ECONOMIC PANDEMIC: Promoting the physical health of a nation at the expense of the psychological

Covid-19 savagely reveals a little more about itself each day. Hourly news cycles provide spread updates and reveal exactly who its victims are. Our medical community calls them the "medically fragile," individuals with compromised immune systems, diabetes, heart disease, etc. We are discovering however, there is another category of "fragile" people falling victim to this stealthy killer, even if they are fortunate enough not to contract the disease.

This evening I received a phone call from a pastor who shared how he was called to comfort a grieving elderly woman earlier in the day. She and her husband, both in their late eighties had self-quarantined at home in observance of shelter in place orders. The husband was convinced he had Covid-19 and couldn't live with the thought of it any longer. In his despair he took his life leaving behind his wife of many years. He is just one of many who suffer under the mental and emotional strain brought on by Covid-19. These are the "psychologically fragile."

While the medically fragile and their doctor know their underlying condition, the psychologically fragile aren't known until a life altering situation occurs.

While the medically fragile and their doctor know their underlying condition, the psychologically fragile aren't known until a life altering situation occurs.

In an effort to stem the spread of Covid-19 and the mounting death toll among the medically fragile, America's economic engine been brought to a screeching halt. To suggest doing any less is labeled by the media as cold and uncompassionate. A total closure of the US economy for the next three months seems of little concern for those who's priorities are "in the right place." After all, how can the well- being of Wall Street be important compared to the well-being of the medically fragile? New York Governor Andrew Cuomo thoughtlessly stated: "This is about saving lives and if everything we do saves just one life, I'll be happy."

I predict many years from now historians will look back upon this time and ask; "Why were the psychologically fragile less valuable than the medically fragile? Why were their struggles overlooked?" I believe that in retrospect, our reaction to this crisis will be viewed as a time of massive government overreach. As Americans attempt to return to normal there will be no nightly suicide totals being broadcast 24/7 by the media. They will be deemed the insignificant collateral casualty of our war against Covid-19.

This won't be the first time there is a massive loss of the psychologically fragile. Most of us remember stories from the stock market crash of 1929. We remember the legendary stories of stockbrokers jumping out of windows and their bodies littering the street below the New York Stock Exchange. Were it not for the fanciful and morbid imagery provided by Will Rogers, America would have forgotten the truly horrific cost of the 1929 crash went far beyond a plunging market. As fate would have it, Will Rogers was in New York City October 24, 1929 as the Roaring 20's came to a climatic close. He described the events of that day in his nationally syndicated column.

"When Wall Street took that tail-spin, you had to stand in line to get a window to jump out of, and speculators were selling space for bodies in the East River."

Will Rogers was America's humorist. His description of the events of 1929 would forever bookmark this tragedy and gave us a light-hearted way of remembering the loss in a way we could deal with it.

In reality, it wasn't Wall Street where countless suicides of the psychologically fragile occurred, it was actually Main Street. Washington Post columnist Bennett Lowenthal chronicled some of these stories thin his column of October 25 , 1987 (1);

"Ignatz Engel was a retired cigar maker in the Bronx who invested in the market in time to be wiped out by the Crash. On Nov. 13, depressed over his losses, he lay down on a blanket in his kitchen and opened all the jets of the gas range. The next day, the president of the Rochester Gas and Electric Corp., no longer able to endure his loss of more than $1,200,000, ended his own life using -- what else? -- gas. A Chicago dentist snuffed himself with gas on Dec. 12; police said that he had succumbed to remorse for having persuaded his young woman assistant and laboratory aide to put all of their savings into the market in the euphoria before the Crash."

These individual stories while shocking to the National conscience, are but a glimpse of the desperation felt by a multitude of people who took their lives as a result of the 1929 crash. History tells us this isn't the first time an economic crisis has led many to take such drastic action. Between 1791 and 1929 the United States saw ten market collapses. Each time the psychologically fragile responded with despair and life ending consequences.

In 2014, Melanie Haiken wrote a piece for Forbes magazine titled: "More Than 10,000 Suicides Tied to Economic Crisis, Study Says" (2)

Haiken, known for her research on suicides among our veteran population, looked back on the 2008 economic collapse of the sub-prime housing market and the dramatic spike in suicides between 2008 and 2010. Her report focused on the findings of an in-depth study conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford (later published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.) She drew conclusions similar to those of studies conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that looked back at the Great Depression. The findings revealed the suicide rate among men was four times higher than women. The research pointed to the obvious factors of job loss, home foreclosures, and debt. The one startling difference was that the 2008 collapse which resulted in a recession saw more suicides than the Great Depression of 1929. During 2009, the worst year of the economic recession, death by suicide exceeded deaths from car crashes.

We can wait years to examine the Covid-19 Crash of the US Economy or we can draw on history and take steps today to mitigate the predictable damage.

We can wait years to examine the Covid-19 Crash of the US Economy or we can draw on history and take steps today to mitigate the predictable damage.

What will be the consequences of intentionally shuttering the US economic engine? What should we prepare for? According to The St. Louis Federal Reserve there are 67 million American workers "at high risk of layoff." We could see the eventual loss of 47 million jobs and an unemployment rate of 32.1%.

"These are very large numbers by historical standards, but this is a rather unique shock that is unlike any other experienced by the U.S. economy in the last 100 years," said St. Louis Fed economist Miguel Faria-e-Castro.

Dr. Steve Stack, a professor at Wayne State University, has done extensive research on the correlation of unemployment and suicide. At the height of the great depression, the unemployment rate reached 24.9%. He says, "In the modern era, for every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate, there has typically been an increase of about 1 percent in the number of suicides."

The U.S. jobless rate at the end of 2019 was 3.5 percent with a suicide rate of 14 per 100,000 people. If the jobless rate reaches 32.1%, Stacks model would predict a suicide rate of approximately`` 42 per 100,000 people. If the number of layoffs predicted by the St. Louis Fed report is correct, this economic crisis will make all others pale in comparison.

What separates this economic collapse from every other one in U.S. history is that state and federal leaders hit the Kill Switch in response to medical experts predicting an apocalyptic 1 to 2 million American deaths from the virus. Just two weeks ago the World Health Organizations Director-General Tedros Adhanom was predicting a 3.4% mortality rate (34 times greater than the seasonal flu). As facts break through the hysteria the medical community is beginning to walk back these horrific predictions.

America's top doctor, Anthony Fauci this past week stated in the New England Journal of Medicine. (3)

America has endured much over the past few weeks, but maybe it's not too late to reverse the effects for those who are hanging on by a thread. Let's turn the switch back on and help us all, including the psychologically and medically fragile. In World War 2 my grandparents planted Victory Gardens. They weren't commanded to do that by President Roosevelt, they did it out of love for America and their fellow man. We can save the medically fragile by allowing them to self-quarantine while we collectively meet their needs for food and shelter. We can save the psychologically fragile by allowing them to work and in so doing, allow them to realize the sense of purpose and value to their fellow man.

Moving forward. We have to come to grips with the consequences of irreparable damage and destroyed lives. As summer brings the warmth and sun, experts predict this killer will retreat until the fall. If the virus does reappear, will we learn from this experience and strike an appropriate balance between the medically fragile and the economy? Or will we hit the Kill Switch and plunge the world into disastrous depression. The vast majority of the wealthy endure times like this with little to no long-term financial damage but it's the exact opposite for the poor, the middle class, and the small business owner. They have neither the cash nor emotional cushion to endure another government induced calamity. We're better than this.

Sources:

(1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1987/10/25/the-jumpers-of-29/17defff9- f725-43b7-831b-7924ac0a1363/

(2) https://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2014/06/12/more-than-10000-suicides-tied-to- economic-crisis-study-says/#3b0f745a7ae2

(3) https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2002387

Steve Toth is an American businessman from Conroe, Texas, who represents District 15 as a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives.

You've probably noticed that Glenn is FED UP.

He is FED UP with the crimes that our political elite can get away with. And NO ONE is keeping them accountable! This corruption goes all the way up to the Presidency. Over and over again, the American people have seen headlines of the Biden family's illicit business dealings and crimes both domestic and abroad, yet they ALWAYS get a free pass from the media, and Republicans who promise to hold them accountable, DON'T.

Are you FED UP too?

Glenn laid out the ENTIRE CASE against the "Biden crime family," detailing EVERY crime allegedly committed by the Bidens, going city by city, state by state, country by country.

But we can't stop there.

Now it's up to YOU to demand that they are held responsible. Here's what to do:

  • Step 1. Watch "The Reckoning" (on YouTube or Facebook) and share it with your friends.
  • Step 2.Enter your email HERE to get access to the "Biden Crime Family Dossier" with the full list of crimes and contact information for prosecutors and attorneys general.
  • Step 3. Take action by flooding the phones and emails of the prosecutors and attorneys general in your district and demand they prosecute these crimes.
  • Step 4. Once you've contacted the offices in your relevant district, tweet @glennbeck using the hashtag #Reckoning and let us know who you contacted and whether you received a response.

Like you, Glenn is SICK AND TIRED of our government and media giving the Biden family a free pass for their blatant crimes. Together, let's do something about it.

Watch "The Reckoning" below.

6 in 10 AMERICANS think AI threatens human civilization

PETER PARKS / Contributor | Getty Images

Glenn has hosted several GlennTV episodes exclusively on AI this year ALONE, warning of the existential threat AI technologies could pose to humanity. And he isn't alone.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that the rapidly advancing technology could result in our extinction. AI researchers are already sounding the alarm bells concerning the fast and largely uncontrollable progression of AI advancement, often comparing the technology's impact to that of the atomic bomb—yet we aren't putting in the same degree of guard rails around THIS research as we did during the Manhattan project.

HALF of all AI researchers think there's a chance that AI could result in our extinction.

It is no wonder why 61 percent of Americans think AI poses a real threat to human civilization, according to a poll recently published by Reuters and Ipsos. To put that in perspective, nearly two-thirds of ALL Americans think AI poses an existential threat. Only 22 percent of Americans are not threatened by AI, while the jury is still out with the remaining 17 percent.


Poll: Reuters/Ipsos

And the overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations. Though conservatives and evangelical Christians showed the most concern for AI, non-evangelicals/non-religious and those who did not vote for Trump follow close behind.

The overall concern over AI transcends both political and religious affiliations.

Participants who voted for former Trump in 2020 were more likely to be concerned about the threat of AI, with about 70 percent agreeing that AI could threaten humanity within this demographic. However, a whopping 60 percent of those who did not vote for Trump view AI as a threat. When is the last time the Left and the Right disagreed on something by only a margin of 10 percent?

Similarly, 32 percent of Evangelical Christians say they “strongly agree” with the claim that AI threatens humankind, compared to 24 percent of non-Evangelical Christians, a margin of only 8 percent.

Elon Musk recently called for a six-month pause on AI research and development, warning that the technology could pose “risks to society.” Musk further warned that there is a chance AI “goes wrong and destroys humanity," calling AI a “double-edged sword,” due to the difficulty of predicting how the technology could develop on its own.

Glenn aptly posited the following question:

We are the products of a grand Creator. However, when it comes to AI, we are the creator. Will our creation turn on us, as we have turned on our Creator?

According to the Christian tradition, God created mankind with his own free will with the ability to turn towards or away from his Creator. We turned away in an act of rebellion. Unlike other technologies, AI has the potential to develop its own "will." Whether AI's "will" is equal to the humans' in terms of value and degree is another philosophical and theological question entirely, which will not be discussed here.

AI has the potential to develop its own "will."

However, the fact of the matter is that AI does have the ability to act according to its own processes that we, its creators, can neither control or predict. As Glenn so poignantly asks, will our creation rebel against us, as we rebelled against our creator? Is it any wonder why Evangelical Christians have the greatest reservations against AI, because they know the consequences of creation's rebellion from its creator?

Until we can answer this critical question, perhaps we should take heed both to Musk's warning and the intuition of six out of ten Americans and press the pause button on AI research... before it's too late.

Glenn has been bashing the corruption and deceit within the Biden family—and how they are NOT being held accountable. When you’ve been in politics as long as Joe Biden has, it's easy to get caught in a lie or two. In Joe Biden's case, there are many.

Here are five examples of Joe Biden making a complete hypocrite of himself:

In a 1995 Senate debate on a balanced budget amendment, Senator Joe Biden urged Congress to cut the government's growing deficit.

Fast forward to 2023, Biden's multi-trillion-dollar budget as President contributed to the whopping deficit of $1.1 TRILLION DOLLARS. That number is just from the first SIX MONTHS of the 2023 fiscal year alone, not to mention his multi-trillion-dollar budget from 2022. What happened to Zero Deficit Joe?

If you want to learn more about Biden’s deficit you can watch this clip from the Glenn Beck Program.

Senator Biden criticized President Roosevelt for his 1937 court-packing scheme, calling it “a bonehead idea.”

However, on April 9, 2021, Biden signed an executive order forming the “Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States" to examine “the membership and size of the Court.” Who's the one with boneheaded ideas, now?

President Biden gave a speech condemning the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn 'Roe v Wade.' Biden said “I believe Roe v Wade was a correct decision."

This remark is nearly the opposite to a comment Biden gave in a 1974 interview with the Washingtonian where he shared his opinion on the recently settled Roe v Wade case, harshly stating:

I don’t like the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think it went too far. I don’t think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body.

Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the newest member of the Supreme Court, stating in an event a few weeks before Jackson took office: “I believe so strongly that we needed a court that looks like America.”

This was not the same tune Biden sang as he led the controversial hearings surrounding the nomination of Justice Clarence Thomas, an affair Thomas resentfully called “a high-tech lynching.”

To see Biden's comments about Justice Jackson, click here.

On April 20, 2021, President Biden gave a speech where he claimed that “systemic racism is a stain on our nation.”

Only a few years prior, Biden spoke at the memorial service of Senator Byrd, where he said, “I never called Senator Byrd ‘Senator,’ I always called him, Leader.” Robert Byrd was a decorated Senator, held many leadership positions within the Senate and, oh yeah, was responsible for the rebirth of the KKK in West Virginia.

I am FED UP with the Biden corruption—let's fight it together

Charles McQuillan / Stringer | Getty Images

So, last week we learned that back in 2020, a whistleblower filed a complaint with the FBI alleging that Joe Biden had taken bribes from foreign governments to influence U.S. policy.

The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to obtain that report.

Well, the other day the FBI told Congress to go screw themselves. They’re not handing over the document.

Let me repeat that: The FBI is REFUSING to comply with a congressional subpoena to hand over evidence that could prove Biden has been compromised by foreign agents.

Frankly, I’m fed up.

I’m fed up with a corrupt government that weaponizes the justice system to punish enemies and shield allies. I’m fed up with feckless politicians who talk a big game but fail to actually DO something to hold Biden accountable. And I’m fed up with being told that there’s nothing we can do about the Biden family’s obvious corruption and criminal behavior.

It’s time to take matters into our own hands. We can’t just wait for Congress to issue more subpoenas that are just going to be ignored. I have a plan to finally hold the Bidens accountable—and I’m going to need your help to make it work.

I’ll be outlining this plan next Thursday evening, May 18, at 8 p.m. ET. I will explain actions that YOU can take to ensure Biden faces the reckoning he deserves.

We’ll be streaming this special on YouTube, Facebook, and at BlazeTV.com. But frankly, Big Tech is NOT going to like what I have to say, and I won’t be surprised if YouTube or Facebook cuts off our stream.

To ensure you can watch the full special, even if Big Tech censors us, please subscribe to BlazeTV today.

Your support is vital to ensuring that we have the resources to continue exposing the Biden crime family and all those in power. This is so important that I asked my team to activate the code FEDUP for $30 off your first year of BlazeTV. This is the biggest discount we ever offer—because it’s that important that you join us.

So subscribe today, and then join me next Thursday evening at 8 p.m. ET, and let’s start fighting back.

Yours in the fight,

P.S. The cavalry isn’t coming to the rescue. We ARE the cavalry. We can no longer wait for weak-kneed politicians to make good on their empty promises. It’s time for action. Join BlazeTV today and help us fight back. Don’t forget to use the code FEDUP at checkout to get $30 off your first year of BlazeTV.