General / Off-Topic The safest place

[jasonbarron]

Not a situation anyone is considering and you're ignoring my last sentence.



Not per household, per person.



Assuming everyone would away their windfall in your hypothetical scenario is a stretch, even if many might.

And the formerly rich wouldn't be paupers, they'd have $38k, and whatever know how they had before.



Infrastructure, means of production, and businesses wouldn't vanish, even if the capital and control behind them became dramatically more widely distributed.



Poor people buy goods and services all the time, and proportionally more of their money flows up than the other way around. Employment doesn't just go one way. Jeff Bezos doesn't serve people richer than himself...there aren't any such people. He makes his living and grows his company by profiteering off the labor of paupers while helping to make sure they also pick up more of taxation and other financial burdens that would otherwise eat into his bottom line. In a very real sense, I employ Jeff Bezos, as do tens of millions of other people. His position doesn't make him necessary though, if he dropped dead today, Amazon would do fine without him.



Indeed, without any radical changes to the underlying systems, this would happen to a significant degree. There would be massive and probably rapid reconsolidation, though not all the same people would rise to the top again...plenty of people of wealth and power, quite probably the majority, who inherited what they have or the opportunity to build it, rather than earning it themselves.

Morbad: unmutes jasonbarron....mumble mumble, my communist take on capitalism mumble mumble....re-mutes jasonbarron.

 

[WhiteHaulerMan]

Morbad: unmutes jasonbarron....mumble mumble, my communist take on capitalism mumble mumble....re-mutes jasonbarron.

Exploiting the mute function is weak forum pvp.

 

[jasonbarron]

Back on track: My theory for weeks now is that we've already suffered from Covid going back into mid January but the first "official" cases of Covid in my near vicinity were reported 14 days or so ago. Now that it's officially here one would expect to see a pretty big surge in my small regional hospital, using global/national models of what is commonly accepted. We should already be seeing serious signs of it, actually, but just to be on the safe side say the surge begins to manifest in a dramatic way in another week tops, the morgues filling shortly thereafter.

What am I to think if a week from today comes and goes and things aren't changing in a dramatic, acute fashion?

 

[Synkreto]

I agree but the end result will be the same.
Some people will float to the top and others will resent them doing so.

Currently in the UK people are resenting footballers for still getting paid while backroom staff are being laid off/paid the government 80% handout. A lot of footballers come from average / lower backgrounds but they are not going to empathise and give their pay check away, why should they.

While the floating to the top may well happen, in the course it is augmented by randomness more than most people would like to think .

Are soccer players in UK actually "going to work" ? I mean, are they playing ?

 

[sewerratuk]

Are soccer players in UK actually "going to work" ? I mean, are they playing ?

I'm pretty sure you know the answer to that question. However, according to Gary Lineker everyone should back off as they are doing lots of good work promoting stay at home. Not that I've seen much of it.
However, player salaries are based on the global branding sales so I guess if they don't bring in the money, at some point they will not get paid

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Should we be wearing masks to go out?

NPR Cookie Consent and Choices

Of course we should, since January.

Source: https://youtu.be/yN3BWaEH3tY


It doesn't have to be a medical mask necessarily, since the environment in public isn't going to be drenched in virion carrying droplets like a hospital.

This lends itself to a whole cottage industry.

Fashion Face Mask - Etsy

Browse a wide selection of fashion face mask and face coverings available in various fabrics and configurations, made by a community of small business-owners.

www.etsy.com

Personally, the whole urban dystopian Blade Runner vibe appeals to my inner cosplayer.
A plain bandanna can work over any ugly medical mask. We don't have to surrender a sense of style. A cool hat would help too. You could leave the sign of Zorro everywhere!

Hypebeast. Driving Culture Forward

Hypebeast is the leading online destination for men's contemporary fashion and streetwear. Shop at our store and also enjoy the best in daily editorial content.

hypebeast.com

This guy here ^ makes masks out of shoes.

Or, you can go cyberpunk

CYBERPUNK NEO4IC TECHWEAR FACEMASK BUNDLE

This bundle comes with all 3 facemasks: PARTICLE3041N3TWORK Our premium constructed facemask features flat lock construction and shortened length design for a comfortable and secure fit. Dri-FIT® fabric wicks away moisture. FEATURES: Skull wrap UPF 30+ Rating Made with Dri-FIT® fabric for...

neo4ic.com

Let's get cracking on getting our dystopian hell off the ground!

 

[Morbad]

I agree but the end result will be the same.
Some people will float to the top and others will resent them doing so.

Resentment is understandable when some people get to play by better rules than others from day one.

Those in power get to make these rules and they make these rules for the benefit of themselves, at the general expense of everyone else. Which is why the underlying systems that produce gross inequality of opportunity, allowing some to be predestined for success and many more to be predestined for failure, is the problem that needs to be addressed. Of course, with the powers that be being so deft at convincing the saps below them that those below them are more akin to leeches than the elite themselves, I don't see the status quo changing significantly for the better anytime soon. It's the best Ponzi scheme ever created; those below get their returns paid in false hope and their own delusions fed back to them, while they send the sweat of their brows and the bulk of their capital up the chain.

Regardless, no rational progressive thinks leaving current structures in place and somehow redistributing wealth (which would be clearly impossible regardless) would do more than temporarily reset some small degree inherited privilege, even if they could justify such a thing on a personal level.

Currently in the UK people are resenting footballers for still getting paid while backroom staff are being laid off/paid the government 80% handout. A lot of footballers come from average / lower backgrounds but they are not going to empathise and give their pay check away, why should they.

I wouldn't give away my paycheck either, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to empathize or sympathize, nor would I feel the need to frame my relative success as something I deserved.

Exploiting the mute function is weak forum pvp.

I enjoy a good argument, just not the same set of fallacies repeated ad nauseam.

Not replying is the same thing, but with more wasted space and more meaningless alerts.

Hypebeast. Driving Culture Forward

Hypebeast is the leading online destination for men's contemporary fashion and streetwear. Shop at our store and also enjoy the best in daily editorial content.

hypebeast.com

This guy here ^ makes masks out of shoes.

Unless those are counterfeit that's a 200 dollar shoe...for your face.

 

[jasonbarron]

I enjoy a good argument, just not the same set of fallacies repeated ad nauseam.

This begs an obvious question: why do you repeat them ad nauseam, then?

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Unless those are counterfeit that's a 200 dollar shoe...for your face.

It is passing remarkable that we find it OK to spend that on feet, but not face.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Exploiting the mute function is weak forum pvp.

This right here is the difference between those with BDE, and those without it.

 

[Ian Skippy]

And in a surprise twist that surprised absolutely nobody, the private sector did not miraculously save the day.

User Clip: CDC Director: "I guess I anticipated the private sector would have engaged and helped"

CDC Director: "I guess I anticipated the private sector would have engaged and helped"

www.c-span.org

I guess I anticipated the private sector would have engaged and helped develop for the clinical side … I can tell you, having lived through the last eight weeks, I would have loved the private sector to be fully engaged.

The last week has been a roller coaster of hearing about failing to replace the ventilator stockpile, failing to maintain the current stockpile and failure to engage the private market. This following growing concerns of Fox News that they may be held legally responsible for spreading conspiracy theories and obvious lies, and more investigations of seemingly obvious cases of crisis profiteering.

 

[jasonbarron]

What a perfect bit of jackassery. Nobody figured this would be fixed over night. Lose the snide, gloating anti-America obsession for a change and focus on the calamity befalling your own nation. The last time I checked there was plenty of misery and suffering to go around.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Forbes has a very good piece on science and denial.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes The Harm Of Denying Scientific Facts

Your opinions about a large number of complex scientific issues are probably wrong. That's why we have science.

www.forbes.com

People deny scientific facts all the time when facing up to them is the more fearsome option. But science is real whether we accept it or not, and denying it harms the whole of human society

All of the solutions that require learning, incorporating new information, changing our minds, or re-evaluating our prior positions in the face of new evidence have something in common: they take effort. They require us to admit our own limitations; they require humility. And they require a willingness to abandon our preconceptions when the evidence demands that we do. The alternative is to live a contrarian life where you’re actively harming society

 

[jasonbarron]

My problem with the article is that after crapping over theories such as 5g with a generous side helping of "those evil anti-vaxxers!" it offers no answer to what is going on now. Generally speaking: get me some rock solid answers about what this virus really is and where it comes from (and a vaccine) or sod off. The 5g theory makes as much sense as anything else.

 

[Morbad]

It is passing remarkable that we find it OK to spend that on feet, but not face.

Who's 'we'?

I've never spent more than $80 on a pair of footwear, but I'm wearing $400 corrective lenses. I've sure never seen a pair of silk Nikes in person!

And in a surprise twist that surprised absolutely nobody, the private sector did not miraculously save the day.

Why would ostensibly private sector beneficiaries of government protectionism do anything when they can say they will, and then not, with all the benefits of both?

Fox News that they may be held legally responsible for spreading conspiracy theories and obvious lies

I'm extremely skeptical of anything coming of this, for a few reasons:

• They've been peddling nonsense for decades.
• Most of their writers, hosts, commentators, and guests probably believe their own garbage, so wouldn't be intentionally trying to mislead.
• If they are called out on anything coronavirus related, they can just say they were parroting the President, who has been getting away with the same stuff even longer than Fox News.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Who's 'we'?

I've never spent more than $80 on a pair of footwear, but I'm wearing $400 corrective lenses. I've sure never seen a pair of silk Nikes in person!



Why would ostensibly private sector beneficiaries of government protectionism do anything when they can say they will, and then not, with all the benefits of both?



I'm extremely skeptical of anything coming of this, for a few reasons:

• They've been peddling nonsense for decades.
• Most of their writers, hosts, commentators, and guests probably believe their own garbage, so wouldn't be intentionally trying to mislead.
• If they are called out on anything coronavirus related, they can just say they were parroting the President, who has been getting away with the same stuff even longer than Fox News.

Not factually disagreeing with any of that, just lamenting that this is what it is.

 

[jasonbarron]

You guys have created an almost perfect echo chamber in here.

 

[Morbad]

Not factually disagreeing with any of that, just lamenting that this is what it is.

Yeah, I know.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Got contacted by an engineering firm.

They want me to supply design tech specs and product safety supervision for a new compact ventillator design they want to manufacture for South America. Potentially lucrative. They have never built any medical devices before.

(Edit: in the past, I did invent a simple mechanical surgical instrument, which might be why they called)

Not biting.
Passed them onto a Pulmonologist.

I'm not going to be responsible when there's a power surge in Sao Paulo, and the pressure spikes, and 200 people get lung blow outs. No sir. I don't want to suddenly be doing deals with Maduro in Venezuela for anything remotely pharmaceutical either.

 

[lysan]

Forbes has a very good piece on science and denial.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Exposes The Harm Of Denying Scientific Facts

Your opinions about a large number of complex scientific issues are probably wrong. That's why we have science.

www.forbes.com

If only science was neutral, no biased information, however 9 out of 10 times they push an agenda, just like the so called news. People get suspicious, so maybe science should go back to the basics, science.