- Sep 16, 2012
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I put this in Politics because if I put it in health, few will see it. As well as politics of this virus was clouding my mind in the same way it has clouded all of our minds.
As mentioned before, my son is a Respiratory Care Specialist at one of the nations leading Children's hospitals and my daughter is a Respiratory Therapist at a large metropolitan hospital/trauma center. When I say they are on the front lines of this, I mean they are on the front lines.
Up until Friday, I was not that concerned about getting it, or my wife or the two of them. Like most, I was comfortable in the knowledge that it is primarily a concern for the very old/folks with underlying illness.
That is no longer the case.
This weekend, all over the country hospitals are getting much younger patients that require life saving care - and they have no other illness. And the numbers you are seeing reported are not representative of the actual numbers. It is higher.
Like many, I scoffed at all of these restrictions the government was laying out. 4 states with "stay at home" orders. I thought this was over reacting.
Until I got a call from both my kids. Especially my daughter, upset and for the first time afraid and scared. "It is really bad here Dad, we are getting more and more and they are getting younger".
A 32 year old, who 48 hours earlier was at work, feeling a little funny. Last night he was on life support and fighting for his life. Add more to that. Kids also.
The situation is evolving. And it is changing in not a good way.
Take it serious folks. Don't wait until it effects you or someone you know. Change what you are doing now.
Thank God our government took this more seriously than we did.... I guess they knew more than us.
On a good note. The malaria drug is showing promise. Yesterday a 66 year old at the hospital was in critical condition on a breathing machine. He has received 2 malaria shots, is now off the machine and sitting up and talking. It isn't working for everyone, but it is clearly having positive results on some.
Na, I'm still fine with my first opinion and refusal to panic. America should be ashamed of its self. What ever happened to common sense? Covering your mouth when you caugh or sneeze, staying away from old people when your sick using the disinfecting wipes that have always been at the supermarket? What does America do? They hide under their beds and stick their hands out for money.
There is fundamental reality of the political divide that does not get enough attention.. The main divisions of the 2 "brand name" political tribes form along a line divided by ONE WORD....
And that word is RISK...
Those on the left think that's the dirtiest word... They want NO financial risks. They want NO food or medicine risks.. They believe in listing 4200 items in Cali as "possible carcinogenics". They believe there is such a thing as "clean water" outside a laboratory...
They don't even want to risk being made UNCOMFORTABLE by speech that troubles them..
And it's the same here... For anything "bipartisan" to happen, you have to make it appear that it is "ZERO" resultant risk to their lives...
IMO, this is very closely related to the notion of what life is about, what has value.
For the right, they have faith in a higher power, in something more than the material, so this world is not the end all. They have much less fear and more faith over what fate will bring, nor do they fear the material world as much as the left.
OTH, for the left, the only thing that matters is material things. FEAR is palpable, there can be no risk, because it means everything. Family, friends, even their pet cat, these are the things they live for. There are no higher virtues, or high collective consciousness pulling it all together, nothing to have faith in.
The physical life IS everything, so it is precious. It must not be interfered with, not by someone else's right to own a gun, nor an inconvenient pregnancy.
OTH, for the right, fate, the decisions of divine providence, will in the end, lead to better outcomes. The individual materialistic decisions of folks trying to find comfort in the here and now? These are not the most import things in the grand scheme of the universe.
This is why our reactions to pandemics have changed over time. When there was more faith in the creator, we were less afraid of what the future would bring, and thus, the social systems and the economy were more important to civilization than the lives of individuals. Now?
It seems the lives of individuals are the most important priority, even if it means ending businesses and tanking the economy, or giving governments all of our sovereignty and power.