From the beginning of this series, a year and a half ago, we noted, "The geographic area and population of Illinois are both similar to those in Sweden, and there are similarities of the Chicago and Stockholm metropolitan areas. But Springfield politicians are hazardous to your health." More hazardous than the latest coronavirus variant, which, apparently, more readily evades the latest vaccines, but appears to have mutated into something that doesn't "appear to be more serious" than the earlier mutations.
The emergency decrees for the United States taken together, as well as Illinois, remain in effect, if in modified form. The emergency is over. The emergency powers should be rescinded.
These posts will continue until the emergency decrees end. I'm now noting what others are pointing out. First, Anthony "Giftzwerg" Fauci, M.D., has conceded, "We’re not going to eradicate the virus from the face of the Earth," continuing with a plea that he, or the potbellied dictator of Illinois, hang on to their emergency powers. "Fauci, who also serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), hopes that at least by 2024, the circulation of the virus is low enough 'that it does not disrupt ... the economy, our ability to interact socially with each other, schools, and things like that.'" A younger medical student, Kevin Bass, offers a sober verdict. "I was wrong. We in the scientific community were wrong. And it cost lives." Read the full article. Note, though, his rebuke of the lockdown governors.
What we did not properly appreciate is that preferences determine how scientific expertise is used, and that our preferences might be—indeed, our preferences were—very different from many of the people that we serve. We created policy based on our preferences, then justified it using data. And then we portrayed those opposing our efforts as misguided, ignorant, selfish, and evil.
We made science a team sport, and in so doing, we made it no longer science. It became us versus them, and "they" responded the only way anyone might expect them to: by resisting.
We excluded important parts of the population from policy development and castigated critics, which meant that we deployed a monolithic response across an exceptionally diverse nation, forged a society more fractured than ever, and exacerbated longstanding heath and economic disparities.
Or, because not all governors imposed the same sorts of foolish restrictions, they moved out of the state.
"Illinois used to be a relatively decent state for economic freedom, although it almost always did much better on fiscal policy than on regulatory policy. But the state has lost some of that edge while also, not surprisingly, losing some of its economic vitality," the editors observe of the best-ranked of the three. "Illinois was long our bête noire on personal freedom, but that has dramatically changed with federal court decisions that have overturned some extreme restrictions on gun rights, the legalization of same-sex marriage, marijuana reform, and the availability of driver's licenses to people without Social Security numbers."But the lockdown governors and the Jarrett regency want to continue to rule by decree.
That improvement in personal freedom seems insufficient to mollify those put off by eroding economic liberty and high taxes, given the net 141,656 residents who sought a new life elsewhere.
As we assess what our leaders did in the name of what was, for a time, a real emergency, we should recall that the "Covid debate" was not really about Covid, but other things for which the virus served as a proxy. When we debated whether to follow CDC guidance, we were really debating the competence of of our expert class. When we quarreled over which businesses were "essential," we were really talking about whether smoking weed was better than going to church. When we traded data about case-fatality rates, we were really asking whether there was any public policy consideration greater than minimizing the risk of death. When we debated how best to respond to the pandemic, we weren't debating virology, but things much more foundational than that: religion, authority, and, what type of lives we want to lead.That is what Illinoisans voted for. "We elect our worst and then expect them to do great things." The good news is an independent judiciary can stop some of the Combine's other excesses. Consider that flight of fantasy out of Springfield, a ban on some firearms. "The law is hard to defend on logical, practical, or constitutional grounds." There are county sheriffs who give a low priority to enforcing it. The potbellied dictator issues empty threats to have such sheriffs fired. As is to be expected, people stocked up on weapons ahead of the law, which might not hold up in court, being signed. And yes, the law is hung up in court. "At the end of the day, what we’re seeing in Illinois is yet another attempt by a state to restrict what people can own out of a misdirected desire–or so they say, anyway–to keep people safe."
The Biden administration has been on the wrong side of that debate since 2020. Ending the state of emergency in May will do nothing to change that.
A service called Worldometers has been keeping track of coronavirus infections and deaths, disaggregated in a number of ways. With local, state, and federal governments in the United States changing the way they count infections (and they might be rethinking how they classify deaths) I'm not sure how valid any numbers, even from a service consistently used from month to month, is.
The latest report from Sweden counts 2,696,168 infections, down by 1,672 from last month, and 23,534 deaths, a change of 924 from the preceding report. I warned you about the validity of the numbers.
The latest report from Illinois counts 4,040,139 infections, an increase of 70,307 over last month and 41,282 deaths, adding 584 to the Pritzker Body Count in one month. The winter spike we observed in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 has not appeared in Illinois, or Sweden. End the emergency decrees.
The most recent tally of vaccinations gives around 26.5 million doses of the various vaccines, initial course or the various boosters, or perhaps reformulations, administered as of February 10. The state also appears to have ended their count of the scary variants, although the page was last updated to January 1 to show a mix of Omicron variants circulating.
At the National Day of Service, the governor trailed by 18,068.
At the end of the fall semester, the governor trailed by 19,204.
At Veterans Day, the governor trailed by 19,284.
At Columbus Day, the governor trailed by 19,436.
As Oktoberfest season began, the governor trailed by 19,467.
At the start of the academic year, the governor trailed by 19,611.
At Bastille Day, the governor trailed by 19,567.
At Flag Day, the governor trailed by 19,295.
At Syttende Mai, the governor trailed by 19,149.
At Patriots Day, the governor trailed by 19,243.
At St. Patrick's Day, the governor trailed by 19,580.
At Valentine's Day, the governor trailed by 19,533.
At the National Day of Service, the governor trailed by 17,062.
Note the time series: a margin of terror that used to be growing by hundreds in a week has been growing only slowly. The details for earlier in 2021 and the end of 2020 are on page 2.
2021 ...
At Beethoven's birthday, the governor trailed by 14,796.
At Veterans Day, the governor trailed by 13,981.
At Leif Erikson Day, the governor trailed by 13,101.
At the start of the professional football season, the governor trailed by 12,307.
At Roller Coaster Day, the governor trailed by 11,502.
As of 7 June, 10,887.
As of 1 June, 10,810.
As of 24 May, 10,645.
As of 17 May, 10,520.
As of 10 May, 10,417.
As of 3 May, 10,310.
As of 26 April, 10,216.
As of 19 April, 10,167.
As of 12 April, 10,169.
As of 5 April, 10,167.
As of 29 March, 10,125.
As of 22 March, 10.095.
As of 15 March, 10.070.
As of 8 March, 10,017.
As of 1 March, 9,933.
As of 22 February, 9,857.
As of 15 February, 9,693.
As of 8 February, 9,623.
As of 1 February, 9,662.
As of 25 January, 9,739.
As of 18 January, 9,727.
As of 11 January, 9, 860.
As of 4 January, 9,595.
2020 ...
As of 28 December, 9,057.
As of 21 December, 8,414.
As of 14 December, 7,815.
No comments:
Post a Comment