With no sports, I thought I would continue to offer thoughts on the crisis we are all living through. This time I want to jump into how our freedom has impacted our response to this thing.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote says it all:
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
America is a land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, sometimes I wonder if another way of doing things is more functional in a pandemic crisis like this.
By The Numbers
China has 1.4 Billion people compared to the United States which has about 1/4 of the population at 331 Million.
Here is the source of the data listed below, as of the time of posting:
China has had the virus active for 4 months, and they have leveled off to just 81,439 cases, which is just 5.6 cases per 100,000 people in the country. They have registered 3,300 deaths, which is a 4.05% death rate per case, but that is a very low rate at 2.3 people per million in their country.
The US has only been reporting cases for at most 4 weeks, and realistically like 3, and has 124,356 cases which is 6x as high as China at 37.6 per 100,000 people. In gross numbers, that is 152% more than China in a quarter of the time. The death rate is lower per case at 1.80% with 2,236 deaths so far, but 3x as high as China at 6.8 deaths per million in the US (that number will increase greatly).
Now, yes, we have done better than Italy and Spain, where the numbers are really frightening. Italy has 92,472 cases (153 cases per 100,000) and 10,023 deaths. That is a death rate of almost 10.84%, and 166 deaths per million in the country. Spain is not far behind with 78,797 cases (168 cases/100,000 – higher than Italy) and 6,258 deaths, which is 140/1,000,000 in the country.
Lastly, Iran has gotten a lot of publicity in their cases, but with 38,309 cases (45.5/100,000) and 2,640 deaths – a high death rate of 6.91%, but 31.4 deaths per 1,000,000 in the country.
Now, you may say, well, the US is testing more people, so our number are more accurate than the other countries. That may be true, and I’m sure there is some statistical error that could be applied. However, even if China has under-reported, and the US or Italy is better reported. That does not account for China’s ability to contain and control the virus like the other large nations listed here.
Difference in Response
To me, it comes down to how the countries have addressed the threat.
China is a planned economy and government. They got out in front of the virus by implementing quarantine measures including delivering food to people who could not leave their homes at all. They built 14 hospitals to help the sick and prevent death. Extreme, for sure, but effective.
Italy was very laissez-faire about the virus. They continued to go to work and gathering places until they were over-run by the statistics.
The United States is way behind both China and Italy in terms of the “peak’ of the virus, and it is clear at this point, we will lead all countries at some point in reported cases and let’s hope not in deaths. However, the death toll literally doubled in the last 24-36 hours in the US.
I believe that the combination of our administration’s lack of initial and continued response, and our “must be free” attitude are to blame. As Roosevelt said, our freedom brings responsibility, but she went on to say that if you aren’t willing to grow up and pull your own weight it is frightening. Yep, these are frightening times when mayors, like Mayor Lightfoot in my home town of Chicago have to shut down the parks and lakefront because idiots continue to congregate. The parks were not COVID-free zones.
As a Chicagoan who has lived through many cold winters, we all want to get outside the minute the weather gets above 50 degrees. However, now is when we have to “pull our weight” and earn our freedom. Show your city, state, country and the world, that we are not a bunch of spoiled, rich kids who don’t care about others. It is time to ignore our President who says we will be back to normal by Easter and follow the guidelines listed by every public health official in the country.
I respect Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. He has been out in front of this thing from the minute he could be. New York has over 59,000 cases now (NJ is 2nd with 11,000), almost half of the reported cases. You do not see him running scared or worrying about his next campaign. He is showing how responsible he is as a leader, and despite poor support from the federal government to address the ever growing need, he is doing all he can. He needs help, like all government officials on the front lines – we need to take this thing seriously. Stay home, ride it out. Plus, I’ll say to anyone I can. I want Cuomo to be our next President. He is better than the current Democratic candidates, and clearly knows how to handle crisis better than Trump. That’s a discussion for another time, though.
Do you think the people in Iran have Netflix to watch all day? Or how many times did the people in quarantine in China got a pizza delivered? We have it good in this country. Trump did consider a full quarantine of NY, CT and NJ. He opted for a travel advisory. If we as citizens cannot act responsibly, then we will lose our freedom and get quarantined.
The last thing I’ll say on the matter is this. China built 14 hospitals to address the sick. I’m sure that not only helped them triage the sick, but lower that death rate to where. it was. The US is in for a real issue with deaths if the hospital and ventilator gap is not addressed. I’m sick of how Trump has handled this. Finally, he brokered a deal to implement the Defense Production Act to get automakers to make ventilators. This is about 2 months too late. Once these reported cases go critical, we are not going to be ready. The Free Market System makes sense in a lot of cases, but having states have to outbid each other for essential equipment is going to cost US lives. There is no reason we shouldn’t have done this 3 weeks or 3 months ago under the radar to be prepared for the pandemic.
In order to protect our way of life and our freedom, it is time for each of us and our federal government to take responsibility to save US lives. Do whatever it takes, so we can all enjoy our freedom this summer and for the rest of our lives.
With no sports, I thought I would continue to offer thoughts on the crisis we are all living through. This time I want to jump into how our freedom has impacted our response to this thing.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote says it all:
“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”
America is a land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, sometimes I wonder if another way of doing things is more functional in a pandemic crisis like this.
By The Numbers
China has 1.4 Billion people compared to the United States which has about 1/4 of the population at 331 Million.
Here is the source of the data listed below, as of the time of posting:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-has-spread/
China has had the virus active for 4 months, and they have leveled off to just 81,439 cases, which is just 5.6 cases per 100,000 people in the country. They have registered 3,300 deaths, which is a 4.05% death rate per case, but that is a very low rate at 2.3 people per million in their country.
The US has only been reporting cases for at most 4 weeks, and realistically like 3, and has 124,356 cases which is 6x as high as China at 37.6 per 100,000 people. In gross numbers, that is 152% more than China in a quarter of the time. The death rate is lower per case at 1.80% with 2,236 deaths so far, but 3x as high as China at 6.8 deaths per million in the US (that number will increase greatly).
Now, yes, we have done better than Italy and Spain, where the numbers are really frightening. Italy has 92,472 cases (153 cases per 100,000) and 10,023 deaths. That is a death rate of almost 10.84%, and 166 deaths per million in the country. Spain is not far behind with 78,797 cases (168 cases/100,000 – higher than Italy) and 6,258 deaths, which is 140/1,000,000 in the country.
Lastly, Iran has gotten a lot of publicity in their cases, but with 38,309 cases (45.5/100,000) and 2,640 deaths – a high death rate of 6.91%, but 31.4 deaths per 1,000,000 in the country.
Now, you may say, well, the US is testing more people, so our number are more accurate than the other countries. That may be true, and I’m sure there is some statistical error that could be applied. However, even if China has under-reported, and the US or Italy is better reported. That does not account for China’s ability to contain and control the virus like the other large nations listed here.
Difference in Response
To me, it comes down to how the countries have addressed the threat.
China is a planned economy and government. They got out in front of the virus by implementing quarantine measures including delivering food to people who could not leave their homes at all. They built 14 hospitals to help the sick and prevent death. Extreme, for sure, but effective.
Italy was very laissez-faire about the virus. They continued to go to work and gathering places until they were over-run by the statistics.
The United States is way behind both China and Italy in terms of the “peak’ of the virus, and it is clear at this point, we will lead all countries at some point in reported cases and let’s hope not in deaths. However, the death toll literally doubled in the last 24-36 hours in the US.
I believe that the combination of our administration’s lack of initial and continued response, and our “must be free” attitude are to blame. As Roosevelt said, our freedom brings responsibility, but she went on to say that if you aren’t willing to grow up and pull your own weight it is frightening. Yep, these are frightening times when mayors, like Mayor Lightfoot in my home town of Chicago have to shut down the parks and lakefront because idiots continue to congregate. The parks were not COVID-free zones.
As a Chicagoan who has lived through many cold winters, we all want to get outside the minute the weather gets above 50 degrees. However, now is when we have to “pull our weight” and earn our freedom. Show your city, state, country and the world, that we are not a bunch of spoiled, rich kids who don’t care about others. It is time to ignore our President who says we will be back to normal by Easter and follow the guidelines listed by every public health official in the country.
Leadership and Responsibility
Here is the data by state:
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/
I respect Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. He has been out in front of this thing from the minute he could be. New York has over 59,000 cases now (NJ is 2nd with 11,000), almost half of the reported cases. You do not see him running scared or worrying about his next campaign. He is showing how responsible he is as a leader, and despite poor support from the federal government to address the ever growing need, he is doing all he can. He needs help, like all government officials on the front lines – we need to take this thing seriously. Stay home, ride it out. Plus, I’ll say to anyone I can. I want Cuomo to be our next President. He is better than the current Democratic candidates, and clearly knows how to handle crisis better than Trump. That’s a discussion for another time, though.
Do you think the people in Iran have Netflix to watch all day? Or how many times did the people in quarantine in China got a pizza delivered? We have it good in this country. Trump did consider a full quarantine of NY, CT and NJ. He opted for a travel advisory. If we as citizens cannot act responsibly, then we will lose our freedom and get quarantined.
The last thing I’ll say on the matter is this. China built 14 hospitals to address the sick. I’m sure that not only helped them triage the sick, but lower that death rate to where. it was. The US is in for a real issue with deaths if the hospital and ventilator gap is not addressed. I’m sick of how Trump has handled this. Finally, he brokered a deal to implement the Defense Production Act to get automakers to make ventilators. This is about 2 months too late. Once these reported cases go critical, we are not going to be ready. The Free Market System makes sense in a lot of cases, but having states have to outbid each other for essential equipment is going to cost US lives. There is no reason we shouldn’t have done this 3 weeks or 3 months ago under the radar to be prepared for the pandemic.
In order to protect our way of life and our freedom, it is time for each of us and our federal government to take responsibility to save US lives. Do whatever it takes, so we can all enjoy our freedom this summer and for the rest of our lives.
Wegs
About the author
I'm a 49 year old, twice divorced guy with a 20 year old. The blog has morphed a bit lately. Not just sports or dating, social commentary and now some stories from my past experience.