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The frustrating thing about the handling of COVID is watching the climate change story play out at lightning speed. Deny the problem exists, politicize the scie

by paulgb 6y ago

The frustrating thing about the handling of COVID is watching the climate change story play out at lightning speed. Deny the problem exists, politicize the science, eventually admit the problem but say there's nothing we can do about it, etc.

Ensorceled 6y ago
It's almost like there is a playbook for this that just gets applied to things like asbestos, cigarettes, lead gasoline, DDT, sugar, climate change, COVID ...
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  There's no playbook here. It may look like there is, because we keep seeing the same thing happening, but it's not coordination - it's the outcome of everyone caring primarily about their own personal interests over those of everyone else. We've built an economy and a culture that demands this kind of selfishness. COVID-19 gives solid evidence that there is no playbook involved: in terms of political and business processes, the pandemic happened in a flash. And yet every country mismanaged the reaction in roughly the same way, for roughly the same reason. This wasn't coordinated, it's the default way we fail to solve global problems.
  - tootie 6y ago
    I think COVID is different. There have been coordinate disinformation campaigns emanating from vested parties in the past. Tobacco and fossil fuel companies actively invest in tamping down regulation and sponsoring fake science to support their goals. There is no pro-COVID lobby in any corner of the world who wants people to die to protect their profits. Trump has made some ham-fisted attempts to pretend one exists, but in general companies big and small are treating it as very real and very dangerous to their bottom lines. Small businesses and brick and mortars are pushing to relax restrictions with the express intent of trading health for wealth. I see a really disturbing trend among American Conservatives to just decide there's nothing to be done about the pandemic and whoever dies, dies.

by paulgb 6y ago

Ensorceled 6y ago

It's almost like there is a playbook for this that just gets applied to things like asbestos, cigarettes, lead gasoline, DDT, sugar, climate change, COVID ...

TeMPOraL 6y ago
There's no playbook here. It may look like there is, because we keep seeing the same thing happening, but it's not coordination - it's the outcome of everyone caring primarily about their own personal interests over those of everyone else. We've built an economy and a culture that demands this kind of selfishness. COVID-19 gives solid evidence that there is no playbook involved: in terms of political and business processes, the pandemic happened in a flash. And yet every country mismanaged the reaction in roughly the same way, for roughly the same reason. This wasn't coordinated, it's the default way we fail to solve global problems.
- tootie 6y ago
  I think COVID is different. There have been coordinate disinformation campaigns emanating from vested parties in the past. Tobacco and fossil fuel companies actively invest in tamping down regulation and sponsoring fake science to support their goals. There is no pro-COVID lobby in any corner of the world who wants people to die to protect their profits. Trump has made some ham-fisted attempts to pretend one exists, but in general companies big and small are treating it as very real and very dangerous to their bottom lines. Small businesses and brick and mortars are pushing to relax restrictions with the express intent of trading health for wealth. I see a really disturbing trend among American Conservatives to just decide there's nothing to be done about the pandemic and whoever dies, dies.