After Corona Virus
This week I've taken some excerpts from the
Diary of Bill Bonner. Look him up. He's worth
following. He is not only a very sane and intelligent
commentator, but an interesting guy to follow. He is currently
writing in isolation on his ranch in the mountains of
Argentina. He quotes from a friend in Buenos Aires.
“Apparently, the murder rate has gone way up… from people
being trapped with one another. This quarantine is supposed to
save lives. I’m not sure it really does…”
As Bill goes on:
"One person loses his income. He stops paying his rent. His
landlord doesn’t get the income so he puts off remodeling a
bathroom.
Then, the plumber doesn’t get any money so he puts off buying
a new drill. And the hardware store loses income, too. It lays
off a couple of minimum-wage shelf stockers.
All up and down Main Street, the getting and spending is
coming to a stop."
The real problem here is that whole economies and societies
are being put at risk in order to stop deaths from a virulent
flu. To quote Bill again:
"Mom & Pop businesses. Big business. High tech. Low tech.
Cutting edge. Dull as dirt. Flowers as well as weeds – all of
American capitalism is getting shot to bits..."
How do you balance one form of destruction against another?
Meanwhile, back to Bill.
"The lockdown may or may not save lives… but it also damages
lives.
Millions of people are under house arrest. Income lost.
Opportunities missed. Marriages breaking up… new businesses
not started.
'You can’t put a price on life,' say the talking heads. But
young people are beginning to wonder."
Back in the UK things are not looking good. The lockdown is
supposed to at least slow the march of the infection rate,
however, as I look at the figures this saturday, I see no slow
down at all.
If by the middle of next week there are not signs of a
significant slow-down in the infection rate, then this lockout
isn't working.
How long can we keep this up? Maybe a further three weeks?
After that, there has to be a new approach otherwise we will
have massive social unrest.
What puzzles me is the failure to use a palliative which is
used in Japan. (Look at their figures, and remember their
population is twice the UK's.
Here are the drugs they are using.
We are told that the figures in Japan are much lower than
other countries because they are using the combination of
hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (an antibiotic) which can
successfully combat COVID-19 in about five days.
Cant the rest of us try using those drugs? It has to be better
than destroying the economy and the social fabric of the
country.
To save us from the flu we are presented instead with madness
and bankruptcy.
What's the cost of a wrecked country set against the cost of a
couple of drugs?
And what comes after, when the wrecking finally stops?
Next week I will have a look at what this situation may well
do to our near future. Maybe quite a lot.