It’s good to know that there are some rational people acting on our behalf. It’s unfortunate that our governor is apparently not one of them. The “one size fits all” approach that was taken never made sense to begin with, but that is the approach statists (including Progressives, Socialists. and Democrats – the Left, if you will) take with most things.
At the outset, a statewide lockdown made sense, but within two weeks it be came clear from the data that dangers of the Pandemic were mostly confined to elderly people and those with compromised immune systems (i.e. morbidly obese, heart issues, etc), but that other precautions to lower the risk of disease spread (prohibiting large gatherings, wearing face masks, not to protect you, but to limit your ability to spread the virus to others, etc.) were and even still appropriate in some places. This is they Danish model that has been so successful.
I have been tracking the confirmed cases and reported “COVID-related” deaths since they stated publishing figures. My focus has been on the five counties around Traverse City – Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau – which comprise a total population of about 250,000. As of this morning, there have been a total 73 confirmed cases and seven deaths over the last three months. Do the math and it works out respectively to .0292% (1/3,425 people) and .00028%, (1/35,714 people) not even close to .1% (1/2,500 people)! Again, all areas are not alike.
Now look at the country as a whole. We now have almost 15% unemployment, the highest since the Great Depression. Government has exacerbated things. Sick or elderly carriers were sent to assisted care facilities. Individual travel was banned and people crowded on to buses, into subways, and boarded commuter trains. The Federal and almost every state budget was trashed and soon the taxpayer will be asked to pay for it, it won’t just be the “wealthy 1%. The Federal debt held in public hands has grown by 15-20% almost overnight. Local businesses have been forced to permanently close. Worldwide, and more importantly, the local tourist season has been crushed. Some of all of the foregoing was inevitable, but clearly government has made it worse. The government, especially the unelected bureaucracy (where politics is played using red tape) is, unfortunately a reactive mechanism. By and large, people in government, elected and unelected, do not so much to serve the people, as much as work to preserve themselves in a oosition of power and security.
I would encourage everyone to watch the following video on why governments fail. It is distinctly non-partisan: