******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
> On Mar 22, 2020, at 9:31 PM, RKOB via Marxism <[email protected]> > wrote: > > https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/covid-19-a-cover-for-a-major-global-counterrevolutionary-offensive/ > > <https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/global/covid-19-a-cover-for-a-major-global-counterrevolutionary-offensive/> The main problem with this piece is in the following paragraph: "The COVID-19 pandemic is certainly a significant health crisis. However, things have to be seen in context. The influenza epidemics in the past decades have caused 290,000-650,000 death each year, without provoking any major political initiative by the ruling class. [2] The overall all-cause influenza-attributable mortality in the 2017/18 season was estimated to be about 152,000 deaths in Europe alone! [3] The Swine Flu Pandemic in 2009 has killed up to 203,000 people. Since the COVID-19 crisis has caused, until now, several thousand victims, it is evident that the global shut down which we are currently experiencing must have different causes.” What this ignores is that the specific characteristics of this virus seemingly make it much more likely than many other viral outbreaks to overwhelm healthcare systems — in particular, the relatively long and often asymptomatic incubation period (making it significantly more likely that infected people may pass it along); its apparent rates of persistence outside any biological host (still being assessed, but apparently at least hours and in some cases possibly days on some hard surfaces); the lack of existing immunity among populations; and, perhaps most importantly, the much higher rates of hospitalization required. That combination of factors can overload even very good healthcare systems, as we’ve seen in Italy. MP may not understand any of that, or may not take it seriously, but I know multiple healthcare professionals who are also committed socialists who do, and who are taking the lockdown deadly seriously even as they know with absolute certainty that it will be used against us. MP seems to be focused on looking for evidence to confirm a thesis that none of us disputes: that ruling forces will attempt to take advantage of the crisis. That singular focus, and perhaps a lack of understanding of epidemiology and public health, seem to have drawn him dangerously close to the brink of conspiracist confirmation bias. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
