It is manifest that retailers in many parts of the world, owners of airlines, restaurants, bars, shops, are pressing governments to open up the economy even though it will cause disease, death and disability.
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They are short sighted in their advocacy, after all we see the benefits of strong action in Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia in stopping the outbreak and opening normally.
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The economic recovery depends on eliminating the virus. Opening partway then closing, opening and closing will bankrupt business. Business owners are misled in thinking opening with the virus will benefit them. Entire branches of the economy are being destroyed.
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BUT Why are retailers advocating for the deaths of their clients and employees? Lives should be before profits.
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AND Why are political leaders listening to them? Who do they represent? In a world of special interests and regulatory capture people are dying because of financial interests influencing government policy. necsi.edu/corporations-a…
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And the interests of the poor shopkeeper is not the narrative here. it is the aggregated multinational business owner that is the player that has the ear and power over the government.
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When will citizens take back their support of government turncoats who pretend they are serving the public but are serving financial interests.
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Why else are they not transparent about their decision making? If they were advocates of the public good they would not be afraid of saying what they are doing and why.
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Note: In some places business leaders took the lead in advocating for stopping the outbreak. Why the values of those individuals and groups were different than in other places we need to ask, But that it is true is manifest.
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For business owners who are short sighted and are making a mistake about where their interests really lie, I would provide the answers that clarify.
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But that they don’t care about others requires a different kind of soul searching for individuals, for the society that has promoted such values, and for our understanding of the system that is putting those financial interests ahead of those of its people.
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And to those who claim that the economy is what enables people to live, that is a promotional falsehood. Of course there are economic destructions that would be harmful, but there is no analysis that shows on the time scale and impact that is relevant to this discussion.
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If they claim it, they have to show it.
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And asking for societal help to get past hard times is reasonable. Asking to profit during this time is not.
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US sets a record for the 7th time in the past 10 days, 153,496, doubling the July peak. 41 states are averaging more than 1k cases/day. Testing positive rate continues to climb, now over 10% nationally, and much higher for hotspots.
UK reported a new high of 33,517 cases yesterday, a 25% increase from their previous daily record. Daily death tolls have also climbed continuously, now at 375, 40% of first wave’s peak.
Estonia reports a new high of 373, as new restrictions are introduced, including mandatory masks in public.
The TANZANC (Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Atlantic & Northern Canada) successes demonstrate that democracies with the right intrinsic characteristics and well-crafted policies can achieve zero COVID transmission,
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...with strong economic and societal benefits and superior resilience to future COVID waves."
Osterholm said such a lockdown would help the country bring the virus under control, “like they did in New Zealand and Australia.”
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"Epidemiologists have repeatedly pointed to New Zealand, Australia and other parts of Asia that have brought the number of daily new cases to under 10 as an example of how to contain the virus."
US reported 111,433 cases yesterday, with 13 states reporting new highs. Total confirmed cases surpassed 10M. It only took 10 days for the latest million, much faster than any previous marks.
Mexico’s cases have been level for some time, but due to low testing (confirmed by very high positivity rates), the general severity in confirmed cases didn't alleviate as many other countries, resulting in one of the highest case fatality rates worldwide.
While Europe is still suffering from the recent wave, the first two European countries to re-enter national lockdown have reported significant declines. Ireland drops to about 1/3 of their peak three weeks ago. Czechia, which entered national lockdown on Oct.22, drops rapidly.
US reported 91,530 cases yesterday, the second highest day for the country, along with 1,130 deaths, highest since mid-Sept. OH, PA, MN, NM, and ME see new highs.
Canada sees a new high of 4,738 as 7-day average also sets a new record. 72 new deaths were reported, second highest since early June. Ontario overtook the leveling Quebec to become the current epicenter.
Europe reported 242k cases yesterday as 13 countries reported new highs. Italy reports 28,241. Lombardia, Calabria, Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta are labelled red zones in Italy’s new color-coded zoning system.