A Perspective on the Pandemic Most Were Unaware Of

I'm writing to share a perspective that, it seems to me, most were unaware of during the pandemic. I believe it's a very important perspective, as it speaks to the probabilities we may see an increasing incidence of future pandemics.

As the pandemic wore on, most of us became aware of the fact that this pandemic was very "risk stratified", which is to say the elderly and health compromised were far more likely to suffer after contracting symptoms, and the young, even when exposed to the virus, were unlikely to experience any symptoms at all. And in terms of mortality, these probabilities became even more extreme.

Which I hasten to add does not mean the young could not fall ill, only that it was very unlikely, and when it did happen it was likely to produce only mild symptoms.

So this particular pandemic was not only risk stratified, it was highly risk stratified. Which is to say, most people, from a statistical perspective, did not personally have that much to worry about, and could then shift more concern and care to those who did bear high risk of significant disease.

But we were not made aware of this early in the pandemic, when it first became known. In fact the reverse was true. We were bombarded with fear messages that we were all at high risk, and the statistical perspectives which might have allayed fear, such as children were probably more likely to die in an automobile accident, or that many past  epidemics were more dangerous to children (but induced no high level of panic) were kept from the media and public.

And we were kept unaware of another critical piece of information: a risk stratified approach to pandemic management would very likely have produced lower levels of illness, mortality, and general suffering.

So why then were we bombarded with incorrect and panic inducing messages? It's pretty simple - the industry controlling the narrative was biased by the prospect of the biggest yearly profit in the history of that industry, which then came to pass. I have nothing against profit...but please, not at the expense of the common good. Big pharma and the health care industry in general have become the most profitable industries in the history of the world.

Big Pharma is biased by another factor, the very high tech they are so proud of, which would not be a bad thing if it did not produce, on the whole, worse health in the population.

So yes, you might say they are drinking their own kool-aid.

I'm going to share some stats from a previous post:

Disease management has become the largest industry in US history. Sum lines 2, 5, and 7 below to see an approximation of the total:

The 10 Biggest Industries by Revenue in the US for 2022

1) Retirement & Pension Plans in the US - $1.257.9B
2) Health & Medical Insurance in the US - $1.145.1B
3) Drug, Cosmetic & Toiletry Wholesaling in the US - $1.049.9B
4) New Car Dealers in the US - $978.7B
5) Hospitals in the US - $968.5B
6) Life Insurance & Annuities in the US - $886.7B
7) Pharmaceuticals Wholesaling - $868.8B
8) Public Schools in the US - $791.0B
9) Supermarkets & Grocery Stores in the US - $758.4B
10) Commercial Banking in the US - $703.4B

And this total does not include the 'inputs" that contribute to the disease generation chain: processed food and fast food industries (Micky D on every corner!).

Wait a minute...did I just say "disease generation chain"? As if this "chain" of industries is a formal (but unacknowledged) economic force the US depends on?

Everyone knows this but I suppose it bears repeating: the US spends more on disease management (let's call it what it is) than any other country, but also has the worst health outcomes.

Clearly, something isn't working. What is it? In the simplest terms possible, the "health" of the economy has come to depend on a sick population. Read that again...take a minute.