Friends, as we contemplate the spread of the dreaded coronavirus, and the public reaction to it, it's helpful to listen to what some of the experts have to say, and to keep in perspective how minor the threat is for most people. As usual, the media loves a good panic, and the Dems see an opening if the economy tanks or if Americans start dying by the millions: they hope to blame Trump, naturally. My advice is: don't French kiss any wheezy Asian tourists, sure, but otherwise just take a deep breath, wash your hands a little more often than usual, and go about your business. Despite what you may have heard, the sky isn't falling, and life, for most of us, will go on.
https://slate.com/technology/2020/02/coronavirus-silent-spread-actually-good-sign.html
Dr. Waddy, I need your guidance. What do we do if this virus wipes out almost the entire film industry, media, academic community, and the majority of The House of Representatives in Congress? Thanks for your guidance.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Anonymous
Dr. Waddy and Anonymous: Having read the article and having no expertise, I cannot myself offer any creditable comment outside of my view on the political effect.
ReplyDeleteUh, would that we were free of that corrosive, degrading element of our polity, somehow. Its instructive to read about how the Black Death restructured English society in the late 1300's.Bernie would rejoice because it lent much power to the "working people" he advocates in such a patronizing manner (uh, but when did he ever live blue collar life?).
Surely the American left hopes for this outbreak to have devastating effects, informational and political if not (maybe?) physical. They are looking to the present Stock Market turmoil to empower their candidate as 2008 did flighty Obama. Perish the financial harm done all those "haves".
Anonymous, I can only speculate on the yawning chasm that would open in our great nation's high culture if the luminaries of the arts, the media, and academia were to be (cruelly!) taken from us. Maybe we'd be forced to read the classics for entertainment and edification, or to consult our neighbors, family members, and/or pastors for moral guidance? Oh, the horror! The Marxist utopia would slip further than ever from our grasp...
ReplyDeleteJack -- I'm no expert on the Black Death, but from what I've read it did indeed alter social and economic relationships in some important ways. Maybe someday there will be another pandemic with similar effects, but I'm 99.9% sure that COVID-19 won't be the guilty party, and I strongly suspect that nowadays the only diseases that could kill people with medieval efficiency would have to be designed in a lab. In other news, someone in a lab coat is probably working on that problem as we speak.
Yawn. I wish the media would quit hyping this up. I would like to stand on the street corner and yell, "WASH YOUR HANDS PEOPLE!" This virus is man made from a lab, more than likely China. I would also like to stand on that proverbial street corner and tell people to do their homework.
ReplyDeleteHear hear! What makes you think the virus is man-made?
ReplyDeleteWell...my son knows more about this stuff (bio science) and he's not here at the moment, but he mentioned something about the Wuhan Inst. of Virology. Apparently they have been working on some sort of study on coronavirus. This very lab leaked the SARS back in 2004. I admit, probably conspiracy thoughts-but some things are just odd about this and how quiet China is this. Plus, the dr.'s and research people have ended up dead over there. There are plenty of news stories about this. Is it conspiracy or just oddness? No one knows. But it did originate in Wuhan. The seafood market thought (eating odd things) has been debunked though.
DeleteHmm. I've heard that theory too. Stranger things have happened, but I'll reserve judgement until there's proof. If it was a designer virus, perhaps there would be biological indications of that?
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