Are there more important things than living?

We have the second most powerful politician in Texas to thank for coming up with this point of view: there are more important things in life than living. Well it sounds like an oxymoron to me. The gentleman who suggested this is Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick, a Republican. He's the deputy governor. What he seems to mean is that lives can be sacrificed for the sake of the economy and the nation. In other words, let's get Texas back to work and if it means a few hundred or thousand people die in the process, it's worth it because everyone else will benefit. It's harsh but maybe true. However, I doubt there will be many political leaders ready to go along with that. Can you imagine Boris Johnson, especially after his personal coronavirus experience, telling the British people that he plans to get Britain back to normal as soon as possible even if it means many people will continue to die. No, most leaders will take a more cautious line and say that getting back to normal cannot be contemplated until the virus has effectively been beaten or until either a wonder treatment has been found or a 100 per cent-proof vaccine has been tried and tested. But let's look at Dan Patrick's statement. First of all, are there more important things than living? I guess it depends who you ask and how you ask it. The trouble is the virus is indiscriminate. Although more men than women have gone down with it, and although a very large percentage of the fatalities involved elderly people or those with underlying diseases, the virus has also taken the lives of young, fit men and women, and babies for heaven's sake. So is living less important for the younger generation than a rising economy or low unemployment or airlines back in full flying mode? No of course not. Actually being alive is far more important than having a flourishing national economy. Being alive is the greatest gift of all. But, you could argue, will life be worth living if the whole world is reduced to struggling in poverty and misery and fear of disease? Well, that's another question which I don't think the Texas No 2 governor had in mind when he said what he said. But in general terms he may have a point provided you can assume he meant to say that at some stage, and the sooner the better, government leaders must decide when it is right to get countries back to full working order. Dan Patrick doesn't want to wait until the very last death from coronavirus has been recorded and the slate is clean, as it were. Even with people still dying, economies must be rebuilt for the sake of those who survive this pandemic. That is an argument that we will hear a lot of in the next few weeks but not with the sort of language selected by the deputy governor of Texas.