In The News

[SM]

 

After "more people die of the flu" comes "police state".

[SiL]

I think you can fight a pandemic without crashing the economy

If you don't act to stop the spread then you overload your hospitals and no amount of funding is going to help when they're out of beds and ventilators.

Every single country that tried to hold out putting the economy first has had massive outbreaks, thousands of deaths, and overloaded hospitals. You're entitled to your opinion, but your opinion is wrong.

EDIt

Reduced quote to relevant part for clarity.

[Immortan Jonesy]

Neoliberal capitalism during this crisis is a bad idea for sure, and it's a fact some right-wing governments have mishandled the pandemic, and not just in US.   

[Local Trouble]

After "more people die of the flu" comes "police state".

The playbook practically plays itself now.

Everybody cries about the prices until they walk into a hospital and realize just how many high paying jobs are being performed, floor by floor by floor. It's a business like anything else. Medical personnel aren't going to go into massive debt and endure years of college plus a lifetime of continuing education all for minimum wage.

So sure, let the government take it over and make things more "reasonable". All that'll lead to is a surge in Art History majors.

But only in America, right?  It works in other countries, but it can't work in the US for reasons, right?

Yeah I'm pretty sure doctor is a high paying job in literally any developed nation. And yes LT we saw those "reasons" on the next page.

Impossible.  They're probably just art history majors in lab coats that are masquerading as doctors.

[Huggs]

[Local Trouble]

I wonder how the non-Americans here perceive all of this.  While I'm sure there are some people who motivate themselves to become doctors with visions of Ferraris and mansions dancing in their heads, I doubt it's the primary driving force among the vast majority of them throughout the world.

I don't think anyone would begrudge them a comfortable living though.  However, the same could also be said for schoolteachers, but we just don't value education quite as highly in the US.

[SiL]

A lot of people get into medicine for the money in Australia. I don't get where the idea that doctors in countries with socialised healthcare aren't well paid comes from.

[Local Trouble]

It's a common talking point among those who decry the idea of socialized medicine.  Some even go as far as to say that doctors would be "enslaved" under such a system.

[SM]

I wonder how the non-Americans here perceive all of this.

All of this?  This non-American thinks you're out of your collective gourd a large percentage of the time.  The rest of the time you make some cool movies and do cool space stuff.

[Local Trouble]

What choice do we have when the only other option is Venezuela?

[SM]

Quite.

[Shinawi]

[HuDaFuK]

Still enough Foster's in Aussie?

Accusing an Australian of drinking Fosters.

Risky.

[SM]

I saw some in bottle shop the other day for the first time in forever.  Can't even export it these days.

[Shinawi]

The only thing in short supply in South Korea is the N95 mask due to the government having donated the masks to China. (At that time, the government wasn't expecting a steep rise in infections in South Korea despite warnings by the Korean Medical Association). There are also other issues with the N95 mask production, such as the fact that a material needed for the mask production is from China, which China is restricting the export of now. Other masks are available.