I sure get the feel that it would be, but I hope we get moving on that ASAP before this is over, because I suspect minds have only been temporarily opened on this matter. Before too long I suspect our old heuristics will reassert their dominance over logic on topics that are in any way associated with the identity of the person.
I am going to bookmark this thread in anticipation of this phenomenon.
"Nobody could have foreseen what would happen when the world’s second-largest economy went offline and completely shut down external logistics connections."
Exactly what they said about the housing bubble. Honestly, how many people on HN and elsewhere couldn't anticipate this? I think the main thing that has caught everyone by surprise is just how comically unprepared we are for this. And the overwhelming sentiment I've been getting from the memeplex is that this situation is entirely the fault of Trump, when he fired Obama's pandemic team. Not only is this not actually technically true, the idea or insinuation (dog-whistling) that the extension of that team would have mitigated this whole thing seems to be quite unlikely, to put it mildly. Oh yes, of course having this team in place would have improved things - but by how much, and under what counter-factual scenarios?
These are the discussions we need to have, but I don't think Western culture as it is is capable of having them. We need to wake up and realize the human ego is the root of all of these problems.
This is arguing over whether the iceberg sank the Titanic or the decision to remove bulkheads to make room for the grand ballroom.
It is of course both. Global supply chains and JIT delivery have made us more fragile. But China reacted well - locked down a region of 60 M people - then sent in the resources we of 1.5 BN to stop the spread to the rest of the country. Now they are basically hanging on till a vacccine.
USA pandemic teams probably had similar plans - shutdown California for example - in other words steering away from the worst of the icebergs.
Is China's strategy "best"? Hard call to make - especially now. But it beats many many alternatives.
There is a much larger more fundamental problem I'm referring to. It's right in front of us, and yet invisible, for lack of a better term. Kind of like this virus ironically.
>the overwhelming sentiment I've been getting from the memeplex is that this situation is entirely the fault of Trump, when he fired Obama's pandemic team.
Also Trump 'dependence on China is a huge problem'.
Of course, but if we're seeking the truth, Donald Trump isn't a good place to start.
Dependence on <x> (where <x> could be China or many other things) has been an obvious risk across numerous dimensions for a very long time now. Many of these ideas have been discussed here, although not in a manner befitting for the gravity of the matter.
That even on HN we are often unable to engage in unbiased, purely rational discussion has been another big systemic risk that I have been banging the drum about for months. It makes a person start to wonder: what will it take for people to wake up? Maybe it isn't even possible?
I am going to bookmark this thread in anticipation of this phenomenon.
"Nobody could have foreseen what would happen when the world’s second-largest economy went offline and completely shut down external logistics connections."
Exactly what they said about the housing bubble. Honestly, how many people on HN and elsewhere couldn't anticipate this? I think the main thing that has caught everyone by surprise is just how comically unprepared we are for this. And the overwhelming sentiment I've been getting from the memeplex is that this situation is entirely the fault of Trump, when he fired Obama's pandemic team. Not only is this not actually technically true, the idea or insinuation (dog-whistling) that the extension of that team would have mitigated this whole thing seems to be quite unlikely, to put it mildly. Oh yes, of course having this team in place would have improved things - but by how much, and under what counter-factual scenarios?
These are the discussions we need to have, but I don't think Western culture as it is is capable of having them. We need to wake up and realize the human ego is the root of all of these problems.