Thread by @ErrataRob

I keep seeing this article go around. It's the height of silliness, spending more effort on political attacks against "preppers" than discussion what you should do to prepare.
blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/p…

There's a good chance we'll end up like Wuhan with most of the population stuck at home for weeks, even a couple of months. So do the obvious thing and stock up on some canned food and medical supplies you can't do without, and read: ready.gov/kit

That's the practical persons guide to preparing. The SciAm op-ed was the "Young Comrades Guide to Socially Responsible Preparedness", the same suggestions, but colored by politics.

Preppers are harmless. They are no more weird than ardent Star Wars fans dressing up at conventions, or Rennassiance Faire freaks. Building a fallout bunker in your back yard may be strange, but it harms nobody.

What makes crazy preppers different than crazy Comicon attendees is politics. Specifically, it's the politics of individualism vs. socialism. Being an individual is bad, conforming is good. You aren't supposed to be self-reliant, but must instead depend upon society.

There's two things for disaster preparedness: the things that'll help you as an individual, and the things that'll help society as a whole. Sometimes they conflict. Sometimes it's impossible.

You should make sure to have 3 months of essential medications on hand, preparing for supply chain disruptions, or the fact that it's dangerous leaving the home to get more. But if everyone followed this advice, there would be immediate shortages.

FEMA and DHS have good preparedness guidelines for individuals, but I can't find anything equivalent on the CDC site. I think part of the reason is their goal is the social goal of keeping the health care system running in the case of disaster rather than helping individuals.

As far as I can tell, the reason people died due to the Spanish Flu wasn't the flu itself but the breakdown in the medical care system. Thus, the CDC efforts on keeping the medical care system working is a good thing.

But it puts their needs at odds with individuals. When the first vaccines appear for #COVIDー19, healthcare works should get top priority. Then rich people. Then everyone else.

I say "rich people" because that's exactly the issue. Rich people getting early access to high-priced vaccines means lots of startups will do their utmost to get vaccines out early to profit as much as they can. We, as a society, benefit from this individualism.

I'm reminded that there there is a the opposite of "preppers": people who work with FEMA on a part-time basis to be ready to help if a disaster strikes their area.
training.fema.gov/is/