The coronavirus (COVID-19) has been ravaging the world for months now and recently, it has been getting real in the United States. People who are able to work from home have been sent home from their offices. Restaurant and bar staff, along with other "nonessential" workers, are out of a job. And besides the obvious heroes like our doctors, nurses, and first responders, fast food workers, retail teams, and grocery store clerks have emerged as some of the most important people in our society.

In case you've been living under an internet-free rock, the buzzword of the month is "flatten the curve." Put simply, if we do nothing, COVID-19 cases will spike (hence the curve) which has the very real possibility of overwhelming our hospitals and healthcare systems, requiring doctors to make the impossible decision of who gets treatment and who does not.

The goal is to flatten that curve. Instead of seeing a spike in cases in a short period of time, experts are saying that we need to have fewer cases over a longer period of time, allowing all of those infected to get the treatment they need. How do we do that? Well, the ask is not that difficult: Stay home. Go out only when necessary. Stay away from other people as much as possible. When we do this, the virus has no place to go, allowing us to stop it in its tracks.

This is a good plan. And as far as nationwide directions for slowing or stopping a global pandemic, "literally just stay inside" seems like pretty clear and simple direction.

So imagine my surprise when President Donald J. Trump, the person who is supposed to be leading our country through this pandemic, made a statement saying that "the cure is worse than the problem" and that he would like the country to be back in business in mere weeks.

For those who don't understand, "the cure is worse than the problem" means that letting the economy suffer while Americans are social distancing is worse than people dying en masse from COVID-19.

Comparing COVID-19 to car accidents and the flu, Trump, a man who is supposed to be guided by experts and has likely discussed nothing except for this pandemic for weeks now just can't understand why this is so different.

Trump said during a Monday night press conference that he thinks the mortality rate is not 3 – 4 percent as previously reported, but closer to 1 percent, maybe even less. He said: "The whole concept of death is terrible, but there's a tremendous difference between under one percent and four or five."

As a reminder, 1 percent of Americans dying is still more than 3 million people.

I understand that the economy is crashing around us. I have close friends and family who have been left unemployed during this crisis, and I know many people have been rendered broke and homeless. But making the decision to let over more than 3 million people die to restart the economy is careless and heartless.

(And make no mistake, without enough materials at the hospitals and no regulations on social distancing, 1 percent is going to be a really low estimate.)

The stock market and the unemployment rate and the daily anecdotes about how COVID-19 has ruined the livelihood of so many Americans are heartbreaking... But people losing their jobs because their business needs to temporarily shut down as a precautionary measure is a lot better than people losing their livesbecause Trump wanted to keep business booming.

It might be hard, and it might be a long road, but you can get an economy back. You can't get lives back.

Trump is willing to let the people on the front lines — the doctors, the nurses, the first responders — become overwhelmed with sick patients, become exposed themselves, and eventually, have to make the decision about who lives or dies for money.

Trump is willing to let our nation's unsung heroes — the grocery store clerks, the retail workers, the delivery drivers — serve people who haven't been practicing social distancing but have been working with people day in and day out in the face of an uncontrolled virus for money.

Trump is willing to put the sick and the immunocompromised at risk for money.

Trump is willing to put your parents, your grandparents, at risk for money.

Sure, Trump thinks the "whole concept of death is terrible," but is willing to let (what he believes to be) 1 percent of Americans, or more than 3 million Americans, die for money.

Your life is expendable to your president.

Despite every expert's warning to socially distance, to remain shut down for a period of time flatten the curve, to protect our most vulnerable populations, the president has decided that he is willing to take the risk of losing more than 3 million Americans for the economy.

Tell me, is your 401K worth your grandparents' lives?