D&D and the rising pandemic

[Zsong]

You guys are freaking terrifying.

 

[CleverNickName]

It IS freaking terrifying.

4,100 people died from Covid-19 in America yesterday alone. That makes it the second-deadliest singe day in America...I think only the Galveston Hurricane beats it, and probably not for long. (The Battle of Antietam: 3600 people. 9/11: 2,977 people. Pearl Harbor: 2,400 people.) There is no sign of it slowing. We average thousands of deaths every single day here.

Also in America alone, over a quarter-million new cases were reported yesterday as well (260,973). This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day here. Of any virus, ever.

And it's incredibly frustrating to see all of this happening in real-time, watching our lawmakers talk about it like it's not a problem, refusing to follow the example set by other countries. It's not like we don't know what to do, we just don't want to do it. Our lawmakers are just standing around pointing fingers, more concerned about being re-elected and staying wealthy than they are about literally saving lives.

Sorry for the rant; I'm gonna go take some aspirin.

 

[Deset Gled]

You guys are freaking terrifying.

I'll bite. The world is terrifying. Anything specific bother you here?

 

[Deset Gled]

And it's incredibly frustrating to see all of this happening in real-time, watching our lawmakers talk about it like it's not a problem, refusing to follow the example set by other countries. It's not like we don't know what to do, we just don't want to do it. Our lawmakers are just standing around pointing fingers, more concerned about being re-elected and staying wealthy than they are about literally saving lives.

Our lawmakers are actively and deliberately lighting other fires to draw attention away from COVID.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Not really, though. A failure anywhere in the system is a total failure of the system. People are looking at it like it's a simple matter of finding the weakest link in a chain and strengthening it, but that's a poor analogy. A better one is a balloon being popped by a variety of different-sized pins. It doesn't matter which pin, because any single one of them will pop it just as effectively as any other.

Of course I'm exaggerating...the spread of the virus can be limited, the curve can be flattened, measures can be taken. But they aren't the targets we should be aiming for. Total elimination of failures in any system is impossible, but that isn't a reason to abandon the effort. I'm just saying that we need to give equal weight to all of the failures that we have observed, look for others that we might have missed, and then work to eliminate them equally.

Doesn't change the fact you need to know where the failures are to address it; if you think its a medical system failure and are working on that, and its a problem of political will, you're working the wrong problem.

 

[Umbran]

Not really, though. A failure anywhere in the system is a total failure of the system.

If your brakes fail, that is a failure of the car. However, the car's fuel injection system is not guilty by association of being in the same car. When the brakes are the known and demonstrated problem, ranting about spark plugs is misplaced focus.

 

[Zsong]

I'll bite. The world is terrifying. Anything specific bother you here?

Just how everyone runs and cowers from it. One out of every 7 people in the 19th century died of tuberculosis. And then there was measles, whooping cough, small pox, wars and more. I think we have raised a society of cowards that will be let authoritarians lock them up while their livelihoods are being destroyed and we are put into another Great Depression. That’s my opinion of these reactions to the pandemic.

 

[MarkB]

Just how everyone runs and cowers from it. One out of every 7 people in the 19th century died of tuberculosis. And then there was measles, whooping cough, small pox, wars and more. I think we have raised a society of cowards that will be let authoritarians lock them up while their livelihoods are being destroyed and we are put into another Great Depression. That’s my opinion of these reactions to the pandemic.

When you're more worried about your own livelihood than someone else's life, that isn't courage.

 

[Deset Gled]

Deleted.

 

[CleverNickName]

I'm having trouble articulating, which happens when I'm emotional.

I'm trying to say that any failure in a virus control plan will lead to an outbreak, so if the goal is to stop outbreaks you have to focus on preventing all failures. To borrow the car analogy, imagine if a crash would occur no matter what failed on the car....brake pads would be just as vital as the radio in that case, and it would be silly to argue for better radios while ignoring every other system.

I don't know how to build a fail-proof car, and I know that there is only so much that can be done. I'm trying to suggest that all known failures be addressed with equal fervency. Pointing fingers doesn't really work here.

Anyway, that's what I was trying to get across. I'll move on.