THE CORONAVIRUS CONSPIRACY

I purposely titled this post the way I did because I wanted to draw the people who deny COVID-19 is real and poses a real health threat. In this post, I want to examine what is being said and why they are saying it. Then, I want to walk people through the logic or illogic of their thinking.

Let’s start by talking about the biggest celebrity saying that this is all a conspiracy to bring down Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh. I used to listen to Rush every day on my way home from work. I didn’t always agree with what he said, but I didn’t always disagree either. I don’t blindly follow any personality. So, let’s examine a couple of things that Rush is saying.

1.  COVID-19 is just the common cold. In fact, it’s named COVID-19 because it’s the nineteenth one.

Unfortunately, this is patentably false. The 19 in COVID-19 comes from the fact that it was ‘discovered’ in 2019. It’s easy to see where his confusion comes from since the full breakdown of COVID-19 is Corona Virus Disease 19. It also does not have the same viral structure that the cold or flu viruses have. It is related to SARS and MERS. In fact, it is so closely related to SARS that its actual ‘name’ is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. By the way, the corona in coronavirus comes from the fact that the virus has spikes that look like a crown on it.

In this same vein, the disease is at least twice as communicable as the cold or flu.

2.  It’s only affecting two percent (2%) of the population.

The truth is, we don’t know how much of the population it is affecting yet. The numbers are still rising. What we do know is that around 2% of those infected die from it. We also know that seniors and those with underlying health conditions seem to be the most affected by it. Here, in America, between thirty thousand and sixty thousand people die every year from the flu. This is a shocking number for the Chinese. I know because I have a handful of friends there whom I trust, and they told me that they had no idea. The number of people in China who have been sickened by and died from COVID-19 is also shocking to them. While they know diseases have ravaged China in the past, they have never had to experience it first-hand. And, even they know that their government has suppressed the real number, it is much, much higher.

3.  This is all about bringing down Donald Trump.

This is the only thing about the virus that Rush has said that appears plausible on its face. The effect on our economy and way of life has been dramatically affected by the coronavirus. Panic-buying seems to be the new reality. Jobs are in jeopardy. Stores, restaurants, in fact virtually every type of business have shut down. All of the economic gains of the Trump administration have been wiped out. Make no mistake, President Trump’s political rivals (enemies if you like) will use the economy, large unemployment numbers that will surely follow, and the way he has handled this emergency against him in every way possible.
The media did, certainly, help create a sense of panic and fear in the public. I happen to think that for the first time in his administration, they did exactly what the President needed them to do. Donald Trump can and may emerge from this one of this nation’s greatest heroes. His quick and decisive action and those yet to come may just have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

I am going to leave it right there because if one or two statements are false, the entire argument becomes questionable. Instead, let’s look at why the thought that this is a hoax is being said by numerous people. The top three I hear are:

1.  ‘They’ want to bring President Trump down and destroy his chances for reelection.

2.  The government wants to control us more.

3.  The ‘fat-cats’ on Wall Street just want to manipulate the market.

Rather than take these one at a time, let’s look at the entire concept of a conspiracy of this magnitude. I have tracked the coronavirus since before it hit US soil. I did this because I have some very dear friends living in China. Make no mistake, the disease originated in China and spread from there. I will not rule out the possibility that COVID-19 was an accidental release of a poorly designed bio-weapon, just because of the proximity of one of China’s top research labs next to the market is supposedly came from. It doesn’t matter at this point. It’s out and it infected, at a MINIMUM over 80,000 people in China. It killed at a MINIMUM over 3,000 people. Why do I say at a minimum? The Chinese central government has no problem lying to its own people and the world to try to make itself look better. Just this morning, China has reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus cases which is IMPOSSIBLE since there is no vaccine or cure. China is lying to save Face. Face is a huge issue for the Chinese government. They want their own people and the world to believe that the central government is completely in control of the situation. It isn’t and it never has been.

So, we have a disease in China that the Chinese declined to share any information about for two weeks to a month. The disease spread in a predictable pattern for these things. All of Asia was first affected, then the Middle East and Australia, followed by Europe, and, eventually, the United States of America. South America appears to have been infected at the same time or after the US was.

When the disease hit the US, I noticed an odd pattern and even asked some of the people on my Facebook page about it. The disease was confined primarily to the coasts. Someone pointed out that these were where the ports and large international airports with flights from Europe and Asia were. As I tracked the disease, it slowly spread until, eventually, every state seemed to have at least one verified case.

Every Asian, Middle Eastern and European country is being affected. Some of these are totalitarian governments like China, North Korea, Vietnam, Iran, etc. Some are constitutional monarchies like the UK. Some are democratic socialist, some are socialist, some are democratic republics, etc. The ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ would somehow have to get all of these governments to go along and say yes to something that wasn’t really happening. Iran who openly hates the United States of America in every possible way would have to agree to lie for ‘Them’ in order to bring Trump down, help our government control us more, and/or allow the guys on Wall Street to take advantage of the rest of us. How would you compel India, who actually like Donald Trump, to go along? How would anyone be able to get every country that has been affected by this to help in the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy?’

I understand or think I understand, part of what drives the conspiracy talk. The question of how a virus can be completely absent one day and a couple of weeks later have the entire country worried? That’s easy to answer when you look at what has actually happened and don’t work from a single snapshot in time. This hasn’t been a couple of weeks. The media has been reporting on the virus long before it hit US shores. When it finally did hit, they went into overdrive (look at the number of articles on it on FOX alone.) This caused people to panic-buy because the word ‘quarantine’ was already being used. Panic-buying has led to greater fear which the conspiracy theorists have viewed as something generated by ‘the government.’

In some places, the state and local officials have given orders for restaurants and bars to close and banned gatherings over a certain size. Believe it or not, if you really wanted to, you could take them to court for this. You would probably lose because the court is going to put public safety ahead of the Constitution. But it is an option because under the Constitution you cannot be denied liberty without due process. Like I said, you would probably lose because most courts will look at what the health officials have said or mandated for the public good over your personal rights. This is what many of the people who believe in the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ think is one of ‘their’ ultimate aims, denying the American people their Constitutional rights. My question is, when does your personal liberty infringe on my right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? Especially life (which is before Liberty.)

Another thought that the ‘Coronavirus Conspiracy’ believers have is that this is how socialism gets into America. I admit, it sure looks that way when Washington is talking about interfering with businesses and sending money out to every American. Kind of like what President Bush did in 2008. I didn’t agree with the Stimulus Package then and I don’t really agree with it now. The next election put a President in who really was a socialist in many respects. But the one after that made Donald Trump President. I’m still waiting to see how the stimulus packages have turned us socialist? Fueling recessions, yes, making us socialists, I doubt it.

I think if ALL Americans would calm down and just follow the recommendations of EVERY MAJOR HEALTH ORGANIZATION ON THE PLANET we would be okay. People should calm down. The CEOs of some of the largest food chains in the United States have said, there is and will be plenty, just like always. Truck drivers don’t have ten people in the cab with them, and they can keep their distance while pallets are loaded and unloaded on their trucks. The farmers, warehouse workers, and inspection authorities can all take precautions to protect themselves.

For those of you who still don’t believe that the coronavirus is real, nothing will convince you until you’ve caught it. My daughter has friends that have been diagnosed with it. Sandy Patty, a gospel singer, a Christian, says that she has it. People from all walks of life are sharing their stories of what their quarantines are like as they have been diagnosed with it. Why would they lie? What possible motivation could they have? Do you really believe that Sandy Patti is a government stooge or a liar?

Let me put it to you another way that may be more palatable for you. Yes, it is like a really, really contagious flu that is twenty to thirty times more lethal. Does that help? Will you please stay away from others who might be vulnerable to it now? If for no other reason, do it out of respect for the other person, simple courtesy. You can make your own decisions about washing your hands or going into a crowd, but don’t force what your choice may bring onto others.

KM