It's a scam...

That phrase gets tossed around these days.  A scam is a swindle - someone gets cheated out of something.

Some scams are kinda benign: a post on Facebook says "If you like and share this post of the new WhizBang RV, with a value of $250,000, you will be entered in a drawing to win one!"  There is no drawing and no one is going to get a free quarter of a million dollar RV because they clicked like and shared.  What the entity making that post gets is a LOT of likes and shares in a short period of time, and they will sell that to another party who wants to get at you via Facebook, generally for advertising purposes.  No, they aren't going to clean out your back account unless you are stupid enough to put your personal banking information on Facebook.  But, likes and shares = advertising revenue.

You do know that every time you click on something on Facebook (that isn't a friend that you actually know), that site keeps track of those numbers.  That's why when you click on the "Friends of the Kazoo" post that says, "You won't believe what Hollywood celebrities are taking up the kazoo!", you start seeing ads for kazoos.  You are potential advertising revenue.

Other scams like the Nigerian Price who needs to stash his family's billions in the US, and "here's how you can help..." become obvious when you give them your bank account number so they can "deposit money in your account."  Most of us aren't that stupid.  But, it is a numbers game, because if only 1/10th of one percent of the people who get that e-mail are that stupid, that is easy money for the scammers.

How about the telemarketing scam that leaves a message for you (because most of us don't answer our phones unless we actually know the caller) to "Press 2 to get on the Do Not Call list."  OK, that one cracks me up, because if you acknowledge the call by pressing 2, you are telling the scammer on the other end of the phone that yours is a live and gullible phone number.  They trade and sell lists of those people like kids in the 50s did with baseball cards.  You will get even more of those annoying calls... because: numbers.

How about the one where someone calls your house and says, "Grandma, I'm in trouble and I need help!"  When you say, "Is this Jake?" they now have a name.  Jake then goes on to say, "We went to Mexico just to do a little shopping.  I didn't do anything wrong, but a crooked cop arrested us and I need bail money before we can't get back home.  Don't tell Mom about this!"  You wire transfer money and then find out that Jake was home playing video games in his basement.  Kiss that money good-bye.

Those are scams where someone gets your money or your private information... and you are out.  That's how a scam works.

While in the middle of this pandemic, there are people saying the whole Corona Virus is a scam or a hoax.  People were ordered to "stay at home"... jobs were lost... businesses folded... and the stay at home action did "flatten the curve."  In the process, people got sick and some of them died.   But, social distancing, proper sanitation, staying away from crowds, and everyone wearing masks worked: the numbers declined.

Some people went bat-shit crazy because "No one I know got this virus."  Some of those folks branding this virus and the government actions to combat it... a scam or a hoax.  But no one has been able to explain how anyone profited from this scam.  You hear cries of "Follow the money!"  If you are out of work and dependent on a paycheck from a business that is out of business, it is pretty difficult to follow the money.  Some people think this is a political scam and the party they oppose has perpetrated it on us to further their schemes to "enslave us all."  Or, to affect the November election.  The government is hurting as much as all of us - they get their "power" through the collection of our tax dollars.  When you have huge numbers of people out of work (and not paying payroll taxes), businesses closed (and not collecting sales tax), and the government handing out stimulus checks and small business loans that will be "forgiven" if you keep employees on, the government (at all levels) has less of your money, thus less power.

Hey, I get it: people have been cooped up.  Parents have had to actually be involved in their kids' education.  People working from home are not as productive.  The morning news and daytime live TV shows have been "working from home."  It is very apparent that hair and make-up people are out of work.  Video and audio production staff are furloughed while we have to listen to hollow-sounding audio and video that looks like it has been shot with an 8 generation old GoPro.  Sportscasters have nothing to talk about, because there are no sports happening.

This whole situation sucks.  And, unless you are in the sweatpants business, toilet paper industry, and alcohol cartels, you are not profiting from any of the fallout from the pandemic.  "Follow the money"??  Where?  The government is just printing more money, which your grandkids' grandkids will be paying off.  Retail business has been decimated.  The entertainment industry is on life-support.  And, it isn't just in this country - it is world-wide.

And, now you have people getting vocal on how this is all "a scam."  If you wear a mask in public, you are being "sheep."  If you maintain social distancing, you are living in fear.  We saw what happened after the restrictions were eased: stupid people declared the pandemic was over and went back to crowds, close contact, and refuse to wash their hands as a sign of their dominance over the virus.  And, the numbers of people getting the virus are increasing again.  At a faster rate than before the stay-at-home orders.  In the Rio Grande Vally, those numbers started that increase a couple weeks after 70,000 people came to the beach on the first weekend the beaches were opened again.  Restaurants are open again, and they aren't all adhering to the maximum occupancy recommendations.  Many people have stopped wearing masks when in public.  The fastest growing segment of those getting the virus in this area is the age group between 20 and 40.  It isn't just the old folks anymore.  Plenty of those younger people will be somewhat asymptomatic, and will bring the virus into their social circles.  They may not die from it, but they will spread it to parents and grandparents who are more likely to succumb.

Who is benefiting from that "scam"?

Am I "living in fear"?  Nope.  But I am living with reasonable caution.  I haven't said to anyone that they shouldn't gather in large groups.  I don't tell anyone they should wear a mask.  Sadly, the only way for a mask to be effective, is if everyone wears one in public.  The mask (unless you are using an N95 mask, which we are supposed to be saving for medical folks) keeps your spit droplets from getting out, reasonably effective.  It cuts the distance your spit can travel.  If you get someone without a mask in your face, your mask doesn't protect you... but it can help the other person.  IF, as science tells us, there is any degree of risk mitigation by wearing a mask, I don't see the downside.  But there is a growing militancy with some people refusing to wear a mask... yes, the same folks that think this pandemic is a scam.  If I go to pickup takeout food and the staff is not wearing masks, I won't do business there.  That is my choice.  If a business advertises they don't wear masks and you don't have to (yes, that is happening), they are essentially telling you that they have no regard for your safety... another easy decision regarding them getting any of my money.

Sorry for getting a bit wordy with this post.  In the end, "the scam" will be on the people who think the pandemic was never real or that it is over... when they get it and/or pass it to someone they care about.  Or they give it to someone they don't care about, because they think the virus is a scam.  I don't understand the militancy.  I don't understand why someone has no consideration for the public around them.

Is it "just another form of the flu"?  No.  You don't hear about young people getting the flu, then having a stroke.  Or, other complications from Covid-19.  Complications that we are still learning about.  Medical experts, at this point, can't tell us what those who have "recovered" should expect in the future.

Scam?  Scamdemic?  Willing to bet your life on it?  Follow the money?  Who can tell me where that leads?  Without repeating something they read on the internet.  Because there is a lot of stupid on the internet.  I'm not much into conspiracy theories.  To paraphrase the dialog from Jerry McGuire: SHOW ME where THE MONEY went!

Stay safe out there.