You truly can't....
7 May 2020 09:40![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerI'm just aghast. Yes, I knew the virus had been turned into a political thing, that accepting the reality of it put you not just into the camp of people understand that science reflects the reality of day to day living, but also into a political camp.
What I just can't with is how these morons are putting "freedom" and "public health" at two opposing poles.
Latest was the crowing that the morons on the Texas Supreme Court had freed a beauty salon owner who was in jail for violating business closures.
Do these people not think? I just cannot get over the fact that they are ok with denying the basic reality of viral infection, exponential growth, R0, and, well, basically, all the tenets of public health.
By denying science, and the validity of scientific results, the Republicans have created a movement of people who like to think of themselves as "free thinkers" but who are, instead, just idiots. And while climate science and vaccine science are more longer term, more subtle, public health is right now and very very real. And yet Trump and his cronies have managed to cover public health results, valid science, with enough "OMG, it's liberal hoax results" or some such that people deny objective reality.
It helps that the burdens of the disease are disproportionally born by people of colour. As others than me have pointed out, it's not a coincidence that all the reopen now rallies started at the same time as the data came out that African Americans were drying from Covid-19 at a much higher rate than whites.
I'm also horrified at the attitude of people who think it's just ok to let old people die, and just have the younger folk reopen the economy. I mean, it'll mean more dead old people, but they're old who cares? Or just reopen and the vulnerable can stay home and protect themselves. I suspect that is what will have to happen, considering the erratic, insane leadership in this country, but telling a group of people that, through no fault of their own, they must self-banish from society is just.... wrong. It does highlight the fact of who is valued in American society.
The dream of herd immunity... well. Let's put it this way. Sweden, who decided to pursue that goal, isn't doing too well. They've got at least twice times the number of of cases than Denmark, three times as many as their neighbour Norway. Old people have to decline to participate in society. All this in hopes that herd immunity will be achieved, so they can avoid a second wave. Again, never mind that this hurts families.
Do we really want a future in which we say to people "You can't participate in society, because we won't suck it up and figure this out?"
I guess Republicans do. I mean, some of them are out there saying they're fine being granny killers as long as they can go to restaurants and the zoo. No, it's not concern for small business, it's flat out selfish I wanna go out.
Had, thanks to Trump, this had not turned into a complete shit show, a good response might have been to get testing available and immediate paid sick leave guaranteed for all. Then put policies in place to send money to everyone, for rent etc, BUT also money for food and other basic necessities, money to food banks to prepare food packages so that every household can have food for two weeks. Then. Shut. Everything. Down. Hospitals open for emergencies. All Rx either filled before, or filled only at designated pharmacies. No groceries. No takeout. Homeless people given hotel rooms, food, and hot meal delivery on a limited basis. No public transportation, no travel. Staff given extra government $$$ to stay in place in nursing homes and in prisons. Only basic policing, and fines to people leaving homes for anything other than dire emergencies. Two weeks of pure misery.
With a real leader, this could have been coordinated with other countries as well.
As well. We're stuck with our murdering, uncaring, horror shit show of a president. He doesn't care if he kills us all, and his gun toting minions are too dumb to see the consequences of his, and their actions.
What I just can't with is how these morons are putting "freedom" and "public health" at two opposing poles.
Latest was the crowing that the morons on the Texas Supreme Court had freed a beauty salon owner who was in jail for violating business closures.
Do these people not think? I just cannot get over the fact that they are ok with denying the basic reality of viral infection, exponential growth, R0, and, well, basically, all the tenets of public health.
By denying science, and the validity of scientific results, the Republicans have created a movement of people who like to think of themselves as "free thinkers" but who are, instead, just idiots. And while climate science and vaccine science are more longer term, more subtle, public health is right now and very very real. And yet Trump and his cronies have managed to cover public health results, valid science, with enough "OMG, it's liberal hoax results" or some such that people deny objective reality.
It helps that the burdens of the disease are disproportionally born by people of colour. As others than me have pointed out, it's not a coincidence that all the reopen now rallies started at the same time as the data came out that African Americans were drying from Covid-19 at a much higher rate than whites.
I'm also horrified at the attitude of people who think it's just ok to let old people die, and just have the younger folk reopen the economy. I mean, it'll mean more dead old people, but they're old who cares? Or just reopen and the vulnerable can stay home and protect themselves. I suspect that is what will have to happen, considering the erratic, insane leadership in this country, but telling a group of people that, through no fault of their own, they must self-banish from society is just.... wrong. It does highlight the fact of who is valued in American society.
The dream of herd immunity... well. Let's put it this way. Sweden, who decided to pursue that goal, isn't doing too well. They've got at least twice times the number of of cases than Denmark, three times as many as their neighbour Norway. Old people have to decline to participate in society. All this in hopes that herd immunity will be achieved, so they can avoid a second wave. Again, never mind that this hurts families.
Do we really want a future in which we say to people "You can't participate in society, because we won't suck it up and figure this out?"
I guess Republicans do. I mean, some of them are out there saying they're fine being granny killers as long as they can go to restaurants and the zoo. No, it's not concern for small business, it's flat out selfish I wanna go out.
Had, thanks to Trump, this had not turned into a complete shit show, a good response might have been to get testing available and immediate paid sick leave guaranteed for all. Then put policies in place to send money to everyone, for rent etc, BUT also money for food and other basic necessities, money to food banks to prepare food packages so that every household can have food for two weeks. Then. Shut. Everything. Down. Hospitals open for emergencies. All Rx either filled before, or filled only at designated pharmacies. No groceries. No takeout. Homeless people given hotel rooms, food, and hot meal delivery on a limited basis. No public transportation, no travel. Staff given extra government $$$ to stay in place in nursing homes and in prisons. Only basic policing, and fines to people leaving homes for anything other than dire emergencies. Two weeks of pure misery.
With a real leader, this could have been coordinated with other countries as well.
As well. We're stuck with our murdering, uncaring, horror shit show of a president. He doesn't care if he kills us all, and his gun toting minions are too dumb to see the consequences of his, and their actions.
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