4 ms·
> "...but if we had something like an incurable smallpox or measles going around there would be a lot more consensus..." so, working as designed. our governmen
by clairity 6y ago
> "...but if we had something like an incurable smallpox or measles going around there would be a lot more consensus..."
so, working as designed. our government was never designed to be highly mobilizable, except in the face of extraordinary threat (because then it would be too easy to mobilize for "evil").
while covid may seem to be a massive existential threat to those of us who've never faced anything more dangerous than the flu, it's a minor blip relative to the rest of human history. covid is serious but not extraordinary, which is why there isn't extraordinary concensus (and why everyone thinks it's handled all wrong).
- cma 6y agoIt would have been so cheap to handle early with more strict policies.
- clairity 6y agothat's hindsight bias at best. strict policies are not cheap by any measure. the best we could have done cheaply was distancing (and self-quarantining when sick), and drilling that singular message everywhere and all the time. instead, we got lost in the weeds of what-ifs, symptoms, masks, death counts, lockdowns, etc.
- cma 6y agoIt's been obvious from observation, no hindsight needed, since S Korea's outbreak and handling. And again once you had Italy to compare.