Our Friends in China

Jim Geraghty in National Review's Morning Jolt (4/23/20) commenting on Sen. Tom Cotton's take on where the Covid-19 virus originated:

"It will probably not surprise you to learn I think Senator Tom Cotton has the assessment of the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 arising from an accidental exposure of a naturally occurring virus just about right:

While the Chinese government denies the possibility of a lab leak, its actions tell a different story. The Chinese military posted its top epidemiologist to the Institute of Virology in January. In February Chairman Xi Jinping urged swift implementation of new biosafety rules to govern pathogens in laboratory settings. Academic papers about the virus’s origins are now subject to prior restraint by the government.

In early January, enforcers threatened doctors who warned their colleagues about the virus. Among them was Li Wenliang, who died of Covid-19 in February. Laboratories working to sequence the virus’s genetic code were ordered to destroy their samples. The laboratory that first published the virus’s genome was shut down, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported in February.

This evidence is circumstantial, to be sure, but it all points toward the Wuhan labs. Thanks to the Chinese coverup, we may never have direct, conclusive evidence—intelligence rarely works that way—but Americans justifiably can use common sense to follow the inherent logic of events to their likely conclusion."

Sounds about right. Will this colossal debacle be enough to wean America from its addiction to cheap Chinese goods? Time will tell but we need to make noise or be assured that politicians and corporations will sneak back for more to line their own pockets instead of looking out for the best interests of the people of this country.

Starting to Think About Takeaways

With the exception of a few large hotspots around the country (NYC region, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago) it's starting to look like we are turning the corner on the coronavirus plague. Oregon has continued to be relatively lightly impacted. The latest figures show 1,322 confirmed cases with a death rate of only 9 per million population. To give this number some perspective, Oregon had 509 deaths/100,000 population for auto accidents(2017), 160.4/100,000 for cancer (2015) and 134/100,000 for heart disease (2017). Dr. Bud Pierce has been posting a weekly update on how things are going in Oregon with the coronavirus and his most recent report is quite positive. https://youtu.be/fX7_kmmap3w

Taking all this into consideration, it's time to begin thinking about some takeaways:

• The Chinese statistics on coronavirus are baloney. As of this morning, the U.S. is reporting 475,749 confirmed cases. China says theirs hit 82,941and then stopped cold. China has a population 4 times that of the United States. Shanghai's public gathering places shut down completely this week, as did a city in northwestern China. I call bulls*&@#! Not possible. 
• The Chinese are nobody's friend.  From sitting on early reports of how contagious this virus is, to hoarding medical supplies, to threatening to cutoff medical supplies if the U.S. and others didn't sing the Chinese tune, these guys are not anyone's friend. They did the same to the Italians, actually even worse because they sold the Italians back medical supplies that they Italians had donated to China before Italy was hit. China is not delivering ventilators they contracted for to Brazil and the ones sold to England are breaking down frequently. The world's nations consequently need to follow through and make major adjustments in dealing with this government. 
• Governments stockpiling emergency items.  It's not just the Feds. Government down through at least the state level have a critical responsibility to maintain these stocks. Just do it!
• National plan to address a pandemic. My father-in-law worked for Westinghouse at the start of WW II. He told the story of how, on the day after Pearl Harbor, military officers walked through the plant's doors with plans to convert the factory to wartime production of entirely new items. The medical sector has responded well, by and large, in this current crisis, but WWII speed and comprehensiveness is necessary to implement a master plan if and when this situation recurs. 
• The U.S. needs to onshore manufacturing. We got caught with a huge percentage of our medical supplies from medicines to protective gear to equipment being made in China. They did threaten to cutoff our supply lines while we were in crisis and it is simply stupid beyond belief if we don't onshore this sector of manufacturing. We also need a comprehensive study of all manufacturing sectors to determine what is in the national interest to bring home. 
• Globalism is on life support.  And should be. The national interest trumps cheap prices when it comes to key items. There is no duty to make a few mega corporations/tycoons richer by letting them rely on cheap or even slave Chinese labor. We may have to pay a little more for key products made in this country, but when crunch time comes, it will have been a small price to pay.
• Urban density isn't such a good thing. There appears to be a high correlation between high urban density and high incidence of the disease, both here and in Europe. The more spread out we are, the resistant we are to a pandemic. We need to totally rethink land use planning from this new perspective. 

There are undoubtedly many more takeways that will be coming from this situation. It is critical, however, that we not only discuss and vet them, but that we make them. Quickly.