View Single Post
Old 03-26-2020, 09:07 AM   #24
piper6909
Registered User
 
piper6909's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: PA
Posts: 1,531
Once again, Maytag, I find myself very much in agreement with you.

I will add, the man's wife in AZ said that they took the Chloroquine BECAUSE they heard Rump talking it up. They chose to believe Rump over a doctor, who was putting the brakes on what he said during the same press conference. Whether he called the virus itself or the reaction to it a hoax, a lot of people have conflated the two. A lot of people, including some on here, believe the virus itself is an overblown hoax. This comes from the top down. This is what happens in a culture of anti-science. This is why a leader must be careful with their words.

Is it political to me? I guess so. It is by default, and someone who tells you differently is lying to you. Because it is our politicians who make things happen, or not make them happen. It all boils down to politics, from the taxes we pay to the stop sign that's at the street corner, to how crises are handled.

The reality is that there is no simple and no pleasant solution. The problem is that a lot of the tools in our economical toolbox had been already squandered before this crisis. The top end tax cuts that resulted in the biggest deficit in in our nation's history, and the arbitrary lowering of interest rates to near zero, all while we were already in good economic times. Now we don't have those tools and we're pretty much crippled during hard times when we really need them.

And it's a false dichotomy to say that we can either save lives or save the economy. The fact is, that if this virus is not controlled, you'll have no commerce, no matter how much you try to keep industries open. You'll still have people out of work, but then you'll have more sick people in addition.

I hope the ones you mentioned recover fully and quickly. And I hope you, and everyone on here stay safe.

Last edited by piper6909; 03-26-2020 at 11:17 AM.
piper6909 is offline