For most if not all of you reading this, I don’t need to spend much time writing a lengthy preamble about the Swine Flu. You have most likely gotten your fill of information about this strain of flu from the constant coverage of it by the local and mainstream media. So, I won’t add to their reporting with lengthy paragraphs explaining what you already know.
But, as with all reporting, sometimes the information passed on is either incorrect or greatly exaggerated. With that in mind, you can find below a link to the CDC website. This link will take you to a page that deals entirely with the H1N1 Swine Flu. There are answers to commonly asked questions there, as well as other valuable information. I would recommend, even if you have been monitoring CNN daily, that you check this link out. Staying informed, with the right information, is the best defense against something like this. Here’s the link:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/key_facts/htm
Ok, I have done my civic duty and provided you, the reader, with the valuable information you need. Now I am going to put my metaphorical editorial hat on and dig in on some of the issues I have with the coverage and subsequent fallout of this Swine Flu.
Let’s start with the gross exaggeration that the media has placed on the overall threat and danger of the H1N1 flu. As of today’s date, per the CDC, there are 160 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu in the United States. These cases are spread out over 21 states with California having the most cases overall with 14. Here is the link to that data: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
Now to put this into perspective, there are over 300 million people living in the United States per the latest US Census data ( http://www.census.gov/). 160 people is nothing, it is so minuscule when compared to the overall US population. You may say though that the number of overall people infected may be higher than 160 because many have not sought out treatment and therefore are unconfirmed. This is probably true. But theoretically adding those people in, I’d guess there are several thousand cases right now. The point is though, 160 or several thousand, this flu is not the imminent threat that the media would like you to believe it is. It is not TB, or Polio, or any other major pandemic that has struck in the last 100 years. This brings me to my next point.
H1N1 is not a deadly flu. To clarify, what I mean by deadly in this context is a virus or agent whose symptoms strike quickly and is resistant to most forms of antibiotics or treatment, therefore resulting in a swift and certain death for those infected. It has not caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. It has not infected millions. The H1N1 flu is for the most part the same as the normal flu we battle against every year. It is treatable by and responds to antibiotics. The immune system can fight it and with rest and proper care a person infected with it can be over it in a week to ten days.
Sadly, there has been one confirmed death in the United States from H1N1 flu. It was a 23 month old boy in Texas. He and his family, who were from Mexico, were legally visiting relatives there at the time. This boy did have an underlying condition which doctors have attributed in part to his death. So it wasn’t the H1N1 flu alone that killed him. In fact, there are roughly 100 deaths per day from flu or flu related symptoms in the United States. Most, if not all, of these deaths are caused by the combination of the flu virus and some underlying condition. The flu, even the H1N1 strain, doesn’t ever really kill you alone. Again, if you are proactive and seek treatment you will be ok.
What this all comes down to is education and then using the information gained to take the proper action. Educate yourself on the H1N1 flu, find out what the symptoms are, the easiest way it is transmitted, what treatment options are available. More important, choose a reliable source for this information, like the aforementioned CDC. The worst thing you can do for yourself and your family is receive information that has been tainted by paranoia and fear mongering. Once you have the information, be proactive but don’t overreact. If you get infected, see your physician only if your symptoms worsen. If you get infected, stay home from work if you can. If your kids get infected, keep them out of school. These are all common sense things we can do to limit the spread of this virus. These are all things you do when you or your children catch a cold or the regular flu. Nothing should change in that way. Be smart and be proactive, don’t panic.
Panic is something I have seen and been dismayed by the use and perversion of in recent weeks. Many of the talking heads from the right have used this H1N1 flu as an excuse to fire up the old “close the borders” argument. Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and their ilk have been openly advocating that we consider closing the borders to prevent the further spread of the H1N1 virus to the United States. They have criticized the President for not taking the border issue more seriously in light of this flu outbreak. In truth, this is the type of manipulative, deceitful, xenophobic bullshit I have come to expect from the right. They are once again trying to fire up the American people by using fear, false blame, and hatred. This is what Bush did after 9/11. We invaded Iraq due to this type of mindset.
Let me clear something up here. First, ground zero in the spread of this virus was in New York. The first confirmed cases were that of school children from a Catholic school in New Jersey. They had went to Mexico on a field trip and brought the virus back with them. It was not brought here by those evil illegal immigrants from Mexico, who ran gleefully into this country seeking to infect as many of us as they could. Of course, I am exaggerating a bit there. The point is our own citizens have brought, for the most part, this virus into this country, not the illegals.
Just for fun, I want to follow the assertions of our friends at Fox and the right to their fullest extent. Let’s just say that President Obama actually ordered the borders with Mexico be closed and that we use the full extent of our military to enforce it. Well of course such sweeping and broad action is going to be an expensive undertaking. We are already looking at massive debts in the government, where would we find the funding for this. Ah, we can raise taxes. I wonder how popular the idea of raising taxes to pay for this level of border control would be among the general populace. Would the 2% who make over $250,000 a year be comfortable with having their taxes go up even more than they are under Obama. Would Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, be ok with us increasing taxes on them so that we can keep the American People safe. I think not. You see the minute you mention the possible costs and fallout of “closing the borders” these talking heads backpedal and suddenly it doesn’t seem as much of a dire situation.
The next thing to consider is who we will then get to work all the menial and extremely low paying jobs in this country. Who will clean our hotel rooms, who will clean our public bathrooms, our offices and schools? Will a normal American take those jobs? Nope. At least not for the pay that is currently available for these positions. And if we, meaning American citizens, did take these jobs, the pay would, in turn, have to go up. You can’t support a family making $5 an hour, right? With the pay going up, then the extra costs to these companies and corporations would have to be made up somehow. So, you would have companies and corporations raising prices on their products and services at a time when the economy is faltering. I am well aware there are more intricacies to this issue, but I feel I have addressed well some of the inherent problems and challenges.
Not that I want this blog on the Swine Flu to turn into a dissertation on immigration. But, I do feel those working and living here illegally should be required to be legal citizens after a certain point, and that timetable should be reasonable and attainable. However, I don’t think the idea of closing the borders is a smart, effective, or practical one.
What concerns me is using a virus such as this as a means and platform to spew hateful, xenophobic, and racist things. I haven’t been able to show you all that has been said, but I am confident that if you are industrious you will be able to find plenty in short order. Here is one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8JDJrFmiml. The illegal immigrants are not the ones to blame for the spread of this virus. Nor should they be the ones punished for it. As Americans, we should not allow fear or paranoia to push us into thinking or saying things that go against our very nature as a country. We should not also allow these feelings to persuade us into taking a course of action that is incorrect and one which could cause harm for years to come.
It all comes back to what I said in the beginning. Be smart and rational. Seek out the facts. Be proactive. If you do these things, you and we collectively as a nation will be fine.
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