Cost and benefit

It was so refreshing to hear a story about second-degree theft on the radio this morning. I needed a break from COVID-19.

But then came this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for you and me to send $500 checks to everybody for muse-um visits and cruises to stimu-late the economy when the virus threat winds down. It was written by Todd and Vic-toria Buchholz. Mr. Buchholz is “director of marketing strat-egy and special projects” at Princess Cruises.

Threats are constantly played up for profit. I can un-derstand the threat of body odor increasing the sales of deodorant and rubbing alcohol (maybe it's a secret, but it works like deodorant).

I can't quite figure out the incentive for this silly reaction to “the virus.” With ethanol mandates, for instance, there's demand for corn. But who could predict that Walmart stock would zoom ahead while the broader stock market would tank? Can you imagine a powerful corporation hoard-ing toilet paper and then hav-ing the deviousness to influ-ence media and politicians to freak out in such a way like William Randolph Hearst's hemp vs. wood pulp myth?

I haven't been to town for a few days but I imagine store shelves are being restocked and many homes are running out of space and tarps for toi-let paper storage. Then what? A slump in toilet paper sales and the lobbyists will be taking our politicians out to lunch and begging for toilet paper subsi-dies. Corn farmers are quite familiar with “situations be-yond their control” that require totalitarian government to step in and take young mothers' formula money to prop up corn prices.

How is that person you know doing that is sick with the corona virus? What per-son, you ask? Exactly. How is that person you know doing with the layoff or business closure? I bet almost anyone reading that second question knows that person and the first question brought a blank stare.

Most of us have known someone with cancer. We know the treatments can be horrendous. So the question arises, is it worth it?

In the case of the virus as in anthropomorphic climate change, simply asking the question is taboo. At first the president downplayed the threat and the uproar among the morally superior pundits and opposing politicians had him portrayed as a deadly virus himself. He quickly wised up and joined the crusades, not that the people who hate him would give him credit for that but the public did seem to back off. Ah, the way he talks, kin-da like an announcer at the original Easter Sunday.

In the United States we have 22,000 deaths this year from the flu. We have 157 as of this writing who have died from corona virus.

The president will write a $1,200 check to each of us because of this (well, he'll sign it anyway). There will be $300 billion in forgivable small busi-ness loans. And 2.2 million people have applied for unem-ployment this week in reaction to an illness that has caused one half of one percent of the deaths caused by the flu.

My question is, “Who are the other Mr. and Mrs. Buch-holzes?”

Any responses to The Alternative may be sent as a letter to the editor or to Fritz’s email address 4selfgovernment@gmail.com. His blog, www.alternativebyfritz.com, is now being updated regularly. It's diverse, like the universities claim to be.