Time to revisit Sweden.
One country refused to bow down to the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization, and the Lockdown Professors (which are legion).
That country is Sweden. For a refresher, see here. And for my reply to some pushback I got for my comments on Sweden last year, see here.
I purposefully waited over a year before revisiting Sweden, in order to allow for more data to be captured as well as for tempers to subside, thereby hopefully permitting a more irenic look.
Briefly, the world’s “public health experts” estimated that, without coverings and curfews, Sweden would suffer 80,000 to 90,000 deaths by May, 2020. That is, before the summer of 2020, Sweden was to have experienced massive numbers of deaths, not to mention a crippled hospital network.
Sweden was not cowed. She continued her policy of informing the public and, once she learned about disproportionate deaths of the elderly and those with comorbidity conditions, she focused on them. For the most part, she advised; she did not mandate. Her hospitals, not to mention morgues, operated with significant excess capacity.
Then the goal posts were moved: the experts sneered that Sweden’s death rate was higher than that of her immediate neighbors.
But, of course, curfews were not imposed upon the world because of “death rates” but rather because of absolute numbers. Numbers which never came close to materializing. Regardless, her death rate was lower than those of countries (and some U.S. states) who did exactly what the “public health experts” told them to do. And, what’s more, around June of 2020, her neighbors, Finland and Norway, actually reverted to very laissez faire approaches as well. In other words, their approaches emulated Sweden’s. And their approaches resulted in lower death rates. So, the experts’ and media’s comparisons to her neighbors left out the fact that her neighbors’ also had a “light touch” response to the plague. I know, I know: we are all shocked (!) that the reporting was misleading.
Then the goal posts were moved yet again: Sweden’s “cases” were far higher than fill-in-the-blank. By now, even those who rely exclusively on the usual media, know that “cases” mean very little; that the world was not convinced to shut down because of “cases” and their ever-shifting definition, but because of projected deaths. And, besides, even here, Sweden’s record is better than many.
After that, reporting on Sweden sort of receded. If you relied only on the usual media to keep informed, you would think the unified intelligent world was in agreement and that only quacks and idiots differed. You would not know that an entire developed European country was among the refuseniks.
And what about those 80,000 to 90,000 deaths by May, 2020 that were predicted for Sweden? Actual plague-related deaths to date, that is, over 15 months after May, 2020 are: 14,682. We have no information as to what comorbidity conditions accompanied those, but we do know that about 10,000 of them were people who were over 80 years old (4,000 were over 90).
And Sweden avoided the excess mortality and mental health issues which have plagued Europe and many U.S. states. “We can’t stay locked down for such a considerable period of time that you might do irreparable damage and have unintended consequences, including consequences for health.” That was said on CNBC at the end of May, 2020. I’ll let the reader guess which U.S. “health expert” said it. The only hint I will offer is that, unsurprisingly, he did not advise presidents and governors accordingly. That is, he advised the opposite.
Government Central Planning will have even less success in controlling a virus than it has had controlling the economies of the former Soviet Union, Cuba, and Venezuela.
A virus will virus. Central Planning will only exacerbate its effects.
But, as we have seen, and will continue to see, the temptation for man to play God and to control the lives of others is overwhelming. It was so in Eden (“ye shall be as gods”) and it will be so until the end of time.
Congratulations to Sweden for staying the course while resisting almost unbearable pressure from all corners of the world, even from those who ought to have known better.
One last comment: we often refer to Sweden as “Socialist”, yet the Index of Economic Freedom ranks it as the 21st freest in the world (the United States is ranked as the 20th). For a few years I had the privilege of working for a global company with a significant base of operations in Stockholm. Sweden is not perfect; no such thing in this world. However, it is less socialistic than some U.S. states.
And far less than Venezuela.
This briefing to local California media took place over a year ago, in April, 2020. After 5 Million views, it was taken down, a practice that has since become all-too-common. However, the news station still has it up. Both videos are available as of this writing and well worth your time. The first is roughly 51 minutes, the second, 2 minutes.
