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Yeah. I hate this 'holier than thou' attitude that some folks on this thread are displaying. We are all human, and we all do stupid things based on our psycholo

by bjz_ 12y ago

Yeah. I hate this 'holier than thou' attitude that some folks on this thread are displaying. We are all human, and we all do stupid things based on our psychology. The best we can do is create systems to help guard against our own mistakes.

jeffdavis 12y ago
"The best we can do is create systems to help guard against our own mistakes." Like enforced isolation of some kind? The thing that people have been asking for since the beginning, but is a bad idea for some reason that nobody can explain?
- EliRivers 12y ago
  Perhaps it's illegal to imprison people who have committed no crime, on the guess that because they were interacting with people who had a disease, they might have it too. Also, in this case and many like it, imprisoning this man would have been much more expensive than simply testing him for the disease. There you go; one reason it's a bad idea to imprison someone you think might be carrying ebola is that you can just test their blood and know for sure if they are. Seems a lot cheaper and better all round than imprisoning people.
  - dhimes 12y ago
    Quarantine is not imprisonment, and is certainly not illegal. In fact, it is customary if you, for example, sail a boat from one country to another. The point here is that it's not clear that there's a reason to enforce a quarantine- yet. But if it becomes clear, then we need to have the balls to do it.
    - EliRivers 12y ago
      Quarantine is not imprisonment Are they free to leave whenever they wish? No? Sure sounds like imprisonment. Maybe it's for the best, but that doesn't mean it's not imprisonment. It's on the same moral spectrum as conscription and forced labour; the removal of fundamental rights from an individual for the betterment of a great many other people. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but it should be recognised that under the social system the country in question (USA) subscribes to, it's a fundamentally evil act.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      Detaining people against their will is the definition of imprisonment. While not illegal there should be comprehensive legal safeguards around it. And, if it's not illegal, what are the laws that regulate quarantine in the US?
      - maxerickson 12y ago
        CDC has a bunch of information about this: http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/index.html http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/index.html The sub pages are lengthy and cite specific laws and so on. Skimming, CDC has broad authority to detain travelers and states and local health departments usually have the power to enforce a quarantine (with violation of the quarantine being a misdemeanor).

by bjz_ 12y ago

jeffdavis 12y ago

"The best we can do is create systems to help guard against our own mistakes." Like enforced isolation of some kind? The thing that people have been asking for since the beginning, but is a bad idea for some reason that nobody can explain?

EliRivers 12y ago
Perhaps it's illegal to imprison people who have committed no crime, on the guess that because they were interacting with people who had a disease, they might have it too. Also, in this case and many like it, imprisoning this man would have been much more expensive than simply testing him for the disease. There you go; one reason it's a bad idea to imprison someone you think might be carrying ebola is that you can just test their blood and know for sure if they are. Seems a lot cheaper and better all round than imprisoning people.
- dhimes 12y ago
  Quarantine is not imprisonment, and is certainly not illegal. In fact, it is customary if you, for example, sail a boat from one country to another. The point here is that it's not clear that there's a reason to enforce a quarantine- yet. But if it becomes clear, then we need to have the balls to do it.
  - EliRivers 12y ago
    Quarantine is not imprisonment Are they free to leave whenever they wish? No? Sure sounds like imprisonment. Maybe it's for the best, but that doesn't mean it's not imprisonment. It's on the same moral spectrum as conscription and forced labour; the removal of fundamental rights from an individual for the betterment of a great many other people. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, but it should be recognised that under the social system the country in question (USA) subscribes to, it's a fundamentally evil act.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    Detaining people against their will is the definition of imprisonment. While not illegal there should be comprehensive legal safeguards around it. And, if it's not illegal, what are the laws that regulate quarantine in the US?
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      CDC has a bunch of information about this: http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/index.html http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/index.html The sub pages are lengthy and cite specific laws and so on. Skimming, CDC has broad authority to detain travelers and states and local health departments usually have the power to enforce a quarantine (with violation of the quarantine being a misdemeanor).