4 ms·

If perfect compliance was required we'd be suffering the consequence right now. Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the sp

If perfect compliance was required we'd be suffering the consequence right now. Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the spread of the virus more than enough to avert catastrophe. Even the predictable, politically-motivated free-riders haven't been enough to render our efforts ineffective (so far). In the coming months, this is going to be more about endurance than strict compliance. Better to praise people for the efforts they do make than to berate them for failing to meet whatever strict criteria you've developed after reading too many fear-mongering articles. That runner without a mask almost certainly won't spread the virus, but a group of people having a protest or an underground party or church service will! If we drive people to abandon the cause because of purity tests, we will all suffer.

uoaei 6y ago
The rural half (population-wise) of the country is quite sparse, so limiting your "bubble" is a little easier. The urban half of the country are in cities where most have instituted enforceable shelter-in-place rules, and are generally more liberal so may pay less heed to the rhetoric coming from some members of the federal government.
- groby_b 6y ago
  1) shelter-in-place has been instituted locally because the federal government has been an abysmal failure. 2) Compliance with SIP breaks down along party lines, correct - but it's conservatives who insist that breaking distancing rules is absolutely mandatory to their freedoms. Liberals as a whole are more willing to follow those SIP orders. 3) The rural population has mostly done well because they're fairly insulated from global or even state-wide travel. Unfortunately, the right has taken advantage of the political divide over SIP to organize massive rallies - and pulled in a lot of people from rural areas. Some of them in turn have become infected and now spread things locally. Expect a noticeable uptick in rural places within a few weeks. (I realize #1 & #2 may be replying to something you didn't say - it's not clear what your "paying attention to federal rhetoric" comment refers to, but it looks like it's about SIP?)
  - gizmo686 6y ago
    > shelter-in-place has been instituted locally because the federal government has been an abysmal failure. shelter-in-place was always going to be a local policy. The US government is simply not set up for the federal government to enact such a policy. What was expected, however, is for the federal government to take a strong advisory position and state and local governments to more or less follow the federal guidelines. It would also not be out of character to see some strong-arming from the federal government to "encourage" compliance from the states
grecy 6y ago
> Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the spread of the virus more than enough to avert catastrophe 91,000 Americans have died from this[1], and you don't think it's a catastrophe? Remember, only 2,977 died on 9/11 [2] [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11...
- standardUser 6y ago
  America is suffering greatly from this pandemic, but we have avoided far worse scenarios seen in parts of China and Italy thanks to lockdown efforts. That is what I mean by "avert catastrophe". Healthcare systems were never overloaded and curves have largely been bent.
tensor 6y ago
>If perfect compliance was required we'd be suffering the consequence right now. Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the spread of the virus more than enough to avert catastrophe. Even the predictable, politically-motivated free-riders haven't been enough to render our efforts ineffective (so far). I suspect that American's are the only ones in the world that share this view. To the rest of us your response has been among the worst on the planet. We watch in horror as you intentionally throw lives away.
- standardUser 6y ago
  Per capita deaths in the US are far below the levels in Sweden, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Italy and Spain. So it must be the other parts of the world watching in horror, because many other Western nations are dealing with their own horror at the moment.
  - pstrateman 6y ago
    It's been truly amazing to me how few people understand per capita statistics. Virtually everybody seems to think that the US is doing much worse than Europe, when the exact opposite is the truth.
    - tzs 6y ago
      The US is doing better than Andorra, San Marino, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Italy, Ireland, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands on per capita deaths. The rest of Europe is doing better [1]. If we expand beyond Europe, the list of countries that the US is doing better than remains the same. The list of countries doing better than the US massively expands, to around 180 or more. [1] http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/ http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/
      - mnm1 6y ago
        The US isn't testing enough for that conclusion to be drawn from cases per day. Looking at deaths per day, or per week, the US is number one. Perceptions are correct.

uoaei 6y ago

The rural half (population-wise) of the country is quite sparse, so limiting your "bubble" is a little easier. The urban half of the country are in cities where most have instituted enforceable shelter-in-place rules, and are generally more liberal so may pay less heed to the rhetoric coming from some members of the federal government.

groby_b 6y ago
1) shelter-in-place has been instituted locally because the federal government has been an abysmal failure. 2) Compliance with SIP breaks down along party lines, correct - but it's conservatives who insist that breaking distancing rules is absolutely mandatory to their freedoms. Liberals as a whole are more willing to follow those SIP orders. 3) The rural population has mostly done well because they're fairly insulated from global or even state-wide travel. Unfortunately, the right has taken advantage of the political divide over SIP to organize massive rallies - and pulled in a lot of people from rural areas. Some of them in turn have become infected and now spread things locally. Expect a noticeable uptick in rural places within a few weeks. (I realize #1 & #2 may be replying to something you didn't say - it's not clear what your "paying attention to federal rhetoric" comment refers to, but it looks like it's about SIP?)
- gizmo686 6y ago
  > shelter-in-place has been instituted locally because the federal government has been an abysmal failure. shelter-in-place was always going to be a local policy. The US government is simply not set up for the federal government to enact such a policy. What was expected, however, is for the federal government to take a strong advisory position and state and local governments to more or less follow the federal guidelines. It would also not be out of character to see some strong-arming from the federal government to "encourage" compliance from the states

grecy 6y ago

> Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the spread of the virus more than enough to avert catastrophe 91,000 Americans have died from this[1], and you don't think it's a catastrophe? Remember, only 2,977 died on 9/11 [2] [1] https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_September_11...

standardUser 6y ago
America is suffering greatly from this pandemic, but we have avoided far worse scenarios seen in parts of China and Italy thanks to lockdown efforts. That is what I mean by "avert catastrophe". Healthcare systems were never overloaded and curves have largely been bent.

tensor 6y ago

>If perfect compliance was required we'd be suffering the consequence right now. Turns out, the American way of half-assing it has been sufficient to slow the spread of the virus more than enough to avert catastrophe. Even the predictable, politically-motivated free-riders haven't been enough to render our efforts ineffective (so far). I suspect that American's are the only ones in the world that share this view. To the rest of us your response has been among the worst on the planet. We watch in horror as you intentionally throw lives away.

standardUser 6y ago
Per capita deaths in the US are far below the levels in Sweden, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Italy and Spain. So it must be the other parts of the world watching in horror, because many other Western nations are dealing with their own horror at the moment.
- pstrateman 6y ago
  It's been truly amazing to me how few people understand per capita statistics. Virtually everybody seems to think that the US is doing much worse than Europe, when the exact opposite is the truth.
  - tzs 6y ago
    The US is doing better than Andorra, San Marino, Belgium, Spain, the UK, Italy, Ireland, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands on per capita deaths. The rest of Europe is doing better [1]. If we expand beyond Europe, the list of countries that the US is doing better than remains the same. The list of countries doing better than the US massively expands, to around 180 or more. [1] http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/ http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/
    - mnm1 6y ago
      The US isn't testing enough for that conclusion to be drawn from cases per day. Looking at deaths per day, or per week, the US is number one. Perceptions are correct.