Maybe It's Time to Cull the Herd. Could this be why we now have the Covid-19 pandemic?

Image by Shutterbug75 from Pixabay

Okay, I don’t consider myself to be an expert in epidemiology, even though I spent my life working in the medical field. But I think I possess a good measure of intelligence and the common sense that if I don’t know something I will seek out information from experts who do know something. That includes the coronavirus.

I know that if I see someone with a cold, that person is infected by the virus which causes the common cold. I also know that unless I want to cough and sneeze and feel miserable for a week to ten days I should stay away from that person. Of course, we are not always conscious of who around us is suffering from a cold and we don’t always take precautions to prevent getting that cold. Sometimes we throw caution to the wind and don’t take any precautions and are willing to suffer the consequences.

During the autumn and winter months of every year, most of us become a bit more cautious because this time of year is commonly called the flu season. A high number of people receive the flu vaccine in hopes of not contracting the flu or at least getting a less virulent form of the flu. Most of us also are more aware of those around us who are showing symptoms and try to avoid those people. If a person has symptoms of the flu we know they can infect us and we can avoid contact with them. Not this coronavirus though.

Even though the seasonal flu can kill those in high-risk groups, such as the elderly, the immunocompromised and those with chronic respiratory conditions, such as asthma and COPD, the flu virus is not as highly contagious as the coronavirus. A person with the flu can spread the virus during the first day before exhibiting symptoms up to 5–7 days after becoming sick. So generally we know who to avoid to prevent being infected. In most cases, a completely healthy person will not spread the flu virus. If we cover our mouths when we cough and sneeze into our elbows when we sneeze we can help prevent spreading the virus. Of course as always, during cold and flu season and all seasons we should frequently wash our hands.

The coronavirus is deadly different. The CDC estimates it to be twice as contagious as the seasonal flu, which means that for the flu each sick person will affect 1.2 people, whereas the coronavirus will affect 2 to 2,5 people for every person infected. According to the CDC 1 in 1000 people die from the seasonal flu, whereas 10 in 1000 people die from Covid-19, making it 10 times deadlier.

supporting conservatives demonstrated against the stay at home orders given by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Protesters wearing MAGA hats and waving MAGA flags and other Trump paraphernalia assembled in a tightly packed crowd in defiance of social distancing rules demanding their freedom. The scene was more reminiscent of a scene from the Zombie Apocolypse than a peaceful gathering of intelligent citizens practicing their freedom of speech.

A total of eight GOP governors have refused to issue stay at home orders to protect their citizens from the coronavirus for reasons ranging from self-quarantining being a matter of personal choice to issues of state’s rights. Interestingly these eight states were states that voted heavily in favor of Trump in 2016 and the ones he hopes to carry in 2020. The governors have chosen to please Trump instead of protecting the citizens of their respective states. And those morons are okay with that.

The state in which I live, New York State, has a Democratic Governor, Andrew Cuomo, who has, in my opinion, done a far better job of leading during this pandemic than the Moron-in Chief Trump has done. However, I live in a heavily Republican community where nothing a Democrat does could ever be seen as good. And this situation is no exception. Because these people watch Fox News they think Trump has done a fantastic job, while Cuomo has been trying to take their rights away. There were even rumors spread that Cuomo was sending busloads of dying Covid-19 patients from NYC to upstate New York so they could infect the people there. This is the way Republicans up here think!

For the average somewhat intelligent person it is difficult to understand how some people can be not acting in their best interest. I not only get annoyed and angry at their stupidity, but I also get fearful of their actions. I could give a shit if they become infected and die, but I do care that they could infect me or my loved ones. They’re not only being stupid they are being negligent and are possibly committing assault or even murder. If a person wants to kill himself by jumping off a tall building that’s okay with me, but when they jump and land on me, that’s a different story.

Other than the danger of these fools infecting myself and others there is the ever-present danger that these fools will again vote for Trump, after not realizing that he made the pandemic much worse. If we look at what types of people comprise Trump’s base we may look differently at how we feel about what they are doing in defiance of the know facts and logic regarding this pandemic.

Trump’s supporters include white supremacists, misogynists, religious bigots, homophobes, racists, Nazis, and the miscreants of society. Or as Hilary called them, “deplorables”. All of these people together managed to elect this sorry excuse of a human being. This happened because so many people did not vote, thinking that it would not make a difference. Even though these deplorables are sadly outnumbered their votes counted. And it could happen again.

As this pandemic continues to change the way we live and work, or not work, the same people will resist what is good for themselves and the general population. Those same ignorant fools will gather in large numbers in their Red states without masks in defiance of the experts. They will continue to join their MAGA neighbors in the bars and the churches, while the rest of us continue to social distance. They will continue to scoff at science and belittle the healthcare workers risking their lives to save us all. And then, little by little, or big by big, they will begin to get sick and die off. Trump’s base will be decimated, saving the rest of our society. They will never listen to reason, so maybe they should be left to their fate.