3 ms·

The pandemic is being used by both parties to push their agenda. Your pessimism is another persons optimistic outcome.

pjc50 6y ago
I'm not sure how more disease, death, and long-term health conditions is someone else's optimistic outcome, but it seems to be inevitable.
- save_ferris 6y ago
  It’s not that more disease and death is desired by one side, rather there’s political momentum behind not believing that it’s as severe as it’s being reported. We no longer live in a world with shared truths, and this is the most remarkable manifestation of this new reality.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    I'm reminded of the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. It's difficult to report even a very high number of deaths in a saturated disinformation environment.
    - commandlinefan 6y ago
      > the 1932 Pulitzer Prize Ok, I googled it and I still don't get it... are you talking about the cartoon?
      - pjc50 6y ago
        https://www.pulitzer.org/news/statement-walter-duranty https://www.pulitzer.org/news/statement-walter-duranty Duranty got the prize for being one of a very small number of Western journalists allowed into Stalin's Soviet Union, and writing about a visit to Ukraine. He made no mention of the mass famine ongoing at the time, the Holomodor. Wikipedia lists the death toll as "3 to 12 million", because it was a totalitarian state and real measurement was impossible. So the answer to "is it possible for millions to die and it simply not be reported at the time" is "yes".
- michaelborromeo 6y ago
  Being allowed to return to work or a business you run, being able to pay rent, feed your family, etc. These are positive outcomes of lockdowns being lifted. The danger in looking at this as a binary “opening kills people” is that you miss the trade offs and in doing so you miss the other nuanced policy options that sit in between complete lockdown and no lockdown.
  - pjc50 6y ago
    It's possible that "looser lockdown with mandatory masks" might work - it seems to have done so in Eastern Europe and some of the South Asian countries. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be on the agenda in the US or UK?
deleted 6y ago
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vorpalhex 6y ago
Pandemics, emergencies, and tragedies are usually what gives us the best indication of what our politicians actually want. For some strange reason, it's not usually the will of the people...

I'm not sure how more disease, death, and long-term health conditions is someone else's optimistic outcome, but it seems to be inevitable.

save_ferris 6y ago
It’s not that more disease and death is desired by one side, rather there’s political momentum behind not believing that it’s as severe as it’s being reported. We no longer live in a world with shared truths, and this is the most remarkable manifestation of this new reality.
- pjc50 6y ago
  I'm reminded of the 1932 Pulitzer Prize. It's difficult to report even a very high number of deaths in a saturated disinformation environment.
  - commandlinefan 6y ago
    > the 1932 Pulitzer Prize Ok, I googled it and I still don't get it... are you talking about the cartoon?
    - pjc50 6y ago
      https://www.pulitzer.org/news/statement-walter-duranty https://www.pulitzer.org/news/statement-walter-duranty Duranty got the prize for being one of a very small number of Western journalists allowed into Stalin's Soviet Union, and writing about a visit to Ukraine. He made no mention of the mass famine ongoing at the time, the Holomodor. Wikipedia lists the death toll as "3 to 12 million", because it was a totalitarian state and real measurement was impossible. So the answer to "is it possible for millions to die and it simply not be reported at the time" is "yes".
michaelborromeo 6y ago
Being allowed to return to work or a business you run, being able to pay rent, feed your family, etc. These are positive outcomes of lockdowns being lifted. The danger in looking at this as a binary “opening kills people” is that you miss the trade offs and in doing so you miss the other nuanced policy options that sit in between complete lockdown and no lockdown.
- pjc50 6y ago
  It's possible that "looser lockdown with mandatory masks" might work - it seems to have done so in Eastern Europe and some of the South Asian countries. But for some reason that doesn't seem to be on the agenda in the US or UK?

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

vorpalhex 6y ago

Pandemics, emergencies, and tragedies are usually what gives us the best indication of what our politicians actually want. For some strange reason, it's not usually the will of the people...