Post by AztecWilliam on Apr 2, 2020 10:57:14 GMT -8
I was reading the 2020 football season thread. My thoughts started to wander to the more global considerations of this issue. For that reason I am starting this thread here.
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Frankly, I am worried. Very worried. We worry about the coming football season. But more than that, I am worried for people such as my wife and me. I will turn 78 in October, and my wife will turn 85 in September. Moreover, Patricia has serious "underlying health conditions". Folks like us may have to stay at home months and months longer than those who are younger and more fit. How are you going to have football games if the rate of infection is lower but by no means insignificant?
But there is an even more ominous issue facing us. I watched a doctor on TV say that his advice is that everyone should self-isolate for two weeks. What happens if nearly all Americans stay home for two, three, four, or more weeks instead of going to work? What happens if that extends into months? I'm no economist, but it seems clear to me that the U.S. economy would largely collapse. How many people would die because the food supply chain breaks down? How many people would be at risk because the rate of crime soars due to a breakdown in civil society?
We have seen that many store shelves become empty because the goods are obtainable but cannot keep up with panic buying. What happens when the economy collapses and goods are no longer available? I'll tell you what happens. People start thinking, correctly, that it's every man for himself. Add in the ample supply of firearms in this country and you will see a complete breakdown in law and order. Apparently, in some places the police are doing nothing when looters run out with arm-loads of goods. And that's with law and order more or less intact.
Those who criticize Pres. Trump every chance they get were outraged when he said something about the cure (for the pandemic) perhaps being worse than the virus. I can understand that sentiment. But consider this. Let’s say that the economy collapses. We would probably see wide-spread cases of looting and gun battles between groups of citizens who have organized themselves into local vigilante groups because law enforcement is overwhelmed. The President's question will be asked again.
This is not a trivial problem. This is not like Vietnam, a crisis that could be cured by declaring victory and heading for the nearest airfield. We certainly cannot do nothing. But how far can we go in shutting down the economy without discovering that we have suddenly turned the clock back to 1932? I, being born during WWII, have no memory of the 1930s. But my mom and dad graduated from high school in 1933. They lived through the Great Depression and their memories of those days were not pleasant.
We must think this problem through very carefully. Choosing the wrong course of action might well put this country in terrible shape for many years. Worse yet, it could threaten the constituional basis of the U.S.A.
AzWm
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Frankly, I am worried. Very worried. We worry about the coming football season. But more than that, I am worried for people such as my wife and me. I will turn 78 in October, and my wife will turn 85 in September. Moreover, Patricia has serious "underlying health conditions". Folks like us may have to stay at home months and months longer than those who are younger and more fit. How are you going to have football games if the rate of infection is lower but by no means insignificant?
But there is an even more ominous issue facing us. I watched a doctor on TV say that his advice is that everyone should self-isolate for two weeks. What happens if nearly all Americans stay home for two, three, four, or more weeks instead of going to work? What happens if that extends into months? I'm no economist, but it seems clear to me that the U.S. economy would largely collapse. How many people would die because the food supply chain breaks down? How many people would be at risk because the rate of crime soars due to a breakdown in civil society?
We have seen that many store shelves become empty because the goods are obtainable but cannot keep up with panic buying. What happens when the economy collapses and goods are no longer available? I'll tell you what happens. People start thinking, correctly, that it's every man for himself. Add in the ample supply of firearms in this country and you will see a complete breakdown in law and order. Apparently, in some places the police are doing nothing when looters run out with arm-loads of goods. And that's with law and order more or less intact.
Those who criticize Pres. Trump every chance they get were outraged when he said something about the cure (for the pandemic) perhaps being worse than the virus. I can understand that sentiment. But consider this. Let’s say that the economy collapses. We would probably see wide-spread cases of looting and gun battles between groups of citizens who have organized themselves into local vigilante groups because law enforcement is overwhelmed. The President's question will be asked again.
This is not a trivial problem. This is not like Vietnam, a crisis that could be cured by declaring victory and heading for the nearest airfield. We certainly cannot do nothing. But how far can we go in shutting down the economy without discovering that we have suddenly turned the clock back to 1932? I, being born during WWII, have no memory of the 1930s. But my mom and dad graduated from high school in 1933. They lived through the Great Depression and their memories of those days were not pleasant.
We must think this problem through very carefully. Choosing the wrong course of action might well put this country in terrible shape for many years. Worse yet, it could threaten the constituional basis of the U.S.A.
AzWm
