Covid-19: Why the Panic?

Referring to the panic reaction to Covid 19, a commenter at the Unz Review remarked:

This is looking more and more like an epidemic of mental illness.

But although what is being done to the mass of ordinary folk may cause an epidemic of insanity, the politicians and their media enablers, mainstream or "alt", who are using the Covid pandemic as  a pretext for destroying the livelihood of tens of millions, are surely not insane.

The question, then, is what's the objective? And the answer to that question must be something that can be inferred from the consequences.

So what are the consequences?

(1) The sharpest rate of job losses every recorded, leading to Great Depression levels of unemployment.

(2) Consequent upon (1), massive loss of income for the salaried workforce, business owners, and beneficiaries of pension funds etc., (the last having sustained large and soon to be larger investment losses).

(3) Consequent upon (2), massive reductions in consumption spending.

(4) Consequent upon (3), big cuts in imports to the West of products of cheap Third World labor.

(1) Means real wages will fall, thereby raising potential economic competitiveness of manufacturing in the US and other Western nations, i.e., reindustrialization of the West as will be essential in an emerging East-West cold war.

(2) Means many small businesses will fold, opening the way for expansion by the big boys: Starbucks,  Dominoes Pizza, Amazon, etc.

(3) Means fewer goddam plebs cluttering the best beaches, ski resorts, tourist meccas.

(4) Means a slowing of China's economic growth and reduced Chinese access to dollars with which to buy American and European technology and businesses, from GE Appliances to Motorola Mobility, and from the Chicago Stock Exchange to the Waldorf Astoria.

As for those few the virus kills, they're just old geezers, useless eaters, wasn't that what Adolf called them?

So, nothing crazy about this fake plague: what's not to like about it?

And to put things into context, the situation is much like that during the Great War that led to the still ongoing destruction of Europe. Then, British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George remarked:

If the people knew what is happening, this war would end tomorrow. But of course the people cannot know what is happening.

Likewise, they cannot know now, thanks to the MSM and its "alt" auxiliaries.

Related:
Nic Lewis: Why herd immunity to COVID-19 is reached much earlier than thought

Nssim Taleb: The Only Man With a Clue About Covid19?

A post by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at the Automatic Earth blog begins with the following words:

Today, I’m going to try to show you how and why we know that in the case of a pandemic like the one we’re in, surrounded by doubts and uncertainties, there are still a series of measures that we can and, more importantly, must take. But also, how these measures are hardly ever taken, and if they are, not in the correct fashion. This has to date led us into a ton of preventable misery and death. If only we would listen. And there’s still more we can do to prevent more mayhem, there is at every step of the process.

What follows is an exposition of the risk to humanity of a viral pandemic made years ago the financial analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb, together with Taleb's conclusions as the the steps that must be taken to avoid catastrophe.

Needless as it is to say to those with any understanding of the way governments function, or more generally fail to function, Taleb's analysis and recommendations have been generally ignored with catastrophic consequences for those afflicted by Covid19, and for all who have been or will in the future be affected by the economic consequences of the Covid pandemic.

Rather than copy and paste the article from the Automatic Earth for those wanting to better understand the challenge of Covid19, here is a link to the original article:

The Only Man Who Has a Clue.

COVID19 Death Toll in Italy: No Need to Panic Yet, or Probably, Ever

March 19, 2020: Today, deaths in Italy due to the the novel Corona virus reached a total of 3,405.

The average age of those who died was 79.5 years.

Most who died suffered from one or several other diseases, including heart disease, emphysema and diabetes.

Prior to the COVID19 outbreak, Italy's death rate was running at about 10.6 per thousand, equivalent to 639,000 per year for the country as a whole.

So deaths attributable to the novel Corona virus have thus far increased Italy's death rate for the year by at most one half of one percent.

However, since most of those carried away by the Corona virus were both very old and more or less seriously ill due to other causes, many, probably most, would have died in the current year anyway.

Therefore, when 2020 ends, the effect of the Corona virus on Italy's death toll for the year may be rather small to negligible.

Yet the Western nations are shutting down their economies and debauching the government finances in the name of what is merely another strain of flu.

Looks like a colossal scam from which those with inside knowledge of government planning will make fortunes.

What Governments should be doing is something sensible like urging old folks to self-isolate, providing old-folks with home delivery of food, medicine, etc., and getting everyone to take at least 1000 units of vitamin D every day.

Radical measures beyond such obvious, minimal and sensible actions, should prompt voters to punish governments severely, as in booting from office, for buggering up the economy, and creating schemes for looting the treasury. Trump Out, Trudeau Out, Xi Out, etc.

Related:
Stat: John P.A. Ioannidis. A fiasco in the making? As the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, we are making decisions without reliable data