4 ms·

Agreed with your first paragraph. I don't think your comment about covid makes much sense (200K+ dead in 6 months is pretty damn dire).

umvi 6y ago
> 200K+ dead in 6 months is pretty damn dire Disagree. At least 450k die per year of preventable health conditions (lung cancer + obesity) and nobody bats an eye (that's 4.5M deaths per decade). The flu alone kills orders of magnitude more than covid over longer timelines. A once-in-a-lifetime virus kills medically compromised people at elevated rates for 6 months and people lose their minds? It's not rational.
- gremlinsinc 6y ago
  The spanish Flu killed about 600k Americans. We're on target to hit 400k+ by January. So, it's a safe bet we'll beat the Spanish Flu by next spring. These are people who didn't need to die, who wouldn't have died for another reason. Do you really place such a low price tag on people's lives? What if it were your life, would you gladly sacrifice it?
  - umvi 6y ago
    > The spanish Flu killed about 600k Americans. USA population was also only 100M in 1918. So 600k back then was .6% of the total population. So far covid has killed .06% of the total population, or one order of magnitude less.
    - smegger001 6y ago
      Spanish flu pandemic lasted a little over 2 years, we are just now coming up on 8 months.
- ciarannolan 6y ago
  Out of morbid curiosity, how would you describe 200K+ dead from a contagious disease in 6 months? I'm sticking with "pretty damn dire".
  - umvi 6y ago
    It's not like covid can continue at this rate... there are only so many people with comorbidity or otherwise compromised health. In the year 2030 we will look back and say: "Over the past 10 years, covid killed (on average) X people per year, and the flu killed (on average) Y people per year" Do you predict X or Y will be the higher number? Because I predict Y will be the higher number. And if not in the decade timeframe, certainly Y would be higher in the century timeframe.
    - ciarannolan 6y ago
      So, "it's just fat and sick people that are dead, and they'll all be gone soon enough, who cares"?
      - 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
        These are the people who always die from diseases and yes people don't really care.

umvi 6y ago

> 200K+ dead in 6 months is pretty damn dire Disagree. At least 450k die per year of preventable health conditions (lung cancer + obesity) and nobody bats an eye (that's 4.5M deaths per decade). The flu alone kills orders of magnitude more than covid over longer timelines. A once-in-a-lifetime virus kills medically compromised people at elevated rates for 6 months and people lose their minds? It's not rational.

gremlinsinc 6y ago
The spanish Flu killed about 600k Americans. We're on target to hit 400k+ by January. So, it's a safe bet we'll beat the Spanish Flu by next spring. These are people who didn't need to die, who wouldn't have died for another reason. Do you really place such a low price tag on people's lives? What if it were your life, would you gladly sacrifice it?
- umvi 6y ago
  > The spanish Flu killed about 600k Americans. USA population was also only 100M in 1918. So 600k back then was .6% of the total population. So far covid has killed .06% of the total population, or one order of magnitude less.
  - smegger001 6y ago
    Spanish flu pandemic lasted a little over 2 years, we are just now coming up on 8 months.
ciarannolan 6y ago
Out of morbid curiosity, how would you describe 200K+ dead from a contagious disease in 6 months? I'm sticking with "pretty damn dire".
- umvi 6y ago
  It's not like covid can continue at this rate... there are only so many people with comorbidity or otherwise compromised health. In the year 2030 we will look back and say: "Over the past 10 years, covid killed (on average) X people per year, and the flu killed (on average) Y people per year" Do you predict X or Y will be the higher number? Because I predict Y will be the higher number. And if not in the decade timeframe, certainly Y would be higher in the century timeframe.
  - ciarannolan 6y ago
    So, "it's just fat and sick people that are dead, and they'll all be gone soon enough, who cares"?
    - 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
      These are the people who always die from diseases and yes people don't really care.