus Chronicles -Three Strikes You're Out

[Inhouse Bob]

I'm sorry I reacted so strongly to your post, Stichill. You were correct that we won't know the true extent of the outbreak without thorough testing. Sadly, I doubt we will ever get a truly accurate picture of the extent of this thing without testing a significant percentage of the population. And as Ferret touched on, its hard to test for something that may not have symptoms for weeks or even at all, even when you may be a carrier. As you said, we just have to count the dead. But then, of course, it's too late to use as a basis for any meaningful response.

You stated, "It's starting to look like the world may have destroyed the global economy ill-advisedly." That is certainly possible, but that's kinda Monday-morning quarterbacking. We and the experts must depend on with what we know at the time, and we don't know much. I'd rather look back and say we overshot the mark than look back and see we let thousands/millions die through neglect.

Meanwhile, I'm one of those entrepreneurs you mentioned that is impacted so strongly. My phone just rang yesterday for the first time in almost a month. Never mind what has happened to our retirement funds. It's a tough time and it's going to get worse for everyone. We have to have faith, however, that the economy will recover, however slowly. Yes, we will all suffer, some terribly. But there is no recovering from death, so I see preventing the spread of this virus as our first priority. We may all get it in the end, but slowing its spread is important.

As to governmental overreach, I'm totally with you. I don't believe the authorities should be doing any more than supporting commonsense restrictions on movement and exposure. We should not let this crisis be a reason to cede freedoms to a power grabbing administration, be it local, state of federal. I fear authoritarian actions much more than I do a damaged economy. I am very concerned about how this crisis may be used as an excuse to manipulate the election in November, whether through executive order or voter suppression. If there is an election in November. I am going on record here with my prediction that there won't be.

Of course, I could be wrong. Probably am. Anyhow, thanks for listening. Civil discourse is important, especially now.