Nas wrote:
spanky wrote:
spanky wrote:
You know...the ones who still think this thing isn't real...
That this isn't an actual global emergency...
That this is just a made up crisis or a "hoax"...
Keep fighting the good fight, people. You'll eventually prove yourself right when you yourself don't die, or even get seriously sick.
In my day to day personal and work life, I'm down to 2 actual people that still think is some overblown, "30,000 people die from the flu every year" thing. That number has gone way down in the last week.....
I'm not sure of the upside of being one of the last holdouts to accepting science and medicine on something like this, but in a strange way...I admire your persistence.
It seems like we have more people finally realizing “holy shit, this virus is actually serious” since we started this specific discussion. Not only on this board, but in the world in general.
It’s not “the flu”. All of us should be doing our part to stop the spread of this as much as we can.
Nothing has changed. Everyone still believes that it's serious and that the response is stupid. Since your last visit even more actually believe that the response is stupid.
I have to say my position has changed in that I've come to realize that there was no way to stop the economy from crashing by carrying on business as usual. An extra million+ deaths over a six month period was going to be devastating.
And okay, this isn't the flu. But as far as what the coronavirus actually is, I'm not sure. I see all kinds of different numbers, interpretations of numbers, and anecdotes. Obviously, it's far more contagious than the flu. It seems to be more deadly, but even if it isn't, the contagion factor is going to cause it to be so. Whether it's more deadly on a percentage basis is really immaterial. More people are getting it. And more people are going to die than die in a typical flu season. They won't all be 80 years old either.
As far as "getting back to normal" as quickly as possible is concerned, there is no getting back to normal. There will be a new normal. (As much as I dislike the term "new normal".) If we reopened bars and restaurants tomorrow, do you think every waiter and bartender would show up for work? Or would many of them be terrified of catching this shit? Many would show up because they need the money, but it would be like being ordered to go to war. And how many customers would there be?
I still agree with Nas that the response to this can't just be "if it saves a single life we do it". There has to be consideration given to what the world is going to look like after (if?) we can beat this thing.
About a month ago, my cousin and I were talking and he asked, "Why can't we just shut everything down for fourteen days and this would all be over?" Then we both laughed. It seemed utterly absurd at the time. Yesterday I read an article where multiple epidemiologists agreed that if we could freeze every single person in place without anyone within six feet for two weeks this virus would be over.
I don't know if it's too late for such an action now or not. It's obviously more difficult to achieve in a country where freedom and individual rights are high values. You need the public to buy in they way we bought in during the World Wars or after 9/11. And we need to calm people's fears regarding a potential lack of food and other necessities.
I don't blame Trump for this in any way and the media are doing the same things to him they've been doing for four years. But his leadership in this crisis has been squishy at best. It's completely inappropriate to take personal shots at Mitt Romney- or anyone else- when the world is coming apart. I appreciate that he has tried to hang the blame for this on China where it belongs. But his point has been made as much as it can be. It's time to move past that for the time being. China must be dealt with later.
I have to say, coronavirus has made me realize how dumb it's been to argue about who the president is. This is way beyond any single human being who might be in the Oval Office. But we do have to make sure our election goes off as smoothly as possible in November. There can't be any postponement. And we should be making some emergency provision for Congressmen who are stricken to be able to participate in votes and represent their constituents.
Finally, for those who say spanky's retirement is safe, I think that's just wrong. Nothing is safe. Hell, I'm not sure it was safe before this happened. But it seems clear to me that there isn't going to be money to fund everything we want to fund. I see some "socialists" saying that the government must step in and close all "non-essential" businesses and follow that up with massive social spending. Where the fuck do they think the money comes from? Oh, that's right. You just print it.
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