We aren't capable as a society of opening the economy safely

[genxlib]

Forget all the talk of testing, tracing and isolation. That is all wishful thinking with the leadership we have in place.

It is actually worse than that. We lack the fundamental social fabric that would even allow us to use those tools effectively.

We lack the basic humanity to understand that we are all in this together.

We lack the basic compassion to understand that other people's vulnerability matters.

We lack the basic knowledge to be working from a common set of information

We lack the basic civility to just comply with simple requests even if you don't agree it is necessary

We lack the basic sense of sacrifice it will take to undergo a little inconvenience for the common good

We lack the basic patience it will take to be cautious

And by "we", I mean a sizable percentage of our population. But that is all it takes to screw it up for everyone.

It has come to this. I am not afraid of this virus. I am afraid of how my fellow Americans react because of this virus. Already we see widespread reports of violence and arguments about wearing a stupid mask. It is going to get worse...way worse.

It breaks my heart to admit this but we can't pull this off. It's going to kill a lot more people and we will simply stumble through until science or time escorts us out the other side.

[Butterflylady]

1. Last paragraph is so right on!!!

[LuckyCharms]

2. These are the important variables.

And they will not be solved unless the proper messages are delivered from the top.

They won't be, unfortunately.

[roamer65]

3. The deterioration of a narcissistic, self indulgent society is never pretty.

[RobinA]

4. Do People Imagine

that when the plague went through Europe back in the Middle Ages is was all kumbaya? People are people. They have good sides, they have bad sides. Figure it this way, if your genes are still around on this planet, you had some pretty kick ass ancestors back when it was all about survival. And each time it was all about survival.

[genxlib]

5. I don't think your comment is incompatible with mine

I would simply hope that we could set the bar higher than the Black Death

[KPN]

6. Sure seems that way when I go out to a store here in rural south coast Oregon. I went out

late yesterday afternoon for some grocery items and pet food and came home angry as hell at what I saw. There are many people here who actually think this thing is over or was never a real problem in the first place. We are so screwed.

[Timewas]

7. We are losing

All of this is being enabled because of one person's ego and mental illnesses....The idiotic minority wants a hair cut more than they want granny to live...

[Initech]

8. They have no goals, only chaos.

And that is the plan - to cause chaos, and it is working.