An Insensitive A-hole

Even in normal times, it can be extremely difficult to make certain statements without being considered an insensitive a-hole. In these days of a pandemic, that has become even more true. Those who question the government’s actions are quickly labeled as caring more about money than people.

But sometimes such statements need to made if we wish to have a rational discussion. Sometimes we need people to question the conventional wisdom. And now is one of those sometimes.

The long-term consequences of the economic impact of shutting down production are beyond the capacity of anyone to understand in all of its ramifications. The economy is a staggeringly complex interaction between billions of individuals across the world. While there are certain principles guiding those interactions, nobody can understand and predict all of the consequences of disrupting one industry, let alone disrupting every industry simultaneously.

However, we can predict with certainty that disrupting the entire economy will have dire consequences. We are already seeing that with soaring unemployment. But that is only the tip of the iceberg.

To date, most people have looked to government to deal with this crisis. They have accepted government imposed restrictions on their freedom to work, to create values, to consume values, to live. They have allowed their lives to be disrupted in an unimaginable and unprecedented manner.

All of this, we have been told, is to save lives. And anyone who questuons the government’s actions is an insensitive a-hole. Unfortunately, we have allowed government officials to direct the narrative.

If, as government officials have said, their goal is to save lives, then we should demand that they explain what that means. Their statements imply that they want to prevent people from dying from COVID-19, but their actions are and will cause individuals to lose their jobs, their health insurance, and their hope for a better future. Their means of saving lives are destroying lives.

If saving lives is the goal of those imposing outrageous restrictions on us, then how do they explain the lives that they are destroying? To those imposing the restrictions, asking such a question makes one an intensive a-hole.