The problem with the virus is that it's in a tug of war with the economy. Like you said, if you do nothing, the virus kills a ton of people, but if you do everything feasible, you destroy the economy. A couple thoughts I have about this:

- I think a lot of people on CB and in the world in general are thinking of their opponents on this issue in only the most extreme form. You claimed that many who talk about "flattening the curve" basically ignore the economic risks (and the implication sounded like that's the case in the majority of people who advocate the curve theory); I know in my case that's not true, and probably isn't for many either. Additionally, many people conflate the term "flattening the curve" with "advocating for a complete quarantine and extended economic shutdown," which also isn't necessarily the case. On the other hand, some of those more concerned about the human cost of the pandemic probably aren't properly considering the economic impact. Just like in any argument, people are getting caught up in their beliefs and creating a caricature of those who don't align perfectly with them to attack, often with sarcastic jabs. People who aren't considering the economics enough might accuse people who are more concerned about the economy of "not caring about people's lives."

- While there is an economic impact for fighting the virus, I think the economic impact of letting the healthcare system get overwhelmed is potentially not considered enough. I think a lot of folks are thinking that the virus is really only going to affect old folks who aren't doing much for the economy. But, saturated hospitals mean people who wouldn't otherwise die from the virus might die due to lack of available ventilators and intensive care. These folks may have otherwise recovered and gone on to contribute. The other segment of people affected by the virus, people with "underlying conditions," also likely otherwise contribute. And old people probably contribute more to the economy than we give them credit for too - important subset of consumers. While those are more theoretical I think that those have the potential to be very economically disruptive as well. Not as disruptive as something crazy like a 2 month quarantine would be, but still a problem.

I just want a well considered middle ground approach. Some slowing of human activity needs to happen just to slow down the virus, only enough that we can get everyone who's sick in and out of the hospital in turn without saturating healthcare and displacing lots of people who needed healthcare for other reasons. That's all flattening the curve really is. But, I think some of the panic and reactionary strict measures being adopted by governments and companies go well beyond that and threaten the economy more than is needed.