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Some (read: Trump supporters) say we should trust the government (read: the Trump administration) during this crisis, but how can that be possible when we've be

Some (read: Trump supporters) say we should trust the government (read: the Trump administration) during this crisis, but how can that be possible when we've been lied to and this crisis has been downplayed over and over again? Imagine if you're about to go skydiving and I'm responsible for packing your chute. As I pack, you notice a cord looks badly frayed. I tell you, "The cord is totally not frayed! They all look like that." Then I tell you, "Don't worry, we'll replace it before you go out." Then you find out we didn't actually replace it, and you look up on the internet that it can easily kill you. Then I say, "I knew it was a problem all along but we have a plan in place to handle that." Would all of that make you feel less or more afraid of your skydiving experience?

wideasleep1 7y ago
The intelligent skydiver knows better than to allow the government to pack his chute.
briandear 7y ago
> this crisis has been downplayed over and over again? This crisis has been overplayed. California governor suggesting schools be closed for 2.5 additional months? This is getting absurd. More people were in Baltimore shootings last week than died in Santa Clara Country from Wuhan virus.
- munk-a 7y ago
  Can you avoid using a dog-whistle to describe Covid-19?
  - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
    Why is that a dog-whistle? The virus did in fact originate in Wuhan. And I think there is some value in factually pointing that out, and not letting the government of China create some it-was-some-US-soldiers fairy tale. I agree with you that this needs to not become any kind of a racial thing against Chinese people. But I'm going to stick with the facts, especially when someone is trying to paint a counter-factual lie of a narrative.
    - munk-a 7y ago
      The virus also originated from bats - and yet I don't see folks going around calling it the bat flu. The Chinese government absolutely mishandled this flu and the fact that they tried to suppress it will need to be addressed in the future - but calling it the "wuhan flu" and "chinese flu" appears to have begun by a concerted effort to deflect attention from the administration's mishandling. Please don't propagate this term, I understand your feelings but this term was absolutely intended to divide and using it can cause harm to Asian Americans.
      - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
        > The virus also originated from bats Is that confirmed, or just hypothesized? > and yet I don't see folks going around calling it the bat flu. It's not a flu. But I wouldn't have a problem with people calling it the bat plague or whatever. > but calling it the "wuhan flu" and "chinese flu" appears to have begun by a concerted effort to deflect attention from the administration's mishandling. Given the attributed source of the first uses (of which I am aware) of the term "chinese flu", that seems almost certainly true. > but this term was absolutely intended to divide No, it was intended to evade. That's different. You said it yourself: "deflect". Why is placing the place of origin on China (the nation), and the blame on the Chinese government, confused with placing the blame on a race? (Yes, there are bigots and jerks who are looking for an excuse to go get racist on someone. There are some. I'm not sure that we should change our language just to avoid giving them an excuse, though, in the same way that we didn't go to these extremes for H1N1. There may be some damage to some actual people - and let's be clear, people who don't deserve it - but free speech is also a value that I uphold. I don't think we should let bigots and jerks control which words we're allowed to use. And I've seen you elsewhere cite the Nazis and their statements about the Jews. Well, by that point, it will be time for measures equivalent to what we're doing for CoronaVirus, because the damage will be severe.)
      - asdfman123 7y ago
        I thought you were talking about the "Baltimore shootings" thing, which is in fact another dog whistle.
    - 7y ago
- asdfman123 7y ago
  > More people were in Baltimore shootings last week than died in Santa Clara Country from Wuhan virus And over again.

wideasleep1 7y ago

The intelligent skydiver knows better than to allow the government to pack his chute.

briandear 7y ago

> this crisis has been downplayed over and over again? This crisis has been overplayed. California governor suggesting schools be closed for 2.5 additional months? This is getting absurd. More people were in Baltimore shootings last week than died in Santa Clara Country from Wuhan virus.

munk-a 7y ago
Can you avoid using a dog-whistle to describe Covid-19?
- AnimalMuppet 7y ago
  Why is that a dog-whistle? The virus did in fact originate in Wuhan. And I think there is some value in factually pointing that out, and not letting the government of China create some it-was-some-US-soldiers fairy tale. I agree with you that this needs to not become any kind of a racial thing against Chinese people. But I'm going to stick with the facts, especially when someone is trying to paint a counter-factual lie of a narrative.
  - munk-a 7y ago
    The virus also originated from bats - and yet I don't see folks going around calling it the bat flu. The Chinese government absolutely mishandled this flu and the fact that they tried to suppress it will need to be addressed in the future - but calling it the "wuhan flu" and "chinese flu" appears to have begun by a concerted effort to deflect attention from the administration's mishandling. Please don't propagate this term, I understand your feelings but this term was absolutely intended to divide and using it can cause harm to Asian Americans.
    - AnimalMuppet 7y ago
      > The virus also originated from bats Is that confirmed, or just hypothesized? > and yet I don't see folks going around calling it the bat flu. It's not a flu. But I wouldn't have a problem with people calling it the bat plague or whatever. > but calling it the "wuhan flu" and "chinese flu" appears to have begun by a concerted effort to deflect attention from the administration's mishandling. Given the attributed source of the first uses (of which I am aware) of the term "chinese flu", that seems almost certainly true. > but this term was absolutely intended to divide No, it was intended to evade. That's different. You said it yourself: "deflect". Why is placing the place of origin on China (the nation), and the blame on the Chinese government, confused with placing the blame on a race? (Yes, there are bigots and jerks who are looking for an excuse to go get racist on someone. There are some. I'm not sure that we should change our language just to avoid giving them an excuse, though, in the same way that we didn't go to these extremes for H1N1. There may be some damage to some actual people - and let's be clear, people who don't deserve it - but free speech is also a value that I uphold. I don't think we should let bigots and jerks control which words we're allowed to use. And I've seen you elsewhere cite the Nazis and their statements about the Jews. Well, by that point, it will be time for measures equivalent to what we're doing for CoronaVirus, because the damage will be severe.)
    - asdfman123 7y ago
      I thought you were talking about the "Baltimore shootings" thing, which is in fact another dog whistle.
  - 7y ago
asdfman123 7y ago
> More people were in Baltimore shootings last week than died in Santa Clara Country from Wuhan virus And over again.