The idea for the series was triggered by a Facebook post by a FBF. (Facebook Friend). He mentioned the fact that the incidence of other infectious diseases are also MUCH lower because of the lock-downs put into place by CoViD19.
And then other FBFs had a discussion on the fact that some things are black and white, and others are shades of grey. And how important it is to be able to distinguish between issues that are black and white, and those issues that are legitimately shades of grey.
Australia usually has 86,000 people test positive for the flu annually. This year they had 627. Usually 130 deaths, this year: One. The USA does not have accurate numbers on influenza deaths, but their annual estimates are usually around 40,000 to 50,000 deaths. It would be very interesting to see the final estimates for this flu season..
In the above, there are two ideas that I would like to explore a little bit, The one idea is whether life is a black and white issue, the other is whether we can use the reduction in flu deaths as information when we decide how to build back better.
It has become VERY clear that for many people life is a not shades of grey issue. For very long they have been adamant, abortion is murder, some even insisted that mothers to be carry their dead fetuses to full term, so that they can have a natural birth. This is just plain disgusting - denying a woman the advantages of modern medicine, to force her through a grotesque parody of birth, "giving life" to a dead baby.
But when the seriousness of CoViD19 became clear large numbers of the people insisted that the old and the infirm can be treated as collateral damage in saving the economy, and loudly proclaimed so from their political pulpits. The part that breaks my heart, is that there is a large overlap in the membership of these two groups.
This VERY much also applies to the shades of grey, vs black and white issue. Certain things are black and white, some things are shades of grey. But to live a good life, it is absolutely necessary to know the difference. Wisdom indeed.
On to more pleasant topics:
Can we learn repeatable, and implementable lessons from the reduction of flu deaths this year?
I firmly believe that we can. In the coming weeks this will be one of the threads that I will be looking at in exploring how we can Build Back Better - reducing the opportunities for infectious diseases to spread. The options run the gamut from reducing physical contact with strangers, reducing unnecessary concentration of people, both small scale (offices) and large scale (cities). And in between (e.g. shopping malls).
Can we use the accelerated computerisation of our lives (Zoom, remote working, online shopping, etc) to improve our lives going forward?
Of course we can. And we can use this momentum to do even more.
Can we use the reduction in coal usage, and the reduction in the cost of renewable energy, to ward of climate change?
Yes, and so much more. Imagine 10-20 years down the line, where electricity has become so cheap, that desalination plants have become common place, and water can be pumped over huge distances because the electrical pumps operate for virtually free. Agriculture can take place anywhere, deserts can bloom!
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BBB - The Basics
