It is slowly dawning on most of us that just about
everything we think we know about the Novel Corona Virus is not much more than
slightly informed conjecture, loosely based on the interpretations and
forecasts of numerous virology laboratories.
Research efforts are still in their infancy and medical understanding of
even exactly how the infection spreads and what symptoms it presents is still
amazingly hazy. Today’s verities are very vulnerable to next week’s
experimental results which in turn are filtered and disseminated by people and organisations,
each with a different objective and need. This is partly the reason why our
government’s data, models and strategy for dealing with what they tell us is a
deadly pandemic sweeping the globe, is so opaque.
The rest of the reason is of course the opportunity being
presented for indulging in some major social engineering to produce a compliant
and grateful electorate increasingly dependent on the omniscient central
planners. This means continuing with the deliberately complicated and
confusingly elaborate layers of lock down laws. Why can one visit a dentist but not a hair
dresser? Increasingly people are choosing to discard and ignore the remaining
egregiously silly and economically suicidal lockdown conditions in the quite
reasonable assumption that they have minimal effect on their own risk profile.
The sole fact in this tragic mess is that some people
will succumb to the infection. But even the precise number of how many have
done so to date has considerable uncertainty, dependent on definition and
medical protocols. In short though it is still nowhere near as bad as we were
led to believe it would be. It may well even be that the Novel Corona Virus
alone is responsible for far fewer deaths than are caused by most other common
causes in South Africa; including our local speciality of driving under the
influence.
Which raises the question of just who had the chutzpah
and more importantly the money, to be the buyer of one of the 130 new luxury
cars sold in May. And why were the dealerships
open? Very odd. Apparently 118 Porsches, 5 Bentleys, 4 Lamborghinis and 2
Maseratis were driven off showroom floors last month. The temptation to suggest
a link between these sales and the undimmed national enthusiasm for using other
people’s money is hard to resist. What economic collapse? Has anyone seen the Solidarity
Fund collection tin recently?
Also taking advantage of the distraction caused by the
lockdowns in this country are the insanely jealous and disappointingly ignorant
promotors for banning inheritance and heavily taxing it as a form of
redistribution. That last term should be the rallying point for all
opposition to this proposal. Compared to self-interested selfish individuals Governments
are utterly useless at redistributing anything. The observation doing the rounds this week that
SA Breweries were able in just 3 days to resupply every bottle store in the
nation whereas the current government after 26 years hasn’t delivered very much
at all, is both amusing and true.
George Floyd seems to have been un unremarkable American
two-bit criminal who nevertheless did not deserve to be killed by a policeman for
allegedly passing a counterfeit banknote. The incident exploded into protests
and riots all over the world, during which George has been all but put forward
for immediate beatification. Several inherently race-baiting organisations have
taken up his cause and demanded that everyone should frequently drop on to one
knee and clasp their forehead as a mark of atonement for deeds of racism they
may have done. Or if not themselves, then certainly by their forbears. The
eagerness of people to perform this act in as public a place as possible is
called virtue signalling, and presumably admits to some type of implausible social
guilt. An unintended side effect of these massive gatherings is that they are performing
an unrivalled test of the worth of “social distancing” for controlling transmission
of the virus.
New Zealand announced two interconnected
triumphs this week. First, NZ have begun the Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament and
secondly they claim that there is not a single person in the country infected
with Covid-19. Well done for both. But now what? When next can the All Blacks expect
to play an international?
James Greener
Friday 12th June 2020
