So, morbid as I am, I’ve been playing a bit of Plague Inc. Generally, I work with a high-transmission, mildly mutating virus. What I’ve learned is that consistently, it runs its course in about 2 years, with deaths peaking in later waves, not earlier ones.
But that’s a game, right?
Here’s a bit of history–the North American Flu of 1918 (more commonly known as the Spanish Flu because Spain had to balls to report it first). This American-bred plague was exacerbated because of people packed together due to fighting WWI and it swept around the world in multiple waves.
This was before the robust travel that we have today. This was before the astonishing population density we have today.
We are currently in wave 1 in the first year of c-19, a highly transmittable, mildly mutable virus. Anyone who suggests this is overhyped or not serious does not know American history.
Then an acquaintance posts this…
People who criticize ANY plan to re-open the economy right now, as soon as possible, are either brainwashed shills, partisan nincompoops, just flat out bat-shit crazy, don’t understand how dangerous poverty is to THEM (even if it is not them in poverty), or don’t have a job (or more accurately, have no ambition to get one).
Sigh.
My response:
Or we could invent something new to deal with this; something that recognizes a need to deal with a very real crisis which may very well end up in an extinction level event if you “re-open” the economy at all or may end up with a lower death rate than you think.
You can’t guarantee that “opening up” the economy won’t kill us all.
And I guarantee you the people in charge of the economy don’t really give a damn whether you or your wife or your family dies, all the way to extinction of the species, if they stand a chance to continue living like they live.
Poverty is terrifying but that doesn’t change if you “open the economy”. Unless you honestly think folks aren’t going to take advantage of this by forcing people to work for lower wages / shackle them to “paying back loans”?
Because that’s happening now without the economy being open.
That earned me an insta-block from the person. Ah well. See you later.
Just FYI, I’m -well- aware of the brutal impact this shutdown has on many communities; I don’t see a “return to -normal-” as the absolute solution though because the brunt of that will end up on those same communities.
I honestly wish it was that easy a binary. (economy on = good / economy off = bad)