Something doesn't add up. Just how bad is the coronavirus??
The media is doing their usual thing, where they dial up the hysteria as much as possible. If you listen to them, we're staring down the barrel of an unprecedented catastrophe. They're throwing around "PANDEMIC!" like it's going out of style.
But the official numbers paint a far less calamitous picture. In a nation of literal billions, just over 1000 people have died. The symptoms seem akin to the flu, and nearly all the casualties are either elderly or already in poor health.
China already has tons of air pollution. And they're packed in like sardines. So it makes sense that a virus that presents as a respiratory illness would be uniquely deadly there.
But that doesn't mean it's a major threat to the rest of the world.
In fact, so far, the virus has had little impact outside of China.
However, China is responding to the virus like it's much worse than the flu. They've locked down tens--maybe even hundreds--of millions of people. They've built extra hospitals almost overnight.
Entire supply chains are down. United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta have all suspended all air travel to China through the end of April.
That doesn't seem like a reasonable response compared to the official numbers that have been released so far.
So why is the media dialing up the hysteria while uncritically passing along the (relatively mild) official numbers? If it's as bad as they say it is, where's the evidence?
Someone is lying. And probably multiple someones. That means someone is trying to get you to do something you wouldn't otherwise want to do.
So keep your eyes open and your ear to the ground, but be careful believing anything you read.
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Intro music by Nick White, producer of The Statist Quo. Check him out at nickwhitenoise.com.
 
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