Re: Todays rant

Am 03.12.2024 um 02:50 schrieb AMuzi:

On 12/2/2024 7:22 PM, John B. wrote:

On Mon, 2 Dec 2024 10:46:21 -0600, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
>

On 12/2/2024 10:17 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 12/1/2024 8:21 PM, AMuzi wrote:

>
Aside from general fiscal and monetary errors, the
widespread overreactions to the Wuhan virus at State/local
levels suppressed production while cash transfers (a
substantial proportion of which were outright fraud*)
enhanced demand amid that reduced supply. Classic error.

>
"Classic error" is a strange term for an essentially
worldwide response to a situation that was unique in modern
times. Or perhaps you're claiming that the same mistake was
made when dealing with the Black Death of the 1300s?
>
I'm aware that you and a few others are still claiming all
responses to COVID-19 were overreactions. But that's a
combination of "Monday morning quarterbacking" and
irrational worship of Free Market magic.
>
Cast your mind back to hospitals so crowded that patients
were being treated in parking lot polyethylene tents, in
nation after nation. Despite some idiotic claims that COVID
was no worse than a seasonal flu, people were dying by
thousands and there were very legitimate fears of a near-
total collapse of the medical system.
>
On one hand were the most expert medical professionals in
every western nation. Most skeptics, OTOH, were the usual
crew who believe nothing but what they "learned" in their
almost-completed high school educations and by watching
their favorite YouTubers.
>
As with certain other situations, we don't really know what
would have happened if everyone would have pretended COVID
wasn't happening. But it's silly to pretend this worldwide
event should somehow have had zero economic repercussions.
>

>
One example:
>
Governor 'Queen Gretchen' Whitmer ordered Michigan
manufacturers closed and even prohibited commercial carriers
form servicing them so UPS/FedEx couldn't carry what
inventory they had. Velocity, located in Michigan, was
devastated and although we never closed one day our
customers were unable to buy new wheels once we ran through
our inventory. What possible advantage did that achieve?
>
Another:
Illinois Governor J B Pritzker, our nation's fattest
governor, ordered churches closed but allowed casinos and
liquor stores (State tax generating entities) to remain
open.  Because... Science!!
>
I can go on across the country for pages and pages of
similar without even searching period news reports.
>
'Overreaction' is the most polite term I could have used.

>
And yet the U.S. had much greater levels of cases and deaths, per
capita,  then other countries that took more strict precautions . Bad
luck?

 Much discussed, both here on RBT and across the culture.
 Direct payments for post mortem diagnosis led to extreme overcounts (including. early on, a couple on a motorcycle killed by a red light runner).  Dying while exposed is not the same as dying of a virus.

Even if the rules for cause-of-death attribution were different in different countries (e.g. in Germany, they disallowed coroner's action for several months for fear of spreading the disease), the excess fatality rate as a statistical tool would give you comparable ballpark figures across the world.
Rolf