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The pandemic was definitely extended in the US due to politics. Every attempt at curtailing the spread was rolled back or defeated specifically due to politics

by ajford 5y ago

The pandemic was definitely extended in the US due to politics. Every attempt at curtailing the spread was rolled back or defeated specifically due to politics at the highest levels of the US Gov't, from not implementing travel bans as appropriate to blocking masking mandates, to state level gov'ts re-opening economies and lifting lockdowns during surges. The current hot-spots in the US are almost perfectly aligned on US political boundaries. Even now it continues as masking and vaccination continues to be politicized with one side spreading obviously unfounded FUD around the vaccine and inflammatory messaging that masking children is "child abuse".

lazide 5y ago
Being ‘extended’ 1) assumes we know when it will be over (we don’t yet!), and 2) we can calculate when/if we are through it, and when/if we would have been through it. It would have required massive, and likely unsuccessful mobilization to lock down travel (both foreign and domestic) enough to actually control Covid aka New Zealand. Considering the land borders and smuggling problems there alone, I think it would have been ultimately futile. Considering how politically fragmented the country was and still is even before the pandemic, trying it somewhat successfully may also have kicked off a Civil war - not that anyone would have tried that hard. Vaccination rollouts could definitely have gone smoother, and better programs to manage the rollouts would have also been really nice - but given the situation above, it would only have been a (short) while before Delta or something like it got going anyway and started spreading. Fewer would have died from COVID probably, but overall deaths may have been similar (more violence during riots? More shooting and civil unrest), and the fear and other issues (socio political strife for instance) would still have happened, just looked different probably. These types of situations are brutally hard. Overall, I’d give the US a solid ‘C’ grade. Not great, not terrible.
umanwizard 5y ago
The pandemic is still going on in plenty of countries other than the US. Trying to blame a global phenomenon on the politics of one country with less than 5% of the world’s population is extremely parochial.

by ajford 5y ago

lazide 5y ago

Being ‘extended’ 1) assumes we know when it will be over (we don’t yet!), and 2) we can calculate when/if we are through it, and when/if we would have been through it. It would have required massive, and likely unsuccessful mobilization to lock down travel (both foreign and domestic) enough to actually control Covid aka New Zealand. Considering the land borders and smuggling problems there alone, I think it would have been ultimately futile. Considering how politically fragmented the country was and still is even before the pandemic, trying it somewhat successfully may also have kicked off a Civil war - not that anyone would have tried that hard. Vaccination rollouts could definitely have gone smoother, and better programs to manage the rollouts would have also been really nice - but given the situation above, it would only have been a (short) while before Delta or something like it got going anyway and started spreading. Fewer would have died from COVID probably, but overall deaths may have been similar (more violence during riots? More shooting and civil unrest), and the fear and other issues (socio political strife for instance) would still have happened, just looked different probably. These types of situations are brutally hard. Overall, I’d give the US a solid ‘C’ grade. Not great, not terrible.

umanwizard 5y ago

The pandemic is still going on in plenty of countries other than the US. Trying to blame a global phenomenon on the politics of one country with less than 5% of the world’s population is extremely parochial.