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In going off on a tangent If nothing else, this has showed movies to be far removed fron reality. I imagine in hollywood, the US government takes something lik

In going off on a tangent If nothing else, this has showed movies to be far removed fron reality. I imagine in hollywood, the US government takes something like a virus of questionable origin quite seriously. Not just because it can kill you but because it might mutate and a deadly strain might surface and do the real damage. The real response was hard to fathom for most of the world. How can the most powerful nation on earth struggle so badly? More so since we live in the digitally connected age where data is plenty. Does this mean if we had an alien invasion they'd dysfunction as bad as they did? Its outrageous really. Being prepped and having the financial muscle to buy supplies for months in advance is well and good but most people arent in such good financial terms. Therefore prepping is a function of time and money where money is the determining factor. Not a lot of people have a lot of money. As much as they'd like to get into the practice anti-fragility, the economics disagrees with them

robomartin 6y ago
I don't think that's a tangent. I think you are exactly right. The virus uncovered political dysfunction in ways nothing else could have achieved. It also showed the world the state of decimation of the industrial bases of the US, Europe and nearly every nation on the planet. The fact that the US and Europe could not make masks and protective equipment because we don't even make the cloth or the machinery required to manufacture these things at scale was a shocking revelation for anyone not in manufacturing. I think this is one of the reasons for which I reacted so quickly. Aside from having the means, I have been manufacturing things for three decades and have see exactly how badly our supply chain and capabilities have eroded. I want to say that I instinctively knew that a pandemic would likely cause massive shortages due to our lack of mass manufacturing capacity. It also helps that I spent a good deal of my life in Latin America. I remember my parents buying huge sacks of flour, sugar and other things as the economy faltered around them.
- JamisonM 6y ago
  "The fact that the US and Europe could not make masks and protective equipment because we don't even make the cloth or the machinery required to manufacture these things at scale was a shocking revelation for anyone not in manufacturing." Problem is, that's not true!

robomartin 6y ago

I don't think that's a tangent. I think you are exactly right. The virus uncovered political dysfunction in ways nothing else could have achieved. It also showed the world the state of decimation of the industrial bases of the US, Europe and nearly every nation on the planet. The fact that the US and Europe could not make masks and protective equipment because we don't even make the cloth or the machinery required to manufacture these things at scale was a shocking revelation for anyone not in manufacturing. I think this is one of the reasons for which I reacted so quickly. Aside from having the means, I have been manufacturing things for three decades and have see exactly how badly our supply chain and capabilities have eroded. I want to say that I instinctively knew that a pandemic would likely cause massive shortages due to our lack of mass manufacturing capacity. It also helps that I spent a good deal of my life in Latin America. I remember my parents buying huge sacks of flour, sugar and other things as the economy faltered around them.

JamisonM 6y ago
"The fact that the US and Europe could not make masks and protective equipment because we don't even make the cloth or the machinery required to manufacture these things at scale was a shocking revelation for anyone not in manufacturing." Problem is, that's not true!