I just needed to vent a little so I wrote this. For some reason (and I'm not completely clear on what that was) I felt like I wanted to share it with you despite it being such a rough draft.
It is very rough and probably not that well thought out. As most of you know, I have a child with an auto immune disease and the Coronavirus is a huge threat to us personally. I'm not meaning to downplay the severity of it. I also did not acknowledge the fact that at this juncture the goal is to stop the spread of this virus. The alarm is about the spread, not necessarily the few that are affected right now. I understand that. As I said, I'm just venting a bit.
My point here isn't so much that they shouldn't be doing anything about the virus as it is that they are obviously capable of acting. The folks in power have made it clear that they can take very serious measures if they merit the cause worthy. That's where my frustration lies. Why isn't this cause worthy?
So with no further ado:
March 12, 2020
It's becoming epidemic in and of itself. We are all running around terrified about the Coronavirus. The NBA, MLB, NHL and the NCAA have either canceled, postponed or will proceed without audiences for the remainder of their seasons. Coachella has been postponed. SXSW canceled. Universities have canceled the remainder of their winter classes or implemented online only formats. The government has issued a million PSA's: Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.
TRY to find something on Facebook or Twitter that’s not about this topic.
It’s a pandemic. It’s only going to get worse. People are dying. Pay attention. Fix the problem. Find the solutions.
The numbers so far:
And everyone – and I mean EVERYone is dealing with this thing. For .02% of the population, Italy has shut down the country. Canceled life as we know it.
March 12, 2020
It's becoming epidemic in and of itself. We are all running around terrified about the Coronavirus. The NBA, MLB, NHL and the NCAA have either canceled, postponed or will proceed without audiences for the remainder of their seasons. Coachella has been postponed. SXSW canceled. Universities have canceled the remainder of their winter classes or implemented online only formats. The government has issued a million PSA's: Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands.
TRY to find something on Facebook or Twitter that’s not about this topic.
It’s a pandemic. It’s only going to get worse. People are dying. Pay attention. Fix the problem. Find the solutions.
The numbers so far:
- In the United States, 1,323 people have tested positive for Covid-19
- The current population of the US is approximately 327 million
- 0.0004% of the population is affected by the virus
- The numbers of deaths reported are around 37 (less than 3% of that 0.0004%)
And everyone – and I mean EVERYone is dealing with this thing. For .02% of the population, Italy has shut down the country. Canceled life as we know it.
For 0.0004% of the U.S. population, Trump announced that the US government has implemented travel bans and tax relief bills and he's addressed the nation several times now and …
And yet…
In 2018, 33,221 people in the US were killed by gun violence. That's .01% of the population. If you include those injured by gun related incidences to the mix, it raises the number to 67,454 or – that magic number of .02%
Last year 15,208 people in the US were lost due to willful, malicious or accidental gun deaths - and that is not including the suicide numbers that were included in the 2018 statistics above. That alone was .004% - 10x more of the US population than this virus is affecting.
And in 2020 already (we’re not even 3 months in!), 7,609 people have perished by gun violence, including 197 children. Let’s go ahead and include injuries to that and it raises the number affected by gun violence in 71 days to 12,569 (with 706 children aged 17 and under). If we assume this trajectory of 177 acts of gun violence resulting in death or injury per day, by the end of the year we can expect 64,762 folks to be affected by this issue. That, my friends, keeps us at that steady .02%.
But what is being done about our gun violence issue in America? What are our fearless leaders doing to protect us from ourselves? Where are the bans? When are the remedies going to be implemented? What are the bills being pushed through Congress at lightning speed?
Well, no. None of that is happening. But we do have their thoughts and prayers.
And yet…
In 2018, 33,221 people in the US were killed by gun violence. That's .01% of the population. If you include those injured by gun related incidences to the mix, it raises the number to 67,454 or – that magic number of .02%
Last year 15,208 people in the US were lost due to willful, malicious or accidental gun deaths - and that is not including the suicide numbers that were included in the 2018 statistics above. That alone was .004% - 10x more of the US population than this virus is affecting.
And in 2020 already (we’re not even 3 months in!), 7,609 people have perished by gun violence, including 197 children. Let’s go ahead and include injuries to that and it raises the number affected by gun violence in 71 days to 12,569 (with 706 children aged 17 and under). If we assume this trajectory of 177 acts of gun violence resulting in death or injury per day, by the end of the year we can expect 64,762 folks to be affected by this issue. That, my friends, keeps us at that steady .02%.
But what is being done about our gun violence issue in America? What are our fearless leaders doing to protect us from ourselves? Where are the bans? When are the remedies going to be implemented? What are the bills being pushed through Congress at lightning speed?
Well, no. None of that is happening. But we do have their thoughts and prayers.
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