Iâve been very rational up to now. Sure they havenât been perfect, but theyâve been a damn sight better than the US.
The bottom line is the the US right-wing is so completely filled wwith hubris and denial that they canât accept a shred of blame for something which they are squarely to blame for - the complete and utter mismanagement, or dismanagement, of the crisis.
Their entire worldview has come crashing down around them in flames and thatâs even before you consider the likelihood that Trump doesnât see this as a crisis at all, but an opportunity, and has no real interest in saving lives at all.
Thatâs pretty much the only conclusion one can come to from watching what he has done over the last two months and heâs on record as saying he would welcome society âburning downâ and âgoing to hellâ.
A quarter of supporters said theyâd welcome a catastrophic event such as a pandemic, FFS sake.
I love your optimism. All countries might well be prepared for the next pandemic, no doubt many thought they were all set for this one just look next door. The likelihood remains however that whatever politics rules the roost next time will fuck it up just as much as those in positions of power did this time and probably get a jump in approval ratings while theyâre at it.
Itâs still fairly warm in most of Australia. If you look at where the outbreaks are worst, itâs a lot colder, New York currently, Italy and Spain in Feb/March, the UK. We have similar temps to Australia here in CA at present, relatively low numbers. Africa is largely untouched as are the warmer areas of Asia. Correlation, like BCG vaccines and quinine usage, but it would give you hope as temperatures increase in the northern hemisphere it should start to abate, as most respiratory viruses do.
Yet there are those that say we need more state control. I am in agreement with you that governments have failed us, and indeed politics in general. We have to find a better way of holding them accountable, an election every 4 or 5 years doesnât cut it, it just replaces one set of useless cunts with another.
It surely cannot have escaped the attention, of even the most devout right wing fruitcake, that the default position for all governments, in this time of crisis, as in many others, was to go directly to state intervention, no questions asked, Trump, Tories, FFG, some of the most conservative Govts ever elected, throwing endless money from the magical money tree to keep some sense of order intact.
Begs 2 fundemental questions, where precisely can we see this magical money tree for ourselves and To what extent are we to allow inequality be the measure of one countries percieved âsuccessâ against another from here on
State capacity and state power is everything in this situation.
International co-operation is everything in this situation, working closer together, not further apart.
If those who proclaim belief in the free market truly believed in what they preach, why have most of them suddenly turned into socialists?
There has to be international solutions to this, there has to be another Bretton Woods type initiative at the very least.
To have another Bretton Wooods, you need to get rid of the charlatans - Trump, Putin, Modi, Xi, Bolsonaro etc. and all the other far right or dictatorial mini-mes.
We see âmarketâ solutions playing put in front of our eyes with the PPE situation. Itâs a disaster.
Nobody who has a single brain cell is proposing âmarketâ solutions.
Leading US professors of public health have praised the WHOâs actions during this crisis, though simultaneously saying theyâve been far from perfect.
But what particularly sticks out is the miniscule funding the WHO receives compared to the massive global role it is expected to play.
Reasonable questions, but drinking is the priority now so will answer tomorrow.
The countries that are doing best are the ones that generate wealth from capitalism. The contribution from the private sector has been truly phenomenal here. There is simply no other way to generate wealth.
No one is arguing this. Equally phenomonal is the default state intervention during a crisis, indeed more telling too. Perhaps we shall see the state ensure a more equitable distribution of wealth, no matter how it is generated, from here on
Fair play to them for not giving in to the hysteria. They will take measures as the data changes it seems. Russian roulette with their citizens is complete hyperbole. Iâm sure thereâll be a few here hoping for deaths to skyrocket there to justify the lockdowns.
