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Calling it a "punishment" is utterly preposterous. For an action to be a punishment there would have to be an intent to punish - and of course there isn't. Th
by GordonS 5y ago
Calling it a "punishment" is utterly preposterous.
For an action to be a punishment there would have to be an intent to punish - and of course there isn't.
This is, quite simply, a very rationale response to a potential threat; if this new variant had been discovered elsewhere, presumably South Africa would ban flights from that country, because it's a sensible, low-impact action that helps safeguard South Africans. Indeed, it's such an obvious response that to not take it would invite some serious political and media criticism.
- chii 5y agoit's not punishment in the traditional sense, but in a game-theoretic sense: it's now disadvantageous to report new variants early, and you are better off waiting for someone else to report first. Think of it this way - your population is already infected, and a travel ban only hurts your economy, but doesn't improve your country's infections. So by waiting, you continue to receive economic benefits from traveling (including any incoming tourists), and only report once it's inevitable that it's going to be found regardless. Edit: you fight against this game-theoretic problem by changing the incentives. If the world pooled together a fund, which is used to offset the costs of travel restrictions to compensate for the sacrifice, then countries would more likely report correctly.
- nothrowaways 5y agoExactly, it rather incentivizes not reporting. A classical prisoners dilemma problem.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- AwaAwa 5y agoExplains why the manufacturing capital of the world 'officially' eliminated Covid within months, while everywhere else struggles with wave upon wave.
- mikro2nd 5y agoAccording to respected epidemiologists I've seen quoted, closing borders against one or a small number of nations amounts to nothing better than performance politics theatre and is of utterly no practical use in slowing or preventing transmission. If we accept that, then it looks a lot like a selective prejudice at work rather than a part of a rational process. Closing all borders might, I guess, be somewhat effective.