I’ve been debating with myself as to whether I should even recognize the insane and immature hysteria that has been broadcast by mainstream television media or to just make the choice to ignore it and spend my time on worthy news sources. I’ve finally decided that this situation has brought on a fiery passion that I so rarely feel, so I’m going for it. While I’m sure that the folks reading my blog would not have been suckered in by Fox and CNN, I hope somehow my rant can make a difference.
I have only two points to make:
Firstly. I’m entirely disappointed in the way the mainstream media has handled this story. Is there a new strain of flu with unknown reactions and statistics? Yes, that’s a fact. But what’s so much different about this flu than the normal flu? In the nursing manager’s office, yesterday, I read a report issued by the Center for Disease Control that said, essentially, that this flu has the same symptoms (aches, fatigue, occasionally “stomach flu” symptoms) and is preventable in the EXACT SAME WAY that the seasonal flu is preventable. (These are things I wish we would stress to every elementary schooler) WASH YOUR HANDS, COVER YOUR MOUTH, and STAY HOME AND REST if you have symptoms. The major difference between “Swine Flu” and seasonal flu is the fact that healthy young adults in their prime (like myself) are MORE prone to have fatal complications from the animal versions of the flu. I was happy to see a fellow 20-something think outside the box on this. The title text from today’s xkcd comic [1] says, “...to stay healthy, spend the next few weeks drunk and sleep deprived to keep [your immune system] depressed.” Excellent words of wisdom. But really, according to the CDC [2] around 36,000 people die of the seasonal flu each year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [3], there were at least 37,000 fatalities from automobile accidents in 2007 (this number is actually the number of fatal accidents, there may have been multiple occupants, but the exact figure of fatalities was impossible to find in a five minue google search). A quick fact story about this new flu is fine, but to go on and on showing pictures of people grocery shopping with surgical masks is just utterly ridiculous. Tell us its a “global pandemic” when we see some numbers close to those above, otherwise let the health officials deal with it.
Fake Edit: I was happy to see the Hillsdale Daily News had a leading story today about swine flu which said simply, “Our county has disaster plans and are ready in the event that ANY major health crisis occurs.”
Which sort of brings me to the second point. As many of my friends know, I am a “pro-death” supporter. Any way that we can bring our species closer to immortal super-beings or extinction is fine by me (if evolution theory is correct, one of those two will happen eventually; if biblical creationism is correct, then Jesus will return long before those ends occur). Especially in this “economic recession”, shouldn’t we let diseases run rampant across the globe? Those left standing would be naturally immune and presumably the most generally fit of our species and with fewer people alive, there would be more jobs available and less of a strain on the welfare systems. Think back to your western history class. Which single event was able to bring the people of Europe out of the “Dark Ages” and into the Renaissance? The Black Death (aka, the Plague). If not for that, we’d still be in fiefdoms serving the lord of the land.
I end with these inspiring words (made up by yours truly): Life without change is death, but without death, there can be no life. Think about it.