If you are confused about how to save America, you are NOT alone. To fix this country we need to get out of this nasty rut we are stuck in ASAP. And to do this, we need to not only reopen the country by ending the lockdowns and restrictions OR only firehose the economy with federal money, we need to do BOTH.
Yesterday. In fact, yesterday is not soon enough!
If we keep these restrictions for any longer while hoping to just paper over the massive holes in our economy and society with newly printed money, that will not work in the long run, as we will just keep on damaging the economy and society. Likewise, if we attempt to reopen with a bang without injecting federal dollars into the economy, it will be a big disappointment since the damage is done and has not been repaired. Either way, it is like pushing on a string--or like pushing an elephant up the stairs.
As we have already noted in a previous article, we can effectively end the pandemic in ONE WEEK tops without lockdowns, masks, or vaccines, full stop. Simply send everyone an Indian-style $2 Ziverdo kit (Zinc, Ivermectin, and Doxycycline), and as Karl Denninger notes, the Doxycycline is optional and can be substituted with Vitamins C and D (and if we had our way, also add Niacin, Thiamine, and Quercetin as well). And for the few severe or critical cases that still occur despite this, there is always the MATH+ Protocol (and even cheap steroid inhalers) to fall back on. In fact, early use of steroid inhalers seems to reduce the number of severe cases by 90%! Problem solved.
(In India, adding Vitamin D to the Ziverdo Triple Therapy mix is also known as Quadruple Therapy.)
Oh and by the way, did you know that we are basically at the holy grail of herd immunity in the USA (if not also globally on average) already? Why else would virus cases be plummeting starting weeks before fully vaccinating a significant chunk of the population, in the middle of winter, even in states and countries with little to no restrictions? Even with those supposedly scary new mutant strains allegedly running rampant for weeks, no less. If it can't be due to seasonality, vaccines, or restrictions, then it MUST be due to naturally acquired herd immunity. Too bad we had to climb a mountain of corpses to get there thanks to the incompetence and malfeasance of our "leaders" who suppressed the treatments and prophylaxis that actually work while throwing the wisdom of the ages out the window like so much garbage. And that's to say nothing of all the collateral damage deaths caused by the lockdowns and panic.
(NOTE: The sharp decrease in cases predates the reduction in the PCR test cycle threshold in many places, and was in fact followed by decreases in hospitalizations and deaths, so it can't be entirely due to sleight of hand unless one concedes that all of the data were nearly 100% false from the very start. Either way, the case for restrictions crumbles.)
Thus, no reason not to end all restrictions and open up right away, full stop. That is, no more restrictions than we had a year ago in February 2020, other than those that individuals and businesses voluntarily choose to put on themselves. But again, the damage is already done at this point, even if we don't do any further damage going forward. We must then do the Herculean task of healing the existing damage done. Fortunately, the federal government has just the technology to do that--the printing press, or its more modern equivalent, a computer with a keyboard. Money is simply an accounting entry these days, so make the entry and be done with it. Yesterday.
(And before anyone predictably cries "inflation!", the truth is that deflation is actually a much, much bigger risk nowadays in the age of secular stagnation.)
The recent paltry stimulus is just barely scratching the surface of what is needed. We will need an ongoing Universal Basic Income for all (at least $2000/month per adult and $1000/month per child for the first three months, followed by at least half those amounts per month thereafter). We will need single-payer Medicare For All. We will need to expand Social Security. We will need to increase funding for schools. We will need free higher education as well. We will need a Green New Deal to create millions of good jobs while saving the Earth at the same time. And we will ultimately need some sort of debt jubilee as well. Seriously, now is NOT the time to be pikers!
So what are we waiting for?
UPDATE: As the ever-insightful Bill Sardi notes, we can now add the amino acid lysine to the rapidly accumulating list of treatments and prophylaxis for COVID-19. It may be the biggest game-changer of all.
