The coronavirus elephants in the room

By Ray Horsley

I’d like to thank CuencaHighLife for publishing several recent sketches of mine regarding the coronavirus. This is the third of a three part series. Unlike the other two, it’s direct and avoids the use of metaphors.

My apologies in advance if it’s too direct and I offend any readers. To be sure, my intention is not to offend anybody but to bring into discussion two aspects of what we’re going through, aspects which have somehow become too taboo to even mention. But what is mentionable is thus manageable, so let’s talk. Those two elephants in the room are, posed as questions, how did we make this thing and why are we dying from it?

A third question is why hardly anybody is talking about either of these points. We talk incessantly about numerous aspects of the virus but nary a word about the elephants in the room; how we made it and why we’re dying from it.

We squirt each other with alcohol, wash our hands excessively and don latex gloves. We gag ourselves with silly looking masks, and even then we’re afraid to touch our own faces. We invent odd oxymorons like “social distancing” and call the whole ordeal a “war”, which it isn’t. We stand on little painted circles spacing ourselves out in store lines believing it’s actually doing something while our public officials admit this whole lockdown is nothing more than spacing out our hospital admissions. Then we step in trays of chlorine to make sure the bottoms of our shoes aren’t infected. We listen to endless numbers; the cases, the tests, the ages, the deaths. We’re happy to bring to the edge of bankruptcy nearly every company on earth. We tolerate authoritative practices reminiscent of the Nazi occupation of Poland. “Papers please!” It seems we’ve even embraced the word itself into our vernacular as the most coveted tweet or post is one that “goes viral”.

Pigs at a factory farm.

But let’s face it. We’ve let this latest incarnation of our own man-made viruses bring life as we know it to a screeching halt. All of these ridiculous measures are foolishness! Heaven forbid we dare talk about either how we made this virus or why we’re dying from it. Let’s expose these two elephants for what they are.

To address the first of these, this and many other viruses both past and future, come from the relatively new practice of massive factory animal farms. Here is where the unnatural grouping of animals packed in the same place allow viruses to “jump species” and mutate. These flu factories have nothing more than profit in mind, and we’re the ones giving it to them.

We can blame the Chinese, we can blame a bunch of guys in Atlanta, we can return to the ad nauseam debate over “free” health care, which it isn’t, and of course we can blame our politicians. Oh how we love that last one. But let’s face it. The coronavirus is our fault.

It’s our fault for greedily purchasing and chewing up animal flesh, gooey cheese, and fattening bird eggs on a scale that makes even renaissance kings pale in comparison. This virus is of our own making, and we encourage more new ones with every dollar we spend on slaughtered animals and their products. To watch an excellent documentary exposing our flu factories for what they are, click here.

An industrial chicken operation.

To the second point, and once again we need to speak directly without fear of offending, we’re dying from this thing because we’re already “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.” That’s actually the title of an excellent movie, free on YouTube.

It’s ironic that with all the lock-down and curfew stripping us of nearly every civil liberty imaginable, that the majority of vehicles still allowed on the streets of Cuenca are deafening spindly little motorcycles scurrying about delivering, of all things, pizza! This fattening pie of oily cheese topped with known carcinogens like sausage and pepperoni is not what we need. It’s this kind of a diet, greasy animal flesh, cow’s milk and bird’s eggs, that leaves us with immune systems which, whether we realize it or not, are in a constant state of compromise.

Every time my wife and I fly back to the U.S. we’re shocked as we walk through the airport. People are huge! And the rest of the world is not far behind us. We are the elephants in the room. It’s no wonder that our weakened immune systems, constantly taxed by dealing with the extra fifty to two hundred pounds of toxic fat we carry, would be unable to additionally battle this new, weird virus. And it’s not enough that we’re drawn to tax our immune systems with a diet of fattening animal parts three times a day. We’re additionally drawn to tax our immune systems with a steady diet of news, many many times a day. From giant smart screens to little handheld ones, we’re glued to the latest sensational guesswork of just how bad things are, and alarmingly how much worse they’ll soon be. This only further stresses that one-and-only savior, our immune system.

It’s supremely odd after 200,000 deaths, trillions of dollars wasted and unfathomable sacrifices made, that the answer to this is literally right under our noses. It is a simple change in diet that will not only make us healthy and able to fight off such viral invaders, it will also close down the flu factories which produce them.

The end product.

The first part of this which may seem hard, but it really isn’t, is to separate this answer from a myriad of agendas also claiming to be answers. I can imagine preachers across the land boasting their religion is the answer. Socialist medicine is an obvious candidate. I even heard one politician pushing a return to prohibition as the answer. With so many proposed answers it may seem difficult to determine which one is the truth, but simple common sense sorts them out. This virus is not going to respond to religion, “free” hospital stays, abstinence from alcohol consumption, or any of these ridiculous measures we’re taking.

Even locking ourselves up in our homes is futile. This and any other virus will patiently lay siege until we come back out, something we inevitably must do. No. Common sense and science tells us the response we’re looking for will only come from a strong immune system rested and ready to fight. And the elimination of future viruses will only come about by eliminating the very flu factories where they’re created. The beauty of this is that we can kill both of these elephants with one simple stone; a change in diet.

The second part of this which also may be perceived as hard, but it really isn’t, is that aforementioned change in diet. This is not a sacrifice. It is not giving up anything. It is simply switching one group of foods for another, a lateral move. In a short period of time any remaining cravings to eat the legs of chickens will give way to new tastes. Avoiding the use of all oils will further reduce weight, heal inflamed arteries, and even make doing the dishes easier.

Personally, if joy could be measured, I’d wager that my own enjoyment in the whole food, plant based breakfast I eat is as intense as any plate of animal parts I ever consumed. I enjoy it so much that I often look forward to cooking breakfast as I go to bed at night. I’d love to share the recipe if anybody’s interested.