Resist The Authoritarian Response To The Coronavirus

[All Along The Watchtower]

From March 5, so ancient history now - but still relevant. Always relevant.

It’s clear that epidemics of this magnitude require a dedicated response, and at least some of the controls that China put in place have likely saved lives. What’s less clear, though, is which ones actually moved the needle, and which ones — like censoring coronavirus posts on the popular social messaging app WeChat — may have inadvertently caused more cases to go undetected.

While perhaps meant to defuse global panic, the praise from the international body allowed the Chinese government to sidestep mounting criticisms of delays, censorship, and the detention of doctors who publicly voiced concerns about the epidemic. And with the number of cases still growing — roughly 93,000 cases and over 3,100 deaths globally so far — some experts are starting to question the effectiveness of blanket curfews and police-enforced quarantine zones.

But it’s not just China’s extreme responses to the COVID-19 epidemic that are under scrutiny. Much closer to home, experts are recognizing that one of the most dangerous symptoms of any epidemic — be it real or fabricated — is fear. Ricky Bluthenthal, associate dean of social justice at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, works just a few miles east of LA’s Skid Row, though he is often found in the neighborhood meeting with frontline workers and residents who are homeless. From his vantage point, the single biggest impact of the flea-borne typhus outbreak has been a ratcheting up of fear of people who are homeless. That, in turn, has provided the city government with broad impunity to achieve long-standing security and beautification goals.

Bluthenthal sees a direct link between epidemic fear and widespread public acceptance of policies that would otherwise be recognized as nakedly authoritarian. “It’s kind of a disaster. We just keep digging the ditch deeper by making people more vulnerable and disrupting their lives,” he said.

What’s clear, though, is that far from the exception, China’s muscular response is a prime example of how governments tend toward authoritarianism in the face of an epidemic. As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to spread, our ability to recognize the line between effective public health and all-out repression will continue to be tested. With COVID-19 now spreading to every continent except Antarctica, we can start to compare different governmental responses to the virus and tease out which components — even those as basic but effective as calls for people to consistently wash their hands — can help stem the epidemic, and which — like threats of severe punishment — might make things worse.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danwerb/esist-the-authoritarian-response-to-coronavirus

[Green Line]

Thank you for posting this, its exactly what we need to hear.  Prepare for people here to call for you to be locked up and/or shot though for not going along with whatever extreme measure pops into their mind.

[T'Chenka]

We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

Why are some people hellbent on getting everybody killed over "Muh Freedom"? This isn't everyday politics and rights, we are in a life and death emergency here. The same rules don't apply and as someone else said, your rights do not extend into the lungs of others.

[Green Line]

[We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

Why are some people hellbent on getting everybody killed over "Muh Freedom"? This isn't everyday politics and rights, we are in a life and death emergency here. The same rules don't apply and as someone else said, your rights do not extend into the lungs of others.

Not sure if this is satire...

Yes, scientists are ALWAYS right.  We should listen to them in all circumstances.  Its not like they've ever endorsed horrible things in the past. 🙄🙄🙄

[We Live in Black and White]

Thank you for posting this, its exactly what we need to hear.  Prepare for people here to call for you to be locked up and/or shot though for not going along with whatever extreme measure pops into their mind.

That was one person. Hakuna your tatas, for god's sake.

[lfromnj]

[We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

Why are some people hellbent on getting everybody killed over "Muh Freedom"? This isn't everyday politics and rights, we are in a life and death emergency here. The same rules don't apply and as someone else said, your rights do not extend into the lungs of others.

Those temporary authoritarian measures are rarely temporary

[T'Chenka]

We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

Why are some people hellbent on getting everybody killed over "Muh Freedom"? This isn't everyday politics and rights, we are in a life and death emergency here. The same rules don't apply and as someone else said, your rights do not extend into the lungs of others.

Not sure if this is satire...

Yes, scientists are ALWAYS right.  We should listen to them in all circumstances.  Its not like they've ever endorsed horrible things in the past. 🙄🙄🙄

The implication is "we listen to (our community) of scientists". If a few scientists working for Trump ir FOX say one thing and 90% of our scientists say they're wrong, we listen to the 90%. It's a lot easier to hear what MANY scientists are saying these days with social media.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

"Science over fiction" is going to be the doom of this country if the Democratic Party continues to insist those are opposites.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Ignoring the inane strawman that is the third paragraph of the quoted post below, I’d just like to draw attention to the almost cute naïveté of the bolded:

We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

[lfromnj]

Overall I don't believe its a bad idea to slow the infection by encouraging work from home if possible and other similar policies but giving the government complete control to shut down our social lives at will even if it seems good now will not be good later.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I don't usually say things like this, but those of you decrying the "authoritarian" response are nuts.

[Green Line]

I don't usually say things like this, but those of you decrying the "authoritarian" response are nuts.

Give the government control to totally shut down your social life, keep you indoors, etc and good luck ever putting that back into its box.  Our freedoms are a lot more important than a virus with a 2% fataility rate.  Sorry, I said it.  I mean it.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Ignoring the inane strawman that is the third paragraph of the quoted post below, I’d just like to draw attention to the almost cute naïveté of the bolded:

We listen to scientists. PERIOD.

If scientists are urging temporary authoritarian measures, we TEMPORARILY adopt them.

Are you more afraid of "temporary" measures not being temporary than millions of people dying of a preventable circumstance, then you're prioritizing an ideology over actual public safety in an incredibly dangerous way.

Taken to extremes, this means we shouldn't enact any temporary interventions.

If you think some preventative responses are justified, then you should consider the fact that caution and slow response will lead to people getting killed. Worry about reigning in power when the situation is contained. Otherwise you'll be dealing with a catastrophically worse situation.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I don't usually say things like this, but those of you decrying the "authoritarian" response are nuts.

Give the government control to totally shut down your social life, keep you indoors, etc and good luck ever putting that back into its box.  Our freedoms are a lot more important than a virus with a 2% fataility rate.  Sorry, I said it.  I mean it.

So did I.

[Grassroots]

Of course the best solution IMO is to just treat it the same way as the flu but of course in a media dominated age that wouldn't happen.

[GMantis]

Of course the best solution IMO is to just treat it the same way as the flu but of course in a media dominated age that wouldn't happen.

If under best you mean the best way to increase the death toll, then you're right.

[T'Chenka]

This thread is one nutbar away from "THE GOVERNMENT MADE THE CORONAVIRUS TO GET US TO HAND OVER CONTROL!!!"

[urutzizu]

How anyone reaches this conclusion is beyond me. Amusing, really. During the initial outbreak in China, Americans did not appear to see a threat from the outbreak but instead an opportunity. Your belief that your ideology was superior, interpreted the events as a failure exclusive to China's political system of which America was simply immune from. This mentality (see Wilbur Ross gloating it was an "opportunity for American jobs") has proven your undoing. American Exceptionalism strikes again.

The fact is that the US couldn't have properly prepared for the virus even if they wanted to. Your political institutions simply don't allow for the centralized management of these types of crisis. Can you imagine the ****show that would ensue if the US tried to quarantine a city even 1/10th the size of Wuhan, or an entire state?!

Then there's the American healthcare system that seems to think providing free testing for epidemic prevention = literal communism.

Then the arrogance of the American CDC, telling people NOT to wear facemasks because they just assume that most Americans are too stupid to put them on properly (they might have a point on that one...). And then they turn down the testing kits from the WHO cause "the American version is obviously better" when it's objectively not and dozens, if not hundreds, were tested with false negatives.

This is what you get when you have a culture that puts Ideological Purity over the life and well-being of its citizens. Combined with the almost a hundred years of brainwashing of "socialism bad!" and voila.

And you see it all the time, like when nobody in America is asking "how can we learn from China's experience" nor are you even asking "is the WHO and China telling the truth" but only "how is China lying and how did they get the WHO to lie for them"

Minds are made up, evidence doesn't matter. Literally dying rather than just admitting the Chinese may have done something right after all.

[Hermit For Peace]

I am resisting irrationality.

Scientists and doctors treat the physical, but there is the metaphysical aspect of life to understand which is more powerful than the physical.

The thoughts you put into your brain can wreak more havoc on your system than any physical virus.

Caving into fear and panic are poisons that you yourself put into your body, and they cause damage to your mental health, emotional health and also your immune system.

I continue going for my daily walks because I need them for my health and well-being. I am not caving into fear and panic because I know they are poison to my system. I take precautions like washing my hands frequently and when I go out I bring hand sanitizer and also wipes that I use to wipe down doors and other things I touch.

We do have to deal with the physical aspects of disease, but they are symptoms of something that is already in our belief systems and our thoughts and behavior that we have put there way before hand.

I can't allow ignorant authorities to control my life when I know better how to live it. I've been into health all my life, seldom get sick because of my practices, and unlike Trump, I KNOW that the buck stops with me. I am responsible for what I put into my brain that weakens my body, mind and spirit. And fear and panic are killers.

[Hammy]

So we went from complaining about Republicans calling this a hoax to Democrats, once a response is being made, to effectively calling the response a hoax.

[John Dule]

I don't usually say things like this, but those of you decrying the "authoritarian" response are nuts.

Constant vigilance must be maintained if liberty is to be preserved.

[brucejoel99]

The rational: "Hey, if we temporarily eschew large gatherings & the like, coronavirus will spread slower."

The irrational: "EXCUSE ME, I WANT TO EXERCISE MY RIGHT TO ENDANGER SOCIETY!!!1!"

Government action ≠ authoritarian, but no matter. You reap what you sow. Don't complain about having a worse public health infrastructure than the rest of the developed world if you complain about "MUH FREEDOMS" every time our government attempts to make genuine inroads to improving society. (But then again, the U.S. does already rank reliably lower on freedom indexes than many "less free" societies.)

[T'Chenka]

Of course the best solution IMO is to just treat it the same way as the flu but of course in a media dominated age that wouldn't happen.

If under best you mean the best way to increase the death toll, then you're right.

Natural selection.

This post is disgusting. Shame on you.

[HillGoose]

i've been saying this from the beginning, big gov is trying to control us.

Nashville tried to shut down all the bars yesterday, and I'm glad one bar owner stood up for freedom and refused to close.

[Santander]

This is literally a dry run for taking away our guns and freedom.