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No one should really be finger pointing to anyone when it comes to how the virus has spread. Pandemics like this have been a feature of history from time immemorial . People have caught these things seasonally for centuries and everyone sort of agreed that they were part of life.
The change has been how we now think about these things - not sure if it is technological hubris or just politics. The whole politicization of this into a disease which pits people against each other and grandparents against children is something that has puzzled me. People never used to blame each other that much for passing on colds and flus, yet a virus that is essentially like those even if a bit more deadly and dangerous and which now seems to have replaced them as the primary ILI in circulation is now being assigned a moral status that we would have found crazy to assign to colds and flus just a year ago.
Maybe growing up in Africa (where diseases are part of life) and living with physical ailments (thankfully not so debliltating that they prevent simple pleasures but knowing that my future years will be hard) for decades that represent the prime of my life has made me more humble. Knowing that at some point, I just won't be able to use my fingers and wrists has been in my mind for 10 years now so I try to do things that I know I might not be able to do in the future.
Society would collapse if people didn't do garbage collection, Fedex jobs etc, medical treatment etc. in person. Those people are exposing themselves everyday to the virus. They aren't being paid extra money to do so for the most part. And most of them aren't in the press advocating for themselves about how they are exposed to the virus (other than maybe the medical doctors). Many people can't really choose their luck. Do what you can and leave the rest to God, destiny, whatever. These things have always had a disproportionate impact on the poor for various reasons. And rather than take an approach catered to the risk profiles of people, we are using a universal approach which still tends to end up leaving the poor and those without advocates disproportionately impacted.
Let's hope the vaccines get us out of this mess fairly quickly.
The change has been how we now think about these things - not sure if it is technological hubris or just politics. The whole politicization of this into a disease which pits people against each other and grandparents against children is something that has puzzled me. People never used to blame each other that much for passing on colds and flus, yet a virus that is essentially like those even if a bit more deadly and dangerous and which now seems to have replaced them as the primary ILI in circulation is now being assigned a moral status that we would have found crazy to assign to colds and flus just a year ago.
Maybe growing up in Africa (where diseases are part of life) and living with physical ailments (thankfully not so debliltating that they prevent simple pleasures but knowing that my future years will be hard) for decades that represent the prime of my life has made me more humble. Knowing that at some point, I just won't be able to use my fingers and wrists has been in my mind for 10 years now so I try to do things that I know I might not be able to do in the future.
Society would collapse if people didn't do garbage collection, Fedex jobs etc, medical treatment etc. in person. Those people are exposing themselves everyday to the virus. They aren't being paid extra money to do so for the most part. And most of them aren't in the press advocating for themselves about how they are exposed to the virus (other than maybe the medical doctors). Many people can't really choose their luck. Do what you can and leave the rest to God, destiny, whatever. These things have always had a disproportionate impact on the poor for various reasons. And rather than take an approach catered to the risk profiles of people, we are using a universal approach which still tends to end up leaving the poor and those without advocates disproportionately impacted.
Let's hope the vaccines get us out of this mess fairly quickly.
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