At the Golden Gate

+Globally, so far this year 1.8 million people have died as a result of smoking. 284,000 have died from Coronavirus. If only we could make Coronavirus part of the economy we could learn to live (and die) with it! Global deaths from all causes this year so far have been around 21 million. Births were around 29 million. The human race isn’t done for yet. Many more useless but intriguing comparisons can be drawn from the Worldometer website, which is full of fascinating statistics, not least the one which shows how the UK is vying to have the world’s worst government when it comes to tackling the virus. As they say, we get the government we deserve, just like smokers get the fate they deserve. In the words of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen:
 
Tell St Peter at the golden gate
You just hate to make him wait
But you’ve just gotta have another cigarette
 
+Another statistic (of sorts) is reported by the FiveThirtyEight website, which suggests that Joe Biden has a slight polling lead over Trump. So did Hillary Clinton of course. And of course we’d all like to see the back of the odious creature in the White House, but many will be asking ‘what difference would it make?’ In terms of policies delivered, in what ways would a Biden administration greatly differ from Trump’s? Such questions await an answer from the semi-invisible Biden. Lots of people on the left seem to be assuming that the Coronavirus issue will be the deciding factor in Trump’s defeat, but as yet that is an assumption of the usual, casual rational thinking found on the left. The Republicans will be using every means fair and foul to win the election, and more so than last time will be more united behind their presidential candidate. I will await with interest to see how the cheerleaders for centrism and triangulation, not to mention Third Way neo-liberalism and all the rest of it get behind Biden, in a way they never could for Sanders or Corbyn. And if he loses?