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I worry that headlines like this will lead to complacency amongst certain parts of the population. They'll think a vaccine will be here soon. I imagine their

I worry that headlines like this will lead to complacency amongst certain parts of the population. They'll think a vaccine will be here soon. I imagine their thought processes would be like: what's the big deal with this virus, why do we need to mess up the economy by social distancing, if we're going to have a vaccine quite soon?

CivBase 7y ago
I don't know how you can look around and seriously worry about complacency right now. Yes, complacency is very bad, but so is panic. We need to find a healthy, productive middle ground. A trip to my local grocery store is all the evidence I need to confidently say the pendulum has swung too far the other way. People are exhausting our supplies of essential hygiene products and cheap, non-perishable foods. Scalpers are re-selling the supplies online with huge markups. Hourly workers are loosing their incomes and parents are struggling to find means to take care of their kids who are suddenly without school for the foreseeable future. We need public awareness. We need people to take this matter seriously. But we also need a balanced approach to ensure we don't cause even more devastation in the long term. Frankly, I'm happy for anything that gets people to calm down for a second and just commit to good hygiene practices and avoiding crowds for a few months.
- jamesrcole 7y ago
  Complacency and panic aren’t the only two options. Complacency is a massive problem right now. So many people are not taking social distancing seriously, and it’s going to have disastrous consequences, al la how things are currently playing out in Italy, in many countries. And compared to that, the temporary exhausting of supplies is a trifling matter. (Wait until the real panic sets in when hospitals can’t keep up). But like I said, it’s not like we have to chose between complacency OR panic. We can take it seriously and take appropriate actions.

CivBase 7y ago

I don't know how you can look around and seriously worry about complacency right now. Yes, complacency is very bad, but so is panic. We need to find a healthy, productive middle ground. A trip to my local grocery store is all the evidence I need to confidently say the pendulum has swung too far the other way. People are exhausting our supplies of essential hygiene products and cheap, non-perishable foods. Scalpers are re-selling the supplies online with huge markups. Hourly workers are loosing their incomes and parents are struggling to find means to take care of their kids who are suddenly without school for the foreseeable future. We need public awareness. We need people to take this matter seriously. But we also need a balanced approach to ensure we don't cause even more devastation in the long term. Frankly, I'm happy for anything that gets people to calm down for a second and just commit to good hygiene practices and avoiding crowds for a few months.

jamesrcole 7y ago
Complacency and panic aren’t the only two options. Complacency is a massive problem right now. So many people are not taking social distancing seriously, and it’s going to have disastrous consequences, al la how things are currently playing out in Italy, in many countries. And compared to that, the temporary exhausting of supplies is a trifling matter. (Wait until the real panic sets in when hospitals can’t keep up). But like I said, it’s not like we have to chose between complacency OR panic. We can take it seriously and take appropriate actions.