In this monologue, Dennis Prager argues that every decision carries a price, using everyday examples like video‑game time versus reading or music practice. He extends the concept to the COVID‑19 quarantine, questioning the massive economic and societal cost of keeping people home. Prager claims the odds of contracting the virus by going to work are low and suggests more people should return to their jobs, even if that may inconvenience some. He criticizes health officials for being the primary decision‑makers on lockdown policy, asserting that they should only provide information while elected leaders set criteria. Prager demands a clear, pre‑announced death‑count threshold for extending restrictions beyond 15 days and warns against “flying by the seat of your pants.” He references a Wall Street Journal headline about a $1 trillion stimulus proposal and notes his own column on the issue at hisdennisprager.com.
Chapters
As I told you, the greatest question you could ask to figure out what to do in life, for little things and big things, ask, what is the price? That's the, that's the question to be asked. And there's a price paid for playing a video game for 2 hours. All right, you don't get to read, you don't get to play a musical instrument. I mean, most people don't think that way, but that's a price. There's a price paid if you play a musical instrument, then you won't be reading. I mean, I totally get it, but ask what is the price? And society is paying a big price. So what is the price of your being home all the time and not going to work where, you know, if you keep your 3 feet distance or whatever it is, the likelihood of your getting contaminated is, is very small. The best is the enemy of the better. So I wish more people did go to work. Now, I may be advocating something that will hurt some people. I understand that. But I look at the odds. You know why I don't buy lottery tickets? I'm not against people buying them, but I don't buy lottery tickets because the odds are overwhelmingly against me. I think rationally, the odds are overwhelmingly against your getting the virus if you go to work. So I live by that. That's— I'm here. That's my— that was my point. Trump urges $1 trillion aid deal. Headline, Wall Street Journal. $1 trillion. A trillion is 1,000 billion. Virus-driven economic slowdown prompts a US stimulus proposal. Fed also plans loans. My friends, I don't know the right answer on this quarantine. I don't know the shutting down of all Western economies. We, we don't know the price yet that will be paid, and we're not given any time limit. See, this, this worries me. Worries me that The health officials, who in my opinion should not be in charge of decision-making— it's like we— the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces is, is a civilian. Isn't that interesting? Yes, because the president of the United States is the commander-in-chief. He's above all generals and admirals, etc. But when it comes to this stuff, the health people are the policy people. They shouldn't be. They should just be like the military, in the case of the Commander-in-Chief, give information. But here's what I want to know. What number of deaths will necessitate going beyond 15 days? You have to tell us in advance. You can't fly by the seat of your pants. Then we have no criteria. I don't know your criteria. We were told exponential. We were told we're 2 weeks behind Italy. What if we don't turn out to be 2 weeks behind Italy? What if it isn't exponential death? Are you gonna still crush the economy of America? Crushing the economy is not an abstraction. It's crushing lives. I know people devastated already. Already devastated financially. Read my column, it's up from yesterday at Town Hall. You can see it at mydennisprager.com, but I wrote about this whole issue.
