Happy Memorial Day?

It’s the time of year where we’re supposed to remember all the sacrifices made by our armed forces. But we’re also in the midst of a great debate about relaxing efforts to contain the pandemic.

I certainly do not want to downplay the losses and suffering of our veterans – but I’m also infuriated by efforts to downplay this pandemic.

So let’s look at some stats. Here is where I’m getting my numbers for the pandemic – 98,034 as of this writing. And I’ll be referring to the military death totals listed here.

So, all provisos about the pandemic numbers aside (I think they’re probably under-reported) – more Americans have died from COVID-19 than Vietnam (58,029). Think about that. Vietnam took place over a decade or so (depending on how you wan to track it). Think about the chaos and disruption that caused, and who knows what costs to our country for the veterans and their families. We’re about three months into the pandemic at this point… And I’ll bet you an N95 mask that a good number of our Vietnam vets have been taken by the coronavirus.

And, we’re approaching the number killed in the first World War. God forbid we surpass WWII or (horrors) the Civil War.

Here’s another interesting thing to think about. According to this site, almost 7,000 Americans have died in the war on terror, plus about 3000 who died in 9/11 – for a total of 10,000. That’s about 1/10th of the number who have died from COVID-19. Now, consider how much has been spent on our war on terror. Something on the order of 5 trillion dollars (source). I am not saying that we should have not spent that money, or fought those wars. That’s irrelevant to this. My point is, we really need to think about our priorities. I didn’t bother trying to track down what the US spends on research/prevention for pandemics, I’m sure it’ll be depressing.

So, the next time you hear someone try to downplay this pandemic – ask yourself, when’s the last time you lived through a couple Vietnam war’s worth of dead Americans? In three months.

Please stay at home! I don’t care what your state decides to do. Stay home. I think it’s only going to get worse.

May you live in interesting times.