CORONAVIRUS PANIC WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE

[boost]

Poop and Ong, you guys are talking past each other, but you both have valid points.

The effects on the spread of the virus are drastically different when you compare small gatherings to large gatherings. If you are not vulnerable, you don't need to live in a bunker, but avoiding unnecessary large social gatherings goes a long way to protect the vulnerable. If you're continuing to work in a public facing role, i.e. as a barista, cashier, etc, making yourself an ideal vector for the virus, you absolutely should not attend large social gatherings.

On the other hand, if everyone holes up for the next month, the economy will fall apart. This is also a public health disaster, and depending on how bad the economy gets, it could be a far worse catastrophe than 50% of the 65+ population dying. The economy is not the stock market. It's not just a measure of how big corporations are doing. It affects us all. Take a look at Venezuela: 80% of households are food insecure. Whatever the reasons for the state of their economy, that's a small snapshot of a failing economy. People will become homeless, landlords and homeowners will be foreclosed on, people will lose jobs and permanently fall out of the workforce.

There's almost always a trade off, it's almost always a balancing act. This is not the exception.

[Poopadoop]

On the other hand, if everyone holes up for the next month, the economy will fall apart.

Just to be clear, I don't for one minute think everyone should stop working and move to a self-contained bunker.

All I said was don't attend large gatherings just because you're young and the personal risk to you is low (iow, don't be a cunt who becomes a disease vector).

Take a look at Venezuela: 80% of households are food insecure. Whatever the reasons for the state of their economy, that's a small snapshot of a failing economy. People will become homeless, landlords and homeowners will be foreclosed on, people will lose jobs and permanently fall out of the workforce.

There's almost always a trade off, it's almost always a balancing act. This is not the exception.

If you're saying if everyone stops working and goes to live in a bunker, then we'll all be fucked, I agree.

If you're trying to say people practising responsible social distancing will turn us into Venezuela, you're wrong.

The economy is going to take a knock regardless. Closing borders and disrupting supply chains are large scale decisions that we have no control over, but that nonetheless affect us. I'm powerless to influence those, but I can possibly influence people to use their common sense in flattening the curve - by not being cunts.