I did not know this:
In 1968, the H3N2 pandemic killed more individuals in the U.S. than the combined total number of American fatalities during both the Vietnam and Korean Wars. In almost all historical accounts of 1968, war and politics dominate. The H3N2 virus, in contrast, is literally nowhere to be found, especially in books focused on the Vietnam War. Globally, the 1968 Pandemic (created by H3N2) killed over a million individuals, and in the United States, with a 1968 total population of 205 million, the virus killed over 100,000 individuals.
I don't remember being worried back then. And I don't remember reading about this since then.
Heck, Woodstock was held during that pandemic.
We'll get through this Xi Jinping Flu. But it is true we are far more casualty averse in both military matters and civilian life now than then.
And maybe the rest of our lives is so much better overall today than then that we notice the current pandemic more than we noticed it then--or even remember it.
