The boss and I were talking about that very same thing the other day. It is back to school in a month up here and both of us agreed that if we were teachers qualified to retire we would be gone under those circumstances.
Bob
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There is no way I would work as a teacher in a classroom. Life is to short. I would not risk my life for a paycheck if I had the choice.
My daughter in law, the teacher, just took a years sabbatical. We fully support her decision.
C.S. Lewis -
https://americandigest.org/c-s-lewis...an-atomic-age/
I think Lewis makes a good point. If we become so preoccupied with avoiding the risks of life, which are many, then we add an additional risk - that of not really living.
There is a not so fine line there.We could all go rock climbing without ropes and drink water from that bubbling brook next hike or drive 120 miles an hour. So if I die I die doing something I like eh?
To those who think we should just throw caution to the wind and screw staying home and shutting down and wearing masks and hey herd immunity will solve the problem the question then becomes how many folks are you willing to sacrifice? Maybe a quarter million or maybe one million maybe more but hey the economy will be fine.
So you sit down and watch the news in the morning and see 150,000+ dead from this thing and think my, what a terrible thing and then go on with your life. Yes it be easy to read about the death of strangers. What if it's your family having a loved one in the hospital fighting for their lives.
Sure there are no guarantees in life. You could get terminal cancer tomorrow or get run over by a truck tonight or we could be invaded by Klingons tomorrow or be hit by a giant meteor. but there are some things we can do something about as opposed to some things we can't.
If you live to be around 80 and have to spend a year or less restricted so what percentage of your life has been spent "not living"? What is a human life worth to you? Civilization will survive just about everything. It survived the black death, it survived two world wars and it will survive this.
Hyperbole anyone?? Hello???
Who says really living means living recklessly? I think Lewis (and common sense) would agree that we take certain precautions, but that we don't allow fear to dominate. Remember Roosevelt's great quote?
One thing we could do is to end the rioting in the streets. If staying home and isolating will help end the spread of the virus (not to mention ending the disorder and destruction) then that should be a priority. Or is that one of those things that we can't, or won't?
Apparently all of those involved (in the rioting - both participating and facilitating) have thrown caution to the wind and said "screw it." How many are they willing to sacrifice? It seems they want to screw the economy, which may not be fine at all when this is all over.
Awesome comments, I have had to go out and work the entire time as I am an essential worker... We don't know really what the virus is capable of, it is still mutating according to what I have read. And in response to above comment my mother died from the flu a few years ago and it is hard for sure. She survived WWII, Korea, the Asian and Hong Kong Flu pandemics which the world lost over a million people during each outbreak and over 100K each here in the U.S.
The loss of life is going to be horrific worldwide because of the long reaching effects of the virus, they are projecting anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 people a month starving due to food shortages because of the economic impact of the virus. The impact on the world economy is going to be far reaching and last a long time, I am just praying it doesn't mutate like the 1918 flu did then I believe we will see what bad really is..
I'd say that the virus has had no impact on the economy. It is just a very tiny RNA strand enclosed by a protein capsule. Not even really a living (by most definitions of "living") thing. It don't care a hoot about human economies.
What has affected the economy is our, primarily our elected representatives, reaction to the virus. What short term, and long term, economic, educational, and social effects that result from our handling of the pandemic is yet to be determined.
My regret is that our descendants may be damning us eternally for the effects, that they will inherit, due to our pandemic policies and decisions of today.
Kind of a which came first argument like the chicken or the egg. Makes no difference because you can't have one without the other.
It is here now and nobody has had to deal with a global calamity that the Covid 19 represents in recent modern history. What happened 100 years ago the economy of that time has no relationship to the economy of today. Today the economy is a global thing and the virus has kicked the slats out of the worlds economy.
No government world wide had seriously considered the consequences of this type of event much less took any concrete steps to plan for one. That in itself limits how you can react to it. You have 2 choices and good luck picking the lesser of the 2 evils.
Yea, future generations will have to deal with the fallout from this pandemic and that is just the way of the world. Hope they draw some lessons from what is happening now and learn from it.
Bob
That chicken or egg first paradox may be a false dichotomy. It assumes that one or the other must be true. Alternately, the solution may be some other, as yet unknown, explanation.
I too hope that future generations learn from history. So far, despite repeat warnings from those that came before us, we're not very good at it.
Not sure I can agree with there being no relation between the economy from 100 years ago and what we have today:
The economy from 100 years ago was massively affected by WW1. The USA became a bit of a global force because of it, and its fortunes exponentially enhanced. Germany's defeat and terms of surrender caused massive inflation in that country, which was a large reason why the NAZIs gained such power at the time, and WW2 started. Had THAT not happened the imperial colonies would not have been given Independence, the UK would have likely remained the powerhouse, and the USA would not have been propelled into the leaders of the free world (it was still England, even after WW1), where again, the fortunes of the country skyrocketed, and the average citizen prospered greatly. I would argue that the economy we have today in the US is directly related to the economy of the US (and the world) 100 years ago.
Not saying that we feel the ripples of economic ebb and flow, always and forever (or else the Dutch or Spanish may be the leaders of the free world right now!)... but at least within the past 120 or so years, I think they are very much connected.
We have been pretty lucky down here in New Zealand.
There is no community transmitted cases because we went into lock down relatively early.
The only cases we are getting now are residents who have been returning from overseas, and family members coming here to attend funerals, or see loved ones with terminal illnesses etc. They are put in managed isolation for 2 weeks and tested for the virus.
The problem with this is people are attempting to break out of isolation to see family and friends.
That's the human condition, you are naturally going to attempt to do this, but then again the question is the risk of community transmission happening again.
The impact financially is going to be big because our tourism industry was aimed at overseas visitors.
Of all the flu's and viruses that have popped up in recent years, none worried me, but from the start this one concerned me.
I don’t think luck had much to do with the COVID status in NZ.
Your live on an island with a government that took timely and effective action and a population that accepted the constraints imposed on everyone for the greater good.
That is a model from which the rest of the world should learn.
Found this an interesting read from an American https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world...?ocid=msedgdhp
Bob
Some of our MPs were very reluctant to go into lock down because of the economic cost, just like many other countries.
Some wanted to close the border earlier.
A week or two later, and the outcome may have been vastly different, so some luck involved. It is a huge decision to basically close down a country completely for 6 weeks. The economic impact is yet to hit because of various subsidies the government has made available.
Now they are saying prepare for a second wave of infection.
In a lighter vein: bored Canadians deal with COVID and social distancing:
https://apple.news/A-XhIvJS7SES1pokyKgwfAA
After the excellent results against Covid 19 New Zealand has had you have new out break from an unknown source causing the reintroduction of restrictions. That should be a warning to people in other countries that you just can't underestimate resilience of this virus.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world...?ocid=msedgdhp
Bob
An interesting take on what has happened in OZ during their regular flu season and how it could effect North America's flu season.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canad...?ocid=msedgdhp
Bob