Fixing society by letting COVID19 run rampant and cull the elderly, weak and homeless, is a radical point of view to say the least. When you realise such callousness comes from a Californian County official, it’s terrifying. Especially if you’re old, weak or live on the streets. This heartless, ‘let nature take its course’ doctrine, was hurriedly hushed up and the offender, the now infamous Ken Turnage, removed from a Facebook post from the Antioch City Council.
Zee Führer Turnage. Before the post was taken down, the County official stated, ‘We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost. Once the wave subsided, jobs would be available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of’. Turnage, then stressed that COVID19’s natural selection would ‘cull the herd’ of people he considered undesirable, which includes the mentally sick. Allowing Coronavirus to fix ‘a significant burden on our Society and resources that can be used.’ The worrying thing is, Herr Turnage is saying what many others believe.
Ecological Balance? Doubling down on his thoughts after his removal from the Council, Turnage justified his thinking, ‘My opinion that I opened for debate is based on the theory of Ecological Balance which is science.’ For anyone not familiar with Ecological Balance, it is basically used to describe the equilibrium between living organisms - human beings, plants, and animals, as well as the environment they live in. ‘The idea of letting nature run its course was practiced by Sweden and at first The World Health Organisation was strictly against it! Now as of yesterday, The World Health Organisation says we should learn from Sweden! Ironic, isn’t it?’
What the Swedes did. Initially, Sweden came in for some heavy criticism for keeping much of their society running during the Coronavirus pandemic but as Mr Turnage rightly pointed out, the Swedes have been praised by World Health Organisation for having a ‘very strong public health policy’ and that by reaching a ‘new normal’, Sweden in many ways, represents a future model for the world. Expert epidemiologists commented that Sweden trusted its own communities to implement social distancing. Schools, restaurants and many businesses remained open during the crisis. The country might reach herd immunity within weeks, which would limit the spread of the virus. Brave people the Swedes.
There’s always is a downside. Inevitably the Swedish nation was hit extremely hard by COVID19. Facing a much deadlier outbreak of Coronavirus cases then its Nordic neighbours in Norway and Finland. Figures jumped to 20,000 of confirmed COVID19 patients, with the Swedish death toll rising to nearly 2,500! A university study confirmed that neighbouring Norwegians and Finns, nations with about half the populations of Sweden, both recorded COVID19 fatalities at under 250.
Who’d be old, weak or homeless? If we didn’t know already, the world can be a very harsh place. This COVID19 pandemic is letting us know just how harsh it can be. For the elderly, sick and disenfranchised it must be terrifying right now. We need to rediscover our humanity, that everyone is at some stage, old and weak. While others may have the misfortune to have no alternative but to live on the streets. The circumstances of how they got there, may not be obvious and of their own making. Getting rid of the old, weak and the physically and mentally challenged is a throwback to a time that we thought had passed into history. Shame on you Ken Turnage, let’s hope you never hold another job in the public sector ever again.
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