The state currently enjoys a vastly unbalanced share of the power within a society, such an arrangement is not in any way preordained, and the assumption that it must be betrays a narrowness of vision and a lack of historical knowledge.
The 1958 pandemic killed twice as many people as COVID-19 has so far. Yet, the economy in 2020 has collapsed far worse than either in 1958 or the far worse pandemic of 1918.
The state currently enjoys a vastly unbalanced share of the power within a society, such an arrangement is not in any way preordained, and the assumption that it must be betrays a narrowness of vision and a lack of historical knowledge.
Lord Kelvin once said, “If you cannot measure it, then it is not science” and “your theory is apt to be based more upon imagination than upon knowledge.” This would certainly seem to apply to the many COVID-19 models now used to destroy human rights across the globe.
Accad and Koka interview Eric Weinhandl, an epidemiologist whose investigation of a JAMA paper on dialysis patients led to its retraction—and subsequent republication. They also discuss the field of epidemiology during the COVID pandemic.
Most of the world's regimes enthusiastically destroyed their economies and consigned millions to destitution (and a rising tide of resulting health problems) in pursuit of a trendy and unproven theory. There's still not evidence that the lockdowns worked.
With their bizarre and extreme lockdowns, governments are forcing very low-risk populations to endure social isolation and unemployment. The mental health effects will be significant.
With their bizarre and extreme lockdowns, governments are forcing very low-risk populations to endure social isolation and unemployment. The mental health effects will be significant.
Presenting "saving lives" as a more or less equal alternative to commerce and community is a misguided view of what the lockdown debate is really all about.
