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I'm in the thick of this lockdown and frankly I'm damn sick of people from one of the most dysfunctional counties on the planet trying to dictate what we do! S
by hilbert42 5y ago
I'm in the thick of this lockdown and frankly I'm damn sick of people from one of the most dysfunctional counties on the planet trying to dictate what we do! Sure, we've fucked up many things and day-by-day we're getting better and better at fucking them up, nevertheless we're still eons behind the dizzying heights you Americans have reached.
Unlike many Americans, most Australians would prefer to yield to principle than to suicide over it. The pathological notion that your country has for so-called freedoms (which never really existed anyway) is something the world watches with aghast amazement—right, you don't see it as you're in the thick of it but the rest of the world does (the fact that we also speak a form of English is now a source of an embarrassment to us). (And it's now even worse since the Afghanistan fiasco—sorry I mean the Vietnam repeat exercise.)
Let's get a few facts straight: clearly you—along with many of your fellow countrymen—haven't a clue about what happened during earlier pandemics in the US. Right, you're clueless about your own US history in respect of previous pandemics or you'd be much more circumspect in your criticism of others. I would strongly suggest that you examine the rules, laws and regulations that were in place in the US during the 1918-20 Spanish Flu pandemic and you'll find that some of them would put anything we've done over here to shame! Go on—do a search, then read and learn!
Let me continue: I'd also suggest that you Americans had absolutely no qualms about quarantining Mary Mallon (Typhoid Mary) for decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon. Her life must have been hell because of her forced incarceration. Your antiquated health system had no proper way of managing her so you just locked her up then let her rot until she died!
And more, let me quote "Quarantined for Life: The Tragic History of US Leprosy Colonies - Stripped of their most basic human rights, patients nonetheless built lives and communities":
https://www.history.com/news/leprosy-colonies-us-quarantine https://www.history.com/news/leprosy-colonies-us-quarantine. I've nothing to add as the story speaks for itself.
There's much more but I've proved my point.
Now to the local facts here. The fact that we were not strict enough in policing the disease is the reason that it got away from us. That we let international people in and some damn taxi driver idiot drove an infected aircrew to a hotel without protection started it all. If we'd implemented the strict quarantine measures that we had had in place in 1918-19 for the Spanish Flu then it would not have escaped anywhere near as easily.
"Most of the rest of the Western world is looking on in horror. Even writers at The Atlantic."
Oh yeah, if most of the rest of the world is looking at us then it's turned away from looking at you out of horror, we're comic relief by comparison.
Next factoid: the per capita death rate in the US leapfrogs over ours here in Australia by at least an order of magnitude. Why? Because millions of bloody-mined Americans won't wear masks or get vaccinated out of principle (lunacy). Right, they'd prefer to suffer COVID and likely die rather than to admit they're wrong—very grossly wrong (frankly it's sickening to watch it playing out like a tragic soap opera on our TVs every day—all this from the so-called leader of the free world). Even your president says 'it's now a pandemic of the unvaccinated.'
No wonder the Chinese are gloating and laughing themselves sick. If the whole horrible shemozzle weren't so utterly tragic then one would reckon we were watching an episode of the Keystone Cops.
Next time, do your research, get your facts right (I know that's a damned hard ask given that in the US the word 'fact' has come to mean anything or utterance that its utterer thinks it ought to be).
P.S. Keep the downvotes coming, they're further verifying my points!
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- iammisc 5y agoYou're getting down voted because more and more of the us is back to normal and is not experiencing these terrible outcomes. Kids are back in school. People back in offices. Clubs open, bars open, parties, etc. You come across as someone who feels themselves morally superior because they are living in a state of lockdown. Like a holy ascetic hermit mocking the commoners.
- tadfisher 5y agoI live in a blue state, and hospitals are currently setting up tents in parking lots to make room for more COVID patients. ECMO and ventilator capacity is at 100%. This state is far from the top of the list in infection rate. Things are not going back to normal, no matter how much we act like they are.
- iammisc 5y agoThings always go back to normal no matter how many doom preachers there are.
- hilbert42 5y agoExactly, thanks. (I'm sorry I never studied psychology. I've always wanted to know why some people can state categorically that black is white or vise versa when the overwhelming evidence is to the contrary.) :-)
- nhinck 5y agoIt really doesn't seem like you're getting back to normal so much as ignoring excess deaths and being fine with it.