How many deaths would you give for a bristling economy?

In the US, they did not detect and did not demand lockdown for months. Their number of deaths from COVID-19 is staggering.

In Israel, the government took ‘harsh’ measures. Actually, all the time, it balanced the most extreme health demands with the most minimalist economic demands. It never went as extreme (and inhumane) as China, which had something like 50,000 death, is now claimed. Israel escaped with a few over 200. Fantastic! So well done!

Not for a growing number of bloody publicity-seeking university teachers in Israel. Unscrupulous number guys, economists, and a token medical expert trown-in team up to spread the word that the Israeli lockdown killed the economy and saved ‘but’ 2000 lives.

They advocate themselves as ‘scientists, not politicians.’ They are not only ruthless; they are lying. Don’t be impressed or fooled by their smart tricks.

They are different from magicians. A good magician doesn’t claim to show you his secret powers. You know he’s fooling you. And he’s good at it. These scientists have no regard for truth. They lie in our faces. Lock Them Up. Fire them. Why should we finance the salaries of thieves and liars?

Why does a respectable news outlet like the Times of Israel let them spew their money-grabbing slander? The truth is that almost all journalists are language people who in general are blind for math. You can tell them anything beyond 2+2 and they’d believe it. As long as it ‘sounds’ smart.

***

Without lockdown, Israel would have had ‘just’ eleven times more deaths than Sweden, these scientists claim. Or, 1000% more, which they consider insignificant! First of all, they would not be my doctors of choice!

Surely, closing all hospitals would be much cheaper and in the end, all people die so there are no losses in lives. Most people find that immoral and unacceptable but that is what greed can do to smart people.

But that’s not all of it. They compare Israel, that in a few lousy weeks, managed to slow down the epidemic, to Sweden. But the latter has done the same as the UK and the US: waiting months before ordering lockdown. (They’re still hesitating.) Their situation is about to explode. It won’t stay at 1000%. In a few weeks, it will be 2000%.

Look at the real trends and compare Israel to Sweden. They come from the fantastic site Worldometers or in particular, its COVID-19 page which is constantly updated with the newest numbers.

From: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

In Israel, the epidemic is clearly tapering off. In Sweden, the sh*t just hit the fan. You don’t want to live in Sweden at the moment.

Even population-dense New York manage to bring the numbers down in a couple of weeks lockdown. But what price do they pay for not starting early! (They didn’t know. Trump fired his China epidemiologist who could have warned them. Prevention costs money.) Tens of thousands of deaths.

***

Israel did a fantastic job. And most people understand. So many unpopular measures did not raise the number of attacks on the government. It rather led to a unity government with parties trampling each other to get in.

True leadership is doing what is needed, not what is popular or cheap.

Beware of murderous scientists, out to make a cheap buck by playing with your mind. A Dutch expression for ruthless people is, they walk over corpses. My father used to say: They’re worse. They step on the living.

Postscript 20 hours later: As I predicted, sadly, the full disaster in Sweden is now becoming clear with the highest fatality rate in the world of 12%.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1