for dollars. We should be talking about trading lives for lives. The economic impact of this will cost lives. Nobody knows how many lives we're sacrificing on either side of the issue, but we should be discussing it.

let's say we save a million lives through our efforts, including shuttering the economy. Furthermore, let's assume the average age of the lives saved was 72.

Now let's say the economic impact costs us 100,000 lives (you can argue the number, it's just a thought exercise) and the average age of those lost is 52. Was it worth it, even if the pure number of lives saved is a fraction of those saved from covid, the number of years of life lost might not be. The economic downturn will cost lives in the form of suicide, lost insurance right when they need it the most, heart problems from the stress, even cancer (there is a study that says that we lost hundreds of thousands of lives after the 2008 downturn to cancer because they lost insurance and couldn't be treated). Secondarily, is the homelessness, mental health, lost wages, etc. that will lead to deteriorating standard of living for the most vulnerable parts of our society, worldwide.

Was it worth it? Nobody can possibly know the answer at this point, but our leaders and the virtue signalers put alot of value on the former, without much thought on the latter.