{"id":16748,"date":"2020-03-27T09:35:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T15:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=16748"},"modified":"2020-03-27T09:35:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T15:35:01","slug":"sorry-lets-let-granny-die-is-a-straw-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2020\/03\/sorry-lets-let-granny-die-is-a-straw-man.html","title":{"rendered":"Sorry, “Let’s Let Granny Die” Is A Straw Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Coronavirus_COVID-19_virus.jpg; Felipe Esquivel Reed \/ CC BY-SA (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

So earlier today, I dropped off my first batch of fabric face masks to the assisted living community where my parents live, and thought about the fact that, only a bit over a year ago, they were living in their longtime home, going out to restaurants or getting take-out, going out to the grocery store, and so on.\u00a0 How much less are they at risk of COVID-19 because they now have their meals prepared for them and no longer need to (or are able to) run errands?\u00a0 How much more are they at risk because they are dependent on the staff following proper precautions and not themselves being unknowingly ill?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there\u2019s a lot of outrage about suggestions that the country be \u201copened back up\u201d as a sort of anti-life \u201ckill granny\u201d euthanasia.<\/p>\n

Guess what?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t really think people preferring a shorter to a longer shut-down really want granny to die.<\/p>\n

Behind the accusations being slung one way and the other, there are different underlying assumptions about facts, aren\u2019t there?<\/p>\n

In the first place<\/strong>, the generic \u201copen back up\u201d approach is paired with a separate assumption:\u00a0 \u201cprotect granny by keeping her isolated from the infected.\u201d\u00a0 Some folks have suggested that individuals who have recovered, and are therefore not at a result of unknowingly infecting others, be recruited to care for the elderly, whether directly or by means of providing their food deliveries, etc.\u00a0 Others have suggested developing and mass manufacture\/use of blood tests for antibodies, to identify and clear as \u201csafe\u201d those who were infected without even knowing it.<\/p>\n

Is this feasible?\u00a0 Would people who know for certain they cannot infect others heed a call to help?\u00a0 Would charities or government agencies have the capacity to organize this?\u00a0 Are too many grannies living with younger family members with nowhere else to go?\u00a0 It seems highly improbable that the logistical issues could be overcome.<\/p>\n

What are the actual numbers of \u201cimmune by prior infection\u201d people walking around? \u00a0 We don\u2019t have any idea at this point.<\/p>\n

Secondly<\/strong>, there are real costs to a shut-down of the economy that go beyond the ability of upper middle class folk to enjoy a night on the town, or the impact of a recession on President Trump\u2019s likelihood of re-election.<\/p>\n

People who are of low income are more likely than others to be in ill health.\u00a0 We might say \u201cthat\u2019s irrelevant because that can be solved by expanding healthcare and providing social welfare benefits more generously rather than by keeping people in the workforce\u201d but all the wishing in the world can\u2019t undo the reality that a more prosperous economy can better provide for not just the material luxuries but the basic needs and well-being of its people.<\/p>\n

At the same time, there is no simple math that says, \u201chere are the excess deaths that would be caused by a recession.\u201d\u00a0 (Well, maybe there is some math, in some economist\u2019s paper somewhere, but I\u2019m guessing there are probably a truckload of such papers with contradictory answers.)<\/p>\n

Anti-domestic violence advocates worry that victims who had not previously been able to leave their abusers will suffer all the more.\u00a0 Child victims won\u2019t have teachers to act as mandated reporters.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the paper reported the other day that car crashes are down, freeing up more hospital beds for covid patients.<\/p>\n

Addicts in recovery have lost access to their 12-step meetings.<\/p>\n

At the same time, heavy drinkers have lost access to bars (but are they drinking even more at home?).<\/p>\n

How do you tally all this up?<\/p>\n

Churches which can\u2019t hold services are making pleas for people to mail in their offering.\u00a0 But how many of our \u201cspiritual service providers\u201d will be unable to manage a long shut-down?<\/p>\n

In Illinois, \u201cmental health providers\u201d are deemed an \u201cessential service<\/a>\u201d \u2014 but pragmatically, will everyone still be able to access services?<\/p>\n

Around here, the \u201cPADS\u201d homeless shelter (which rotates from church to church in the suburbs) has been shut down; will efforts to house the guests in hotel rooms work?<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget concerns that a shut-down that lasts too long will result in people simply refusing to obey orders.<\/p>\n

Oh, and, finally, some people have speculated that in order to reduce cases as much as remotely possible, schools will have to remain closed not just for the rest of the year, but into the fall.\u00a0 In a worst-case scenario, for how long do children go without instruction?<\/p>\n

Now, that being said, it may well be that some of the people being quoted as wanting to \u201copen up the country\u201d really do want to kill granny, or are indifferent to granny dying.\u00a0 There are always Three Cooters<\/a>, after all.\u00a0 But I\u2019d recommend rereading the quote that you\u2019re outraged about and asking whether there\u2019s another way of interpreting it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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