In my own experience, I can barely even notice that a pandemic is happening. Some people are wearing facemasks out in public. Other than that things are pretty normal in my area. As I have stated before, there are major effects on the economy and people's freedoms in other parts of America. Rates of suicide, alcoholism, divorce, and home evictions are all well above average.

If you watch the news, we are being told that there are dark times ahead and we all must put our lives on hold for who knows how long. The CDC predicts there will be an additional 450,000 deaths from the virus by February. The message is generally one of terror. Here are some examples of what the news media is telling us every day: USA Today, CNBC.

A Vaccine

In a cooperative endeavor, a drug company named Pfizer has developed a vaccine for Covid-19. The vaccine is stated to be 94% effective. But 40% of those who contract the virus show no symptoms, and of those who do, 80% show only mild symptoms. This means that 88% of people who contract the virus show no symptoms or only mild ones. So I don't understand why we need a vaccine beyond a psychological or cultural cure for our fear, or to protect the elderly.

Current fatality rates for infected people under the age of 70 are less than 0.5%. Meanwhile, deaths resulting from the flu this season have completely vanished. And the news media is threatening us more frequently to accept vaccination. Total deaths this year from all causes are roughly equal to previous years, and the average age of death from Covid-19 is about equal to average life expectancy.

Climate Change Lockdowns

Somewhat related, the news media is mildly beginning to condition us on the need for 'Climate Change Lockdowns.' This means confining people to their local area and restricting their travel, energy consumption, and food consumption. The reasoning is that human civilization is a threat to the Earth's climate and therefore must be harshly regulated.

It seems the powerful people of the world have more and more reasons to take our hard won freedoms away. I have written quite a few blog posts about this virus. As I research it and understand the physiological effects, I am less and less worried about it. Perhaps someone reading this is puzzled as to why I'm paying the virus so much attention. It is only because of the massive effects it is having on our society and the constant attention our culture is giving to it. As a side note, this is an election year.

Perhaps I am completely misguided on this subject. I'm only writing down my thoughts for those in the future to better understand the world I'm currently living in. My main concern is the enthusiasm so many people have to give away their freedoms. But the same enthusiasm exists in just as many people to fight to retain our freedoms.

Meanwhile there has been a wonderful Christmas spirit at our home and with our family. It might be time for me to start ignoring a lot of the noise out in the world and just focus on my own family and community. So hopefully this will be my last entry on Covid-19.