A tiny virus that you cannot see has us cowering in our homes.
COVID-19 has shut down the world’s economy, unleashing untold misery. Because of our mobility and instant communications, we are witnessing the first truly global shared human experience.
You cannot ignore it, at least not in today’s media environment. Don’t get me wrong. It is a serious issue and the impact will last some time.
I am not fearful of the pandemic, but I am terrified of two things in particular in the aftermath. Neither have anything to do directly with the impact of the virus on health.
Let’s first talk about the virus itself and some of potential positive side effects of our shared experience. It is not all doom and gloom. There is always good that comes from tragedy. It just takes time for us to realize it.
We will overcome and survive this pandemic. Right now, panic rules, and common sense is in short supply. The stockpiling of toilet paper here in the U.S. is just one example.
The number of cases and the death toll will go up. At the time of this writing, the death toll in the U.S. is around 9,000 and climbing rapidly. Some projections put that ultimately at 200,000 or 300,000, but no one really knows. The fear is being driven by how rapidly this situation is unfolding.
It is, however, useful to keep some perspective:
- Seasonal flu will kill somewhere between 24,000–62,000 in the US during the 2019-2020 flu season.
- The HIN1 pandemic in 2009-2010 affected 1.4 billion with 152,000–575,000 deaths worldwide and about 12,500 deaths in the U.S.
- Traffic accidents kill about 1.35 million worldwide per year, with about 36,500 deaths per year here in the U.S.
- Suicides account for about 800,000 deaths a year, with about 48,000 per year here in the U.S.
- Finally, there are about 623,000 abortions per year in the United States, a staggering number. Of course, many will argue that this is not a number that should be considered in this set of data.
From that perspective, while the death toll from COVID-19 will be shocking, primarily because it is happening so quickly, there are other causes of death that dwarf COVID-19 and happen year in and year out.
Of course, that rational argument does nothing to ease the pain and suffering of families who will lose loved ones in this pandemic, or in a traffic accident for that matter.
There are some potential positive outcomes from this crisis.
Religion and Spirituality
It was during times of crisis that God worked in my life. I did not listen almost 30 years ago when I was diagnosed but survived a life-threatening cancer. I did start listening about seven years ago during an upheaval in both my personal and professional life.
God never gave up on me, and He will not give up on you. I grew up a cradle Catholic, and religion was dogmatic for most of my life. It was only in the last few years that the veil was lifted. Maybe others will experience this during the crisis. It will be liberating.
Our secular world is filled with agnostics, atheists, and humanists who believe only in what might be called the “philosophy of science” – that is, that while science cannot answer every question, just wait, it will.
That is a belief in what does not exist and cannot be proven. So, the atheist who claims that those who believe in God believe in something that cannot be proven are hypocritical.
Maybe many agnostics, atheist, and humanists will realize that there is no conflict between a belief in God and true science. True science being based on hypotheses that are proven or dis-proven with observation and data.
Belief in God, or really the never-ending search for God, help answer the questions of why that science is incapable of answering. It provides the moral underpinning of ethics. Science answers the questions of how and that is all it can do. It cannot tell us why. It cannot provide a moral code.
Working Online
Imagine if we did not have the communication and online tools we enjoy and take for granted. These tools have gotten better and more widely used. For many, that is how we are coping in business and also for interacting with friends and family.
Of course, many businesses like restaurants and bars cannot go online, so they are suffering economically. Nothing takes the place of face-to-face interactions.
Businesses were already embracing these online tools for meetings and telecommuting, and I suspect this pandemic will accelerate the adoption of these tools across the economy. That is good for productivity.
The Role of China
China is not the world’s friend, and this crisis will damage their brand. They are an autocratic, communist country. Their citizens have some level of economic freedom but no political freedom. That is not sustainable in the long term.
Say what you will about the role of the U.S. and the western democracies in general, but China taking the place of the U.S. as the world’s only super power would not be a net positive for humanity.
There is no denying that the virus originated in China, possibly in their so-called wet markets. I suspect they hid this outbreak for weeks or months, costing the world valuable time to contain it. They could be lying about the number of cases and deaths or do not really know.
Either way, that is a problem. The truth will come out, as will the role of the WHO. Trust in international institutions will continue to erode, and rightly so. Many bloated bureaucracies are more concerned with protecting their sources of income than public health.
President Trump had already started confronting China on trade. Americans now realize just how much we rely on China for critical manufactured products, like antibiotics. They threatened to withhold them from us. That is outrageous.
It is not a racist attitude to denounce China for their actions. Hopefully we will enact more policies to encourage American manufacturing and protect Americans from an over-reliance on a communist country more interested in retaining power.
Humanity will overcome this virus, and there are always positive things that come out of tragedy. But there are two things that terrify me in the aftermath.
The Debt 
We are currently about $24 trillion in debt. We run trillion-dollar deficits every year. More concerning is the fact the debt/GDP ratio is over 100% for the first time since WWII.
Though not sustainable, the debt has not radically impacted our daily lives. But we are like the frog in the pot of cold water on a hot stove.
Both political parties are complicit. Growing the size of the federal government through taxes and spending is their source of power. Trump has added trillions to the debt, as did Obama.
The federal government, rightly or wrongly, will spend trillions in an attempt to keep the economy afloat until the immediate danger passes. I wonder how much additional debt we will add over the next year? Maybe $10 trillion or more? When will it break us? No one knows what the limit is, but when it crashes in around us, we will look back at these tough economic times with longing.
The stimulus package provides for at least $4 trillion in “quantitative easing,” which is a fancy name for printing money. That is not sustainable. No country in the history of the world had printed their way to prosperity. The Federal Reserve is essentially nationalizing large swaths of the financial industry, increasing the power of federal government even more.
I am not arguing that deficit spending right now is not necessary. It may be appropriate to prevent human suffering. But if we were not already so far in debt, it would not be as much of a problem.
Deficit spending year in and year out is not sustainable. It has to stop. We have to force Congress to live within their means, just like the states governments and individuals. The way to do that is to pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It can be crafted in a way to accommodate times of crisis.
That amendment, however, may not be enough. There might also need to be an amendment to limit spending. We can debate how to spend the money. We can debate how much we should be taxed. But we cannot continue on this path of every increasing debt.
Dependence on Government
The progressive movement started in earnest with Woodrow Wilson, then FDR and the New Deal helped cement the idea that an all-powerful federal government can eliminate the pain and suffering of the human condition.
Over the last 100 years or so, personal responsibility has eroded. This has created a society of victims. When something goes wrong, we look for someone to blame. And the federal government is there to rescue us.
Case in point: the federal government will distribute $1,200 checks to individuals. I am categorically opposed to this, just like I am opposed to industry bailouts. I believe all this does is propagate the concept that the federal government is there to take care of you.
I was talking to a family member recently about how so many people live paycheck to paycheck and have no cash reserves. How does handing out money motivate anyone to prepare for future disruptions in their income? How does it promote the concept of personal responsibility? That used to be valued in our society, but sadly is no longer important. We look to the government to “bail us out.”
I am not saying there should be no safety net. I am just saying it has gone too far. Politicians of both parties want this to happen. They want us to be reliant on them. It is the source of their power and their income. It is simple human nature.
Out of this crisis, proposals such as “universal income” and all manner of socialist programs will only increase. Many will fall into this trap, regardless of history. Not me.
What is the solution? First, we need to force Congress to be fiscally responsible. A balanced budget amendment and an amendment to restrain spending is a start.
Second, we need to restrict the power and the scope of the federal government. Over the last 100 years, courts have interpreted the Constitution so broadly, that it has allowed the federal government to expand its role well beyond what our Founders envisioned.
The only way to restrain the growth of the federal government is by supporting and becoming engaged with the Convention of States Project. 
Convention of States is a non-partisan effort founded on the basic premise that the federal government is out of control, and career politicians of both parties are responsible. They are drunk on power.
The COS Project is an ambitious plan to use Article V of the Constitution to call a convention for proposing amendments that Congress will never do on their own.
Those amendments would fall into three categories: term limits on federal officials, imposing fiscal restraints, and amendments to restrict the power and scope of the federal government. '
Our Founders knew this day would come and provided us the means in Article V to reset the power structure between the federal government and the states.
The process requires two-thirds of the states (34) to pass a resolution in their state legislatures calling on Congress to call a convention of states per Article V. The resolution currently in the North Carolina House is H390. Fifteen states have done so but not North Carolina, yet.
We need your help. Go online and sign the petition. Please volunteer to help. Complaining will not fix the problem. You must take action before it is too late. If not you, who will do it? That is what our Founders expected of us all.
Jeff Groh resides in western North Carolina and is a small business owner. He is also a Regional Captain for the Convention of States Project, a non-partisan effort to reign in the expanding role of the federal government. Email him at jgroh@newproductvisions.com or connect with on LinkedIn or Facebook.
