Abalinx 16 April 2020 Peter Adamis
DISCLAIMER. I am going out on a limb here by writing about the Corona virus. I may have a university degree in Environmental Occupational Health and Safety, but that does not make me an expert on viruses. The degree as well as my years of military skills and training honed over many years of service, enhanced my risk analysis and assisted me greatly in identifying issues, preventing problems from occurring, find acceptable solutions and other methodologies to meet with and overcome the challenges I was faced with. A copy of the article may be downloaded by clicking on: IS THE CORONA VIRUS – COVID 19 ANOTHER Y2000 CON
This long convoluting sentence may appear very similar to our military anticipation methodologies and infantry motto to seek out and close with the enemy, but in fact it is true that my abilities to question the known and unknown facts laid before me became second nature. Therefore, please do not shoot the messenger if I dare to question the wisdom of my betters and those who are guiding us through this current pandemic for I am merely making an opinion based on what we are being fed by the media and that of our respective three tier government.
Modelling. We often hear of modelling and its effects on society if we do not change our behaviour and follow certain changes to ensure that society as a whole is not infected. What if the modelling is wrong and the statistics being fed into the modelling does not represent our society. My gut feeling tells me that something is just not right and this matter has been gnawing in the back of my mind for some time.
I wonder whether the modelling is based on statistics from Wuhan in China and that the statistics have somehow been manipulated to reflect Australian standards. If this is the case then the modelling is wrong from the start. Australia has a population of some 26 million people compared to that of some 1.2 billion people. That alone should raise some concerns.
China unlike Australia did not test as many people and therefore China and the world does not know the true extent of the spread of the virus. It is true that COVID 19 strain is derived from the family of Corona viruses and is considered far deadlier that its siblings. If this is the case, why then is Beijing, Shanghai, Canton, Hong Kong and other major Chinese population sectors not struck with the same deadly force. Is it because the Chinese have not tested their people? Is that the reason Australia has been able to keep the death toll down.
Influenza versus COVID 19. I do not have the statistics in front of me and readers can conduct their own research in their own time, however, I beg the question what are the differences. For example in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other like minded countries influenza statistics for this time twelve months ago, would they still be the same. Is it possible that the deaths that have occurred may be attributed to influenza rather than COVID 19. Is it possible that the deaths have been misrepresented and dare I say manipulated in order to inflate the COVID 19 statistics?
Countries with a low death toll does not mean that they have in place a good health system, or policies such as social distancing or that the borders are closed, but rather that they lack the facilities and testing equipment to identify who is infected with the COVID 19 virus. Take one look at the World Health Organisation statics and ask yourself if you have heard of any of the countries been named as low Corona virus death rates and question why they remain so low. Do these nations know something we in the Western society are failing to see or adhere to?
Has social distancing gone too far. It is true that viruses are spread by contact with an infected person. It is true that a healthy person can and will overcome viruses with or without the aid of medical intervention. It is also true that such virus infections can be prevented by isolating the infected person or we keep our distance from that individual. If the above is also said to be true, then why has this not become the policy in today’s society rather than forcing social distancing on an entire nation. In Australia for example we are being advised that if social distancing is not applied then our hospitals would be overwhelmed with COVID 19 infected people and our medical infrastructure would collapse.
If this is said to be true, then why the need to force an entire nation in isolation, use police and military forces to enforce social distancing, make laws that prohibit large gatherings, give power to our law enforcement agencies to enter homes and meetings and yes funerals where people are congregating to enforce the social distancing laws. Does this not raise eyebrows; question the reasons for such tactics and what the long term effects are. Surely we the people cannot be fooled all the time. Something has to give sooner or later.
Policies, concepts and methodologies. What if the current practices being put into place are wrong and that the alleged experts are found to be wrong in their analysis. Who are these experts and what are their qualifications, are they medical, psychological, political, statisticians, behavioural or just merely information junkies? Brendon Murphy is a well respected individual and I wonder whether he has been put into the spot light to add quality and expertise to the drama to convince a sceptic Australian nation. Australians are a resilient and courageous lot but they are also wary and suspicious of government interference into their freedoms. Even now I am sure that there is a growing number of sceptics amongst us questioning whether the response to the COVID 19 outbreak has been the correct one.
People will die. Yes it is true that people will die. Some will die because their bodies are no longer able to sustain longevity, some will be struck with a disease, others will pass away from heart related matters, people will be killed in car accidents, some at the hand of criminals or domestic violence, then we have wars amongst nations and finally old age when the brain tells it host that its time to leave the world as we know it. Therefore let us look at Australia and the low COVID 19 death toll and question whether it has any relationship to the social distancing policies in place or is it because Australians have changed their personal hygiene habits and they way the communicate with each other.
Media, politics and economic outlook. From a political point of view, the COVID 19 pandemic is a godsend to politicians as it will keep them in power. From an economic point of view I suspect that Australia was heading towards a recession in any case and the COVID 19 was a intervention too good to be true. Politicians can therefore blame everything and I mean everything on the COVID 19 crisis. Who is going to argue against such logic, who is going to stand up and say that the experts have got it wrong, who is going to question the policies and legislation that brought about such a low COVID 19 death rate were incorrect.
Anyone who dares question the policies being forced upon a nation will be ridiculed, drawn and quartered or hung out to dry by a media seeking fresh blood to whet their appetite. At the moment the media is king of the roost and the messages being fed to the public is mainly doom and gloom with snippets of feel good news to make us all feel that there is still hope. The media in order to stay relevant will do what it must do in order to attract more people and the more people they attract the more power they accumulate and thus are able to influence the majority using herd manipulation tactics.
Herd mentality. Those of us who have had military, paramedic, law enforcement and risk analysis skills and training naturally question the order of things and are normally sceptical of what we see, hear and read. It is our training and life experiences that make us naturally suspicious and as such we question why some things are not what they seem to be. I am not stating that we are smarter or more knowledgeable or experts in any given field but rather that we question and seek solutions rather than use the herd mentality and follow like a mob of sheep to the slaughter so to speak. Has the government identified that herd mentality is effective if enforced by legislation and changes to behaviour. If it has and is implanting policies designed to change society as we know it, then what is their desired outcome. There are far too many unanswered questions, far more that this article can cover.
Whatever the case maybe, any policy is in the best interests of society and saves lives cannot misconstrued as deliberate tool of government to meet with their political missions and ideologies. In years to come, scholars will be reviewing all the data, the media, the statistics and the behavioural outcomes and come to maybe conclusions that we are no yet aware of. I for one remain a sceptic. Stay strong, be of good cheer, fight the good fight and live rather than live in doom and gloom. The world is still a beautiful place and mankind was not created to live in isolation forever.
Peter Adamis is a Journalist/Social Media Commentator and writer. He is a retired Australian military serviceman and an Industry organisational, Environmental & Occupational (OHS) & Training Consultant whose interests are within the parameters of domestic and international political spectrum. He is an avid blogger and contributes to domestic and international community news media outlets as well as to local and Ethnic News. He holds a Bachelor of Adult Learning & Development (Monash), Grad Dip Occupational Health & Safety, (Monash), and Dip. Training & Assessment, Dip Public Administration, and Dip Frontline Management. Website: abalinx.com