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We can’t even wipe out mosquitos. Just tweeted this: > We lost the “War on Terror”, we lost the “War on Drugs”, and as long as we keep declaring war on fundame
by guscost 6y ago
We can’t even wipe out mosquitos. Just tweeted this:
> We lost the “War on Terror”, we lost the “War on Drugs”, and as long as we keep declaring war on fundamental forces of nature, we will keep losing. The only way to win is not to play.
- maxerickson 6y agoHopefully you aren't tweeting that from one of the many areas where malaria was endemic, prior to mosquitoes being wiped out long and frequently enough for the human reservoirs to dry up. Cause ya know, that was pretty worthwhile.
- guscost 6y agoLook up the definition of “eradicate”, and also note that you’re talking about a parasite. The best (read: cheapest) hope for “vector controlling” mosquitos until the malaria parasite was extinct globally was probably DDT, until it was banned.
- maxerickson 6y agoI'm responding to the "not to play" in your comment, not the eradicate. Just because we didn't eradicate human feeding mosquitoes doesn't mean it wasn't hugely worthwhile to play the game of controlling them.
- guscost 6y agoThat statement is in the context of “War on X”, and it is a quote from a movie where the “war” is a total war of mutually-assured destruction.
- maxerickson 6y agoYes, I understand that it was 'poetic'. My point is that it doesn't apply to things like mosquito control, it's just defeatism, eliminating malaria was a great thing for countries that did it, not a nuclear holocaust.
- guscost 6y agoThe trick is in deciding whether something is in the category of “things we can fight against and win”, or not. We probably agree that malaria is in that category. We may disagree about whether mosquitoes are in that category? Coronaviruses are definitely not in that category.
- maxerickson 6y agoI won't be surprised at all if a safe, effective vaccine is developed for SARS-CoV-2 and I further wouldn't be surprised if newer vaccine development methods also make it affordable to attack the occasional longstanding cold virus. If/when we have another, more damaging pandemic, I expect the lesson about how powerful a tool social distancing is to sink in more widely (we are somewhat accidentally having a mild flu season so far; just changing attitudes about what is appropriate when symptomatic would be a benefit, you don't need to do big lockdowns to benefit).
- antepodius 6y agoDon't worry; the lockdowns will never stop.
- jkinudsjknds 6y agoTerrorism and drugs are not a fundamental force of nature. Neither are mosquitoes or coronaviruses for that matter.