At what cost?

We are destroying our economy to a point it may take years to recover. All bars and restaurants in Indiana were closed yesterday, throwing tens of thousands out of work. Uber and Lyft drivers are idled by travel restrictions. The mayor of my city has ordered all travel on city streets stopped outside of work, doctor, and food. In effect, Martial law.

This is tyranny. This is how your freedom dissipates like smoke.

But a Joe, there is a global pandemic. We are all in danger.

This disease has spread quickly through the world, starting in China. Authorities tell us it is deadly.

Is it?

There are 7.5 billion people on Earth. So far, in three months, 7,074 people have died. Total. Globally. In Indiana 24 people are diagnosed, one has died. This out of a population of 6.6 million. There have been about 180,000 cases diagnosed globally.

We have put tens of thousands onto the unemployment rolls. We have put many of our lowest income earners in a position to lose their cars, weeks from being homeless to protect what appears to be a fraction of a percent of the population.

I don’t want to seem cold-hearted. I’m one of the high risk targets of this virus.

If there isn’t a run on tinfoil yet, I’m going to fashion me a hat, because the facts don’t back up the fear, panic, hysteria, and outright government intrusion into our lives.

But Joe, without these precautions things could get way worse, I hear you say. If deaths increased a thousandfold, it is still a minuscule percentage.

Call me skeptical.