When deciding on a course of action, we must consider all of the known and relevant facts. We mustn’t consider the issue in isolation. We must consider the full context. This is true for an individual and it is true for a society.
Considering the full context includes looking beyond the immediate moment. It means looking at the long-term. It means identifying the alternatives, as well as the pros and cons of each. The government’s response to the pandemic has not considered the full context.
When businesses were ordered to close ten months ago, the consequences were predictable. One did not need an MBA to know that many businesses could not survive a few weeks, let alone months, of forced closure. It was also easy to predict that hundreds of thousands of Texans would lose their jobs and face potential financial ruin. And the consequences of a massive increase in unemployment were also easy to identify—out-of-work Texans would be hard-pressed to pay their rent or mortgage.
For nearly a year, government officials have been scrambling to deal with a growing list of crises. Because ease crisis is considered in isolation, each “solution” creates new problems. As one example, as a growing number of tenants were unable to pay their rent, government began enacting moratoriums on evictions. This created a new set of victims—landlords. And when landlords cannot evict non-paying tenants, many of them will face dire financial problems.
In announcing the lock down, government officials made no mention of alternatives. Instead, we were told that the lock down would flatten the curve and life would soon return to normal. But that has not happened and despite all of the hardship and devastation imposed us, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Texas is more than ten times what it was when the lock down started. Clearly, the lock down hasn’t flatten the curve. All it has accomplished is to spread the suffering and misery.
The lock down was imposed upon us in the name of public health. Slowing the spread of the novel virus was considered in isolation, the result has been irreparable harm to the lives of the individuals comprising the public.
Texas has long shown the world the practical benefits of economic freedom. Economic freedom leads to job creation, opportunity, and individual flourishing. But government officials ignored that fact in announcing the lock down. The result has been the destruction of jobs, less opportunity, and widespread suffering. That is what happens when the full context is not considered.