Considering the Case for Overkill.

I wonder whether I’m the only one growing utterly tired of having a wagon load of coronavirus information thrown at me every time I look at the news pages (and it’s even infesting YouTube now.) I ask myself whether this isn’t a case of overkill taken to ludicrous extremes. I can’t answer that with any degree of certainty, of course, because I’m not an expert in the matter of diseases. But what I can say is this:

We live in a world suffused with, and to some extent controlled by, deceit and self-interest. That world is also populated by an awful lot of people who want to be led by the hand and told what to do. And over the last forty or fifty years, western culture at least has become more and more immersed in risk-avoidance mania. So what of the main agencies which are dictating the information, the strategy, the advice, and the seriousness of the situation?

First there are the politicians, so what of them? Well, politicians are manically aware of their image. They want to be seen to be providing strong leadership in times of ‘crisis’ because it boosts their ratings with the followers. So could they be guilty of overplaying the issue here? It strikes me as entirely likely. I was, for example, highly amused when Trump banned everybody from mainland Europe visiting America. It gave the impression that we were seen as a boatload of rats infected with the plague and about to leave a trail of death and decrepitude across the USA. (And I wondered why anybody would want to go to America anyway while Trump is still in charge, but that’s a separate issue.)

And what of the bureaucrats, of whom it is often said that there are far too many? They do so love to be seen to be organising matters and handing down vital advice. (I remember us having a short hot spell one summer a few years ago, and some of those bureaucrats advised us all to paint our houses white…) It encourages the view among the public that they are really quite useful after all.

As for the media, they simply thrive on sensation, and always have. It’s why I consciously avoid reading newspaper headlines when I go into stores.

So is the coronavirus being overplayed here? I’m inclined to suspect that it is, even though I repeat that I am unqualified to offer a strong opinion on the matter.

And even the corporate world is getting in on the act. I went into Tesco today and found notices around the toilet area telling me to wash my hands for at least twenty seconds. And there were other notices telling me how to do it:

Water

Soap

Rinse

Dry

Such a communication can surely only serve to remind us of how timorous and juvenile the human condition can be, because if you need to be told this you should be self-isolating as a matter of routine.