With the continuing threat of the Coronavirus and the deterioration of global economies due to quarantine, are we heading towards choosing between health or the economy?
I think the ultimate choice will be between HEALTH, the 20% wealthiest of a country in the future contributing 95% of their wealth to run the countries, and the elimination worldwide of standing militaries? Our President Eisenhower warned us long ago, that we needed to make those choices, between having a standing military-industrial complex, or health and education for example?
My dear Carole, I thank you for this clarification, and I completely agree with you on the issue of research in the future on a health-friendly economic model like the green economy.
Part of health, and getting safely through a pandemic, is MENTAL HEALTH... So the local Art group in Palo Alto, CA has set up a art contest to submit on-line a post card image with the theme "Wish you were Here" at https://www.pacificartleague.org/wish-you-were-here-postcard-show -- AND anyone can still submit their post card design until May 16... and you can submit up to 15 different ones per person at https://www.pacificartleague.org/call-for-entry
Must one really decide on health or wealth ?
Don't both interdepend ?
Is there wealth without health ?
Are they both inherited, as such ?
You can do without wealth, but you cannot do without health. Health is the most important thing. Of course, if a business is not run in the name of health.
In fairness, health budgets come from state economies that use most of their GDP budget in financing quality Healthcare. If a states economy is in shambles (inserts eg. Zimbabwe) getting quality and sufficient medical supplies for its citizens become a heavy burden for the nation concerned which in situations like the covid-19 pandemic, becomes dangerous. It is rather impulsive to suggest that the two are not intertwined, for if there is no proper budget or economic stimulus for healthcare systems fail. Also an economy can not function properly without an effective Healthcare model that ensures its citizens are health. The state governs not for the economy, but for her people.
A relatively small country like Zimbabwe...with a population of only 14 million, about 1/2 that of California, is still spending $380 million each year on their military.
The virus is going to force us to lay down all of our weapons...dissolve our standing armies, because we need all of those wasted resources, to back up each citizen's health right now, and into the future?
Along with our needs for...clean water, education, Global Warming mitigation, free solar panels on every flat roof, a home for every citizen, legalizing everyone who resides in the country so there are zero "illegals", etc.--everything that a thriving and functioning society needs?
The virus will start the biggest and fastest revolution.. that the human species has ever seen, since eating meat, the invention of tools, management of fire, building of cities, and the domestication of crops and animals?
And my answer goes for South Africa also... that is in the process of increasing its annual military budget from $3.8 billion to $4.3 billion in four years. As Pres. Eisenhower said in 1953---
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people."
Both concepts are interactive: to stay alive you have to cover basic needs (eating, drinking and a long etc.) which, unfortunately, is not free. In fact, in underdeveloped countries where, unfortunately, the Covid 19 is already raging, they prefer to eat at the risk of becoming infected and that is that death from hunger is much more cruel than by the aforementioned Covid 19
World-wide today, both the health AND the economies... are going downhill fast!
In the USA alone, the deaths today are occurring at 100 per hour and the new cases appearing at 1,000 per hour.
On top of that...the economic issues may be settled sooner or later this year, when all of the world's countries decide in a few months, to all default on their external debt at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt -- and then for the top 20% of their wealthiest people, increase their income tax rates to 90%, to help pay to get each country put back economically?
Who takes decision?
The sick men needs health. The healthy man needs food. Who is right? What is humanity?
To encourage discussion of the economic impact generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the control measures taken at the international level, we invite you to read the following article.
Economy or Health, Constant Dilemma in Times of Pandemic: The Case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 2020. DOI: 10.22207/JPAM.14.SPL1.07
Article Economy or Health, Constant Dilemma in Times of Pandemic: Th...
HOLLYWOOD may give us some clues... on how to stop the virus, in the virus pandemic movie endings that have been made over a dozen times?
Maybe if we watch the various pandemic movies...to see how this pandemic might turn out, or how a solution was found by the creative movie story writers?
Virus pandemic-themed films... started with the Andromeda Strain in 1971, then "The Omega Man" also 1971, and then in no special order, "Pandemic", "Contagion", "Flu", "28 days later", and "12 Monkeys"?
Then, "Carriers" --An infectious virus has spread worldwide, killing most of the population, and "Virus" a 2018 documentary about the virus outbreak in India, plus there is a Japanese pandemic film with the same name.
Apparently there are at least 79 pandemic films... according to https://www.vulture.com/2020/04/best-pandemic-movies-on-netflix-hulu-prime-and-more.html which include the trio of pandemic/main characters-- Ebola-like bacterial, viral pandemics and contagious zombie diseases. Maybe all of these films were predicting this current pandemic, and one or more of the film-endings could offer us some solutions?
Then, there are a series of Zombie epidemic apocalypse films...which started with the classic 1968 "Night of the Living Dead" by George Romero, and hopefully that will not be the result of this current pandemic? IMAGE ABOVE is the graveyard sequence from that fit,
And we should all watch the YouTube documentary videos..of how Wuhan, China knocked out the virus in only three weeks, like "CHINA: A Quarantine Diary" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K3fy5eKeuM and "The Lockdown: One Month in Wuhan" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU9FVqwO4TM
These Wuhan documentaries allow you to see, exactly what we really MUST all do to stop it quickly, instead of 2 million sick and 100,000 dead in only two months and another 2 million sick and another 120,000 dead by October, just in the USA?
Maybe we should also watch for unusual symptoms of this virus... as this pandemic continues? Maybe if it enters the brain and there are no other obvious symptoms, perhaps it can make a person send up to 123 Tweets a day, and then, the virus starts controlling the mind of the individual, directing them to never wear a mask, so the virus can spread better?
And the virus may even have a person keep thinking that the pandemic is under control...when it is really completely out of control, and within only 90 days, two million people get sick and 100,000 die in your country? Or the virus makes you believe it is only the flu, and in another country in only 60 days, you go from 400 cases a day to 20,000 to 25,000 cases a day, and still not slowing down?
Be very afraid for your life, whenever you hear anyone say..DURING the pandemic that it is " Under control. It's going to be just fine." And a person keeps repeating the phrase, "...it's all going to be great." And " we're doing great in our country" and also "I think it's going to all work out fine." Plus, "We're prepared, and we're doing a great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away."
Statements like this made DURING any pandemic, especially when nobody has any immunity, and there is no vaccine for it yet, almost guarantees your are going to be directly responsible for million getting sick plus tens of thousands of deaths?
ECONOMY or HEALTH--Without heath, you have no economy?...and that is the mistake that countries like USA, Russian, Brazil have been making so far--not winding down their economies severely enough, to STOP the pandemic! These three countries, should have been able like China and New Zealand, to stop the pandemic in only THREE WEEKS--instead are still off the scale three months later!
Then, the Virus is making basket-cases out of countries investing in weapons... like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, and surprisingly Saudi Arabia---where huge amounts of their money are spent on militaries and purchasing weapons, and in each of these countries, the people in charge forgot long ago that the health of their citizens is the best National Security to invest in?
For example India's weapon imports account for 10% of the global total weapons purchases, with Russia the supplier, and now New Dehli sees the money to be made, and wants to be an arms merchant also. Pakistan imports from China and the USA. Bangladesh imports from many countries--China, Russia, USA, UK and South Korea! Iran's weapons are home-grown, and instead of spending that money on the health of their people, pay for weapons made by 3,150 national firms with 92 Iranian universities doing weapons research. (Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_industry_of_Iran )
What if 3,150 firms and 92 universities world wide..RIGHT NOW, were all working on solving this pandemic, wouldn't that be great? Saving lives better, rather than finding way to end lives better?
CHECK with your government health officials... and see what they have planned for you? Was just on a call in with my Federal Congressional Representative Jackie Spier and her medical advisers.
And, the USA Federal plan to end the pandemic IS NOT a vaccine...is NOT flattening the curve by take care of us better so we do not get sick in the first place--- the USA has given up, and hope that when "60%" of us get sick, that may slow the pandemic down???!!!!!
Today we are at over 2 million sick...so ONLY another 194 MILLION are expected to get sick, and at the 5.5% death rate for the USA, then only another 8,000,000 dead? Do we have enough coffins or body bags for that kind of massacre?
Best that everyone in each country on the planet...check with your health officials, to see what they have planned for you? Hopefully they have at least a body-bag ready for you?
The difficult balance between the economy and health must be removed from all external and internal pressures
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Public Health
- Health