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Gestalt#38 – SARS-2 Pandemic

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Tabitha111 View Drop Down
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    Posted: February 07 2021 at 9:46am

by monotreme1000/ February 7, 2021

Put It All On Red


Vaccines are wonderful things. We are very fortunate to have at least two vaccines that are highly effective in preventing serious illness as a result of SARS-2 infection. But they are not perfect.

Even mRNA vaccines take time to manufacture and distribute. And once they are distributed, existing strains of SARS-2 will be under intense selection to escape the immune response generated by vaccines. Yet, at the current time, the policy of the United States seems to be to depend almost entirely on vaccines as our defense against SARS-2.

This is the equivalent to betting your entire life savings on red in roulette. You have a significant chance of winning, but an equal chance of losing everything. We should continue to vigorously produce and distribute vaccines against SARS-2.

But is it imprudent to rely entirely on this tactic?

Long term border closures and short term internal movement restrictions are also necessary. So is widespread access to high quality PPE like N95s and PAPR.


Managed to Death


Remote working has worked amazingly well for most employees and their companies. Contrary to expectations, this practice has saved companies money rather costing them. And this was with no warning and mad scrambles to shift to online procedures.

With time and intelligent adoption of new technologies, remote working could be expected to boost corporate profits even more. Yet, some companies are insisting that employees return to their cubicles where they risk infection and death.

Why?

One fact that has become clear, to those who are paying attention, is that many middle managers are not needed. Indeed, there are many cases where they demotivate workers and decrease corporate profits. Many middle managers have realized this even if CEOs have not. So, they need to get workers back under their control before upper management figures this out.

Some CEOs have also spent big on monumental corporate headquarters (Tim Cook). They would look foolish if these were left empty. So, back to the workplace and/or deathplace for the workers. Hope shareholders pay attention and insist on maximum corporate profits - which means maximum remote working.


Political Science


Science should be apolitical. A real scientist is only concerned with the truth. She doesn't care what effect a discovery has on politics.

Unfortunately, I have observed science becoming increasingly political. And I mean both small p and large P politics. Since science has become increasingly the preserve of big funders such as the federal government and large donors, a relatively small number of people have the ability to decide who does science and who does not.

As a result, scientists have to be careful of what they say so that they do not offend important people, like Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, and Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

Cross either of these two, and a scientist will see their funding evaporate. Hence, don't expect to see a broad range of opinions about how to deal with the pandemic from American scientists. You will only see what these two powerful men want heard.

Politics with a big P also influences American science. To keep their jobs, powerful science bureaucrats like Drs. Collins and Fauci will alter their statements or refrain from speaking up. Note, neither was fired by President Trump despite his evident willingness to fire others in his administration. Both are no doubt doing everything they can to ingratiate themselves with the Biden Administration. Do not expect principled opposition to bad policy from these two.




'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.'
--Confucius

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