{"id":9045,"date":"2020-04-17T23:53:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T23:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9045"},"modified":"2020-04-18T12:46:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-18T12:46:31","slug":"spanish-flu-politically-incorrect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=9045","title":{"rendered":"“Spanish flu” – Politically incorrect?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Soldiers<\/p>\n

A sign of things to come, or d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/a>? “Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu<\/a><\/strong>…”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Welcome to the \u201cGeorgia Wasp\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/h1>\n

This blog is modeled on the\u00a0Carolina Israelite<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0That was an old-time\u00a0newspaper<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 more like a personal\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 written and published by\u00a0Harry Golden<\/a>. \u00a0Back in the\u00a01950s<\/a>, people called\u00a0Harry<\/a>\u00a0a \u00a0\u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals.\u201d \u00a0(For his work on the\u00a0Israelite<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Which is now my goal as well. \u00a0To be a\u00a0\u201cvoice of sanity amid the braying of jackals<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on the blog-name connection, see the notes below.<\/p>\n

In the meantime:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Back in mid-March (a month ago)<\/em>, we had a\u00a0politically incorrect<\/a>\u00a0dust-up over the term “Chinese coronavirus.” See\u00a0Tucker Carlson (at right)<\/em>: Racist for saying “Chinese coronavirus<\/a>?”\u00a0 (Another note:\u00a0Coronavirus spreads anti-Chinese racism, xenophobia concerns<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

But aside from raising the twin concerns of spreading baseless “Conspiracy Theories<\/a>” – and\u00a0Scapegoating<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0the hubbub brings to mind another arguably “racist” disease: the\u00a0Spanish flu pandemic of 1918<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two points. First, it was only called “Spanish flu” because Spain was the only major country that didn’t<\/em><\/strong> lie to its own people. That is, Spain didn’t censor bad news about the disease. Every other major country kept its citizens in the dark, lest their people panic.\u00a0\u00a0(And maybe buy out all the store-stocked toilet paper?)\u00a0<\/em> In plain words, they lied to their citizens and voters.<\/p>\n

The other point? This one either puts things in perspective or gives us a preview of whatever bad news may be yet to come. For starters, as of April 15, 2020, there were some two million cases of Covid-19 worldwide. Coronavirus updates: COVID-19 cases top 2 million worldwide<\/a>. To give us some perspective, the 1918 Spanish flu infected some 500 million<\/em><\/strong> people worldwide, making it “one of the\u00a0deadliest pandemics<\/a>\u00a0in human history.”<\/p>\n

As for deaths, to date some 28,000 Americans have died from Covid-19.\u00a0 The 1918 Spanish flu killed some 675,000 Americans.*\u00a0 Worldwide there have been some 134,000 Covid-19 deaths. (Coronavirus Update (Live)<\/a>.)\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Spanish-flu deaths worldwide? No one knows for sure, but at least 17 million:<\/p>\n

Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500\u00a0million people\u00a0\u2013 about a quarter of the world’s population at the time.\u00a0 The death toll is estimated to have been anywhere from 17\u00a0million to 50\u00a0million, and possibly as high as 100\u00a0million…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(See\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0And as “noted” below,*\u00a0if\u00a0the present Covid-19 pandemic were to have a similar impact \u2013 in terms of population percentage \u2013 we’d\u00a0have some 2,025,000 American deaths.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Also – incidentally – the Spanish flu didn’t start<\/em><\/strong> in Spain. (No conspiracy theories please.)<\/em> It got the name “Spanish flu” only<\/em><\/strong> because Spain was neutral in World War I. (Which was slowly coming to an end at about the same time.)\u00a0<\/em>That meant Spain didn’t censor the bad news about the disease. The nations actually fighting in World War I imposed strict<\/em> <\/strong>censorship:<\/p>\n

To maintain morale,\u00a0World War I<\/a>\u00a0censors minimized early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. Newspapers were\u00a0free<\/a>\u00a0to report the epidemic’s effects in neutral\u00a0Spain<\/a><\/strong>, such as the grave illness of\u00a0King Alfonso XIII<\/a>, and these stories created a false impression of Spain as especially hard hit.\u00a0 This gave rise to the name Spanish flu.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another note: “The Spanish flu was the first of two pandemics caused by the\u00a0H1N1 influenza virus<\/a>; the second was the\u00a0swine flu in 2009<\/a>.” (Speaking of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

And also speaking of deja vu<\/em>, see the web article,\u00a0America relearning the lessons of the\u00a01918\u00a0Spanish\u00a0flu\u00a0pandemic<\/a>.\u00a0 One big lesson?\u00a0 Social distancing<\/a>\u00a0works, “but only when it’s imposed early. And it has to be sustained<\/em><\/strong>.” See\u00a0US may have to endure social distancing until 2022 if no vaccine is quickly found<\/a>. But the Number One lesson from the 1918 Spanish flu?\u00a0 (According to the\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0article.)\u00a0<\/em> \u201cNumber one, give people the straight facts<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And let the toilet-paper shortage fall where it may.<\/p>\n

But there is<\/em> <\/strong>one silver lining to this “Corona-cloud overhanging us.” Covid-19 has cut down on the number of mass shootings in the U.S. See\u00a0\u00a0March 2020 was the first March without a school shooting in the U.S. since 2002<\/a>, and\u00a0Coronavirus Stopped US School\u00a0Shooting\u00a0In\u00a0March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just compare the image below with the same one from a year ago, in May 2019…<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

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The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Spanish flu – Wikipedia<\/a>. The caption: “Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu at a hospital ward at Camp Funston.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Carlson image is courtesy of\u00a0Tucker Carlson – Wikipedia<\/a>. Caption: “Immigrants’ Rights Rally in\u00a0Washington Mall<\/a>, 2006.” And BTW: Why not call it the “Trump Coronavirus?”<\/em><\/p>\n

Another note, re: Carlson’s disease-name. See,\u00a0Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 – Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

Nearly a century after the Spanish flu struck in 1918\u20131920, health organizations moved away from naming epidemics after geographical places. More modern terms for this virus include the “1918 influenza pandemic,” the “1918 flu pandemic,” or variations of those.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The image to the left of the paragraph beginning “As for deaths” is courtesy of\u00a02019\u201320 coronavirus pandemic – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0Caption: “Public venues like this playground in\u00a0Hannover, Germany<\/a>, have closed throughout the country.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Re: “The 1918 Spanish flu killed some 675,000 Americans.”\u00a0 The U.S. population in 1920 – the nearest census to 1918 – was set at a bit over 106 million.\u00a01920 United States Census – Wikipedia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The U.S. population in 2020 is estimated at a bit over 329 million.\u00a0Population of USA in 2020<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The world population as of 1927 was estimated at some two billion.\u00a0World Population by Year – Worldometer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The world population is expected to be 7.8 billion by 2023.\u00a0World Population Clock: 7.8 Billion People (2020)<\/a>. Thus there was a three-fold increase in American population between 1920 and 2020, and a “3.9-fold” increase in world population in the same century. Thus for the present Covid-19 to have a similar impact – in terms of percentage of population – the numbers would be as follows: some two million, twenty-five thousand (2,025,000) American deaths; as for the worldwide rate of infection, that 500-million-people total would reach one billion, nine hundred fifty million (1,950,000,000) people. (As noted, roughly a “quarter\u00a0of the world\u2019s population at the time.”)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Also re: Number of Spanish flu deaths in the United States, see\u00a0Worst-Case Estimates for U.S. Coronavirus Deaths (New York Times<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"IncidentsThe lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Mass Shootings in 2020 | Gun Violence Archive<\/a>. As noted, compare that with the “incidents in 2019” lead image for\u00a0\u201cTrump\u2019s\u201d mass shootings<\/a>, from May 2019, shown at right.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n

Re: \u00a0The\u00a0Israelite<\/a>. \u00a0Harry Golden<\/a>\u00a0grew up in the Jewish ghetto of New York City, but eventually moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.\u00a0 Thus the \u201cCarolina Israelite.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I on the other hand am a \u201cclassic 68\u2013<\/strong>year-old \u201cWASP\u201d \u2013\u00a0White Anglo-Saxon Protestant<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 living in north Georgia.\u00a0 Thus the \u201cGeorgia Wasp.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Anyway,\u00a0in<\/strong>\u00a0Charlotte Harry\u00a0<\/em>wrote and published the \u201cIsraelite\u201d from the 1940s through the 1960s. \u00a0He was a \u201ccigar-smoking, bourbon-loving\u00a0raconteur<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0(He told good stories.) That also means if he was around today, the \u201cIsraelite\u00a0<\/strong>would be done as a blog.\u201d \u00a0But what made him special was his\u00a0positive outlook on life<\/a>.\u00a0 He got older but didn\u2019t\u00a0turn sour<\/a>, like many do today.\u00a0 He\u00a0still got a kick out of life<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 For more on the blog-name connection, see \u201cWasp<\/a>\u201d and\/or\u00a0The blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sign of things to come, or d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu? “Soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with Spanish flu…” * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * Welcome to the \u201cGeorgia Wasp\u2026\u201d This blog is modeled on the\u00a0Carolina Israelite. \u00a0That was an old-time\u00a0newspaper\u00a0\u2013 more like a personal\u00a0newsletter\u00a0\u2013 written and published by\u00a0Harry Golden. \u00a0Back in the\u00a01950s, people called\u00a0Harry\u00a0a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9045"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9045"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9087,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9045\/revisions\/9087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}