One day you may become the price that is paid.
March 4, 2020 6:31 AM Subscribe
A personal perspective on the lock-down from a Wuhan resident. The author of this essay asked for anonymity for fear of reprisals by authorities for speaking critically of the Chinese government. (npr)
"Before this coronavirus, I always thought it was OK to sacrifice some level of democracy and freedom for better living conditions. But now I have changed my attitude. Without democracy and freedom, the truth of the outbreak in Wuhan would never be known."
"Before this coronavirus, I always thought it was OK to sacrifice some level of democracy and freedom for better living conditions. But now I have changed my attitude. Without democracy and freedom, the truth of the outbreak in Wuhan would never be known."
I'm afraid we're about to find out whether 'democracy' as practiced is any better at handling pandemics.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:36 AM on March 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 10:36 AM on March 4, 2020 [8 favorites]
aspersioncast: I'm in Seattle and from what I see, nope.
A lot of people I know who live here are chastising anyone who expresses concern about it. "it's not as bad as the flu!" they say.
The people who are immunocompromised will suffer for our self-imposed ignorance and they deserve better than the masses who live here acting like a bunch of goddamn fools.
posted by nikaspark at 10:59 AM on March 4, 2020 [11 favorites]
A lot of people I know who live here are chastising anyone who expresses concern about it. "it's not as bad as the flu!" they say.
The people who are immunocompromised will suffer for our self-imposed ignorance and they deserve better than the masses who live here acting like a bunch of goddamn fools.
posted by nikaspark at 10:59 AM on March 4, 2020 [11 favorites]
People don't understand or care what it means for people who already fear death from the flu to have to contend with another vector of death for which there is no vaccine on any reasonable horizon.
How hard is it to fucking care.
posted by nikaspark at 11:01 AM on March 4, 2020 [17 favorites]
How hard is it to fucking care.
posted by nikaspark at 11:01 AM on March 4, 2020 [17 favorites]
I'm afraid we're about to find out whether 'democracy' as practiced is any better at handling pandemics.
Trump desperately wishes he was operating in an authoritarian dictatorship like Xi and the CCP and is doing his damndest to push things that way: replacing expertise with cronies, valuing loyalty above all other traits, fostering an environment where people fear displeasing him more than actual results, suppressing and controlling information and denouncing anyone contradicting the official line.
Exactly when we need the democratic virtues of transparency, clarity, diversity, and the ability to harness the knowledge and expertise of the people we get pseudo-dictator nonsense.
posted by star gentle uterus at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2020 [18 favorites]
Trump desperately wishes he was operating in an authoritarian dictatorship like Xi and the CCP and is doing his damndest to push things that way: replacing expertise with cronies, valuing loyalty above all other traits, fostering an environment where people fear displeasing him more than actual results, suppressing and controlling information and denouncing anyone contradicting the official line.
Exactly when we need the democratic virtues of transparency, clarity, diversity, and the ability to harness the knowledge and expertise of the people we get pseudo-dictator nonsense.
posted by star gentle uterus at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2020 [18 favorites]
I find the way the WHO just sort of slips past that aspect of the viral control in China to claim that it was about them tracking down contacts and treating people fast, rather than just locking millions of people up, really disturbing. Do they not want to say that without that level it is just going to spread like wildfire no matter what?
posted by lesbiassparrow at 1:42 PM on March 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by lesbiassparrow at 1:42 PM on March 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
How hard is it to fucking care.
This. I have a friend who is immunocompromised and managed the other day to put some grim humor on the situation, where people are at least paying some attention to the obsession that by necessity dominates their life.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:06 PM on March 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
This. I have a friend who is immunocompromised and managed the other day to put some grim humor on the situation, where people are at least paying some attention to the obsession that by necessity dominates their life.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:06 PM on March 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
How hard is it to fucking care.
Some people say "it's not as bad as the flu" because there is nothing they can do about it, and they'd like to maintain some shreds of hope.
Sure, they can wash their hands more. But they can't quarantine themselves for more than week the moment they come down with a fever or sore throat, because they may not have any sick leave. For some, refusing to go to work, even if sick, can cost them their job. And they may be sympathetic to the immunocompromised, but weighing that sympathy against "jobless and homeless" means they head in to work as usual and hope they're not contagious, that what they have isn't the coronavirus, that nobody near them is going to catch anything because they're selfishly continuing to earn a paycheck.
We're already living in a fascist hellscape, and a lot of us don't have any "care" left to express. We've moved on to "cope, and push for change in November."
[thisisfine.jpg]
So the result is a whole lot of very callous-sounding approaches, because people are already stretched thin and can't afford, mentally or financially, to take the steps required to substantially reduce the community risks.
All the measures that have a good chance of stopping c'virus before it becomes a pandemic, require government support. Government panic and forced isolation won't do it, as the article points out - you wind up with an unhappy desperate populace, AND you still have disease vectors, because you need food and supplies and medical personnel, and all of those are opportunities for contagion to spread.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:26 PM on March 4, 2020 [19 favorites]
Some people say "it's not as bad as the flu" because there is nothing they can do about it, and they'd like to maintain some shreds of hope.
Sure, they can wash their hands more. But they can't quarantine themselves for more than week the moment they come down with a fever or sore throat, because they may not have any sick leave. For some, refusing to go to work, even if sick, can cost them their job. And they may be sympathetic to the immunocompromised, but weighing that sympathy against "jobless and homeless" means they head in to work as usual and hope they're not contagious, that what they have isn't the coronavirus, that nobody near them is going to catch anything because they're selfishly continuing to earn a paycheck.
We're already living in a fascist hellscape, and a lot of us don't have any "care" left to express. We've moved on to "cope, and push for change in November."
[thisisfine.jpg]
So the result is a whole lot of very callous-sounding approaches, because people are already stretched thin and can't afford, mentally or financially, to take the steps required to substantially reduce the community risks.
All the measures that have a good chance of stopping c'virus before it becomes a pandemic, require government support. Government panic and forced isolation won't do it, as the article points out - you wind up with an unhappy desperate populace, AND you still have disease vectors, because you need food and supplies and medical personnel, and all of those are opportunities for contagion to spread.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:26 PM on March 4, 2020 [19 favorites]
I kinda wish everyone would email, post, yell, or tag on walls where Republican voters could see:
“Boy. A federally mandated and subsidized sick leave would be great right now, huh.”
Because Trump would be re-elected tomorrow if he did that.
posted by Everyone Expects The Spanish Influenza at 4:33 PM on March 4, 2020
“Boy. A federally mandated and subsidized sick leave would be great right now, huh.”
Because Trump would be re-elected tomorrow if he did that.
posted by Everyone Expects The Spanish Influenza at 4:33 PM on March 4, 2020
I've gotten slightly obsessed with non-CCP sources for info about the virus and this lockdown. There's a number of harrowing videos of desperate people -- clinging to dying parents, screaming while being carried away -- shot by anonymous neighbors from their windows. They are evanescent, briefly circulating on social media before being quietly swept away. The party is very very good at internet surveillance.
One of the best commentaries on the intersection of politics and the illness is this essay: When Fury overcomes Fear. Written by a dissident academic from Tsinghua University.
posted by jrochest at 6:00 PM on March 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
One of the best commentaries on the intersection of politics and the illness is this essay: When Fury overcomes Fear. Written by a dissident academic from Tsinghua University.
posted by jrochest at 6:00 PM on March 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
This reminds me of this week's This American Life, which has a story on a Chinese fellow who tried to report, as neutrally as he could, on the Wuhan situation. Now he's been disappeared. I hope this person doesn't get "disappeared" as well now. I wouldn't have put such identifying details as their age in this one, out of sheer paranoia.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:29 PM on March 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:29 PM on March 4, 2020 [5 favorites]
@erislordfreedom: the people im talking about are privileged corporate workers who make incredible salaries.
One of my partners is a service industry worker. We talk a lot about time off pay + lost tips paid out.
Caring looks like advocating for these people too.
I totally get where you are coming from, but the people I know in the service industry in Seattle are scared, and they do care. The ones with nothing to lose and the power to make a difference are the ones not giving a shit.
posted by nikaspark at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
One of my partners is a service industry worker. We talk a lot about time off pay + lost tips paid out.
Caring looks like advocating for these people too.
I totally get where you are coming from, but the people I know in the service industry in Seattle are scared, and they do care. The ones with nothing to lose and the power to make a difference are the ones not giving a shit.
posted by nikaspark at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
One of the things that I'm angry about, in a Canadian context, is that the Liberals should be mandating that EI will kick in instantly to support any worker who is quarantined. Not not in three weeks or a month, but immediately: the virus doesn't give you two weeks notice.
I'm sure they're worried that it would bankrupt the fund, but if ever there was a time for unemployment insurance this is it. It wouldn't cover everyone's bills because it's not a full replacement, but it would help and make quarantine possible.
posted by jrochest at 9:48 AM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm sure they're worried that it would bankrupt the fund, but if ever there was a time for unemployment insurance this is it. It wouldn't cover everyone's bills because it's not a full replacement, but it would help and make quarantine possible.
posted by jrochest at 9:48 AM on March 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
npr has published a Chinese language version of the essay.
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 4:22 AM on March 6, 2020
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 4:22 AM on March 6, 2020
Something I'm concerned about is how heavily the mortality rate/projections are based on Chinese data that may not be accurate. Is this unfounded?
posted by Selena777 at 5:39 PM on March 6, 2020
posted by Selena777 at 5:39 PM on March 6, 2020
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posted by Fizz at 7:40 AM on March 4, 2020 [5 favorites]