ChatterBank0 min ago
Left / Right & The Virus
'..... If you look on social media, you will find there is a broad right-left split. The left thinks we are all going to die and that this is the consequence of human selfishness and eating meat and capitalism and Trump and Boris and people flying everywhere. They believe that the 500,000 [deaths] figure is an underestimate: they yearn for disaster, to believe that it is happening, that we are all doomed and it serves us right.
The right, broadly, remains as dismissive of the virus as it was during stage one, pointing out that even in countries that don’t have proper drains or representative democracy, the death rate from Covid-19 is still stubbornly low — yes, even in Iran. They challenge the headlines and the experts, suggesting that people are dying more rapidly of other ailments and that the stats for Covid-19 so far don’t add up to a hill of beans, in the grand scheme of things.....'
So says Rod Liddle, where are you?
The right, broadly, remains as dismissive of the virus as it was during stage one, pointing out that even in countries that don’t have proper drains or representative democracy, the death rate from Covid-19 is still stubbornly low — yes, even in Iran. They challenge the headlines and the experts, suggesting that people are dying more rapidly of other ailments and that the stats for Covid-19 so far don’t add up to a hill of beans, in the grand scheme of things.....'
So says Rod Liddle, where are you?
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ken //I take it you've done a very comprehensive study of what's happening on social media, Khandro. I mean, you wouldn't just read a few extracts to form your conclusion. Would you?//
Err... Read the OP again (if you read it in the first place) it's a quote, a caricature of events by, as it says, Rod Liddle, a man noted for his perception & wit, writing weekly in the Spectator.
Err... Read the OP again (if you read it in the first place) it's a quote, a caricature of events by, as it says, Rod Liddle, a man noted for his perception & wit, writing weekly in the Spectator.
Generally speaking it is the left media that over plays things and centre/right media doesn’t.
Scare mungering (at the moment at least) seems to be a big thing in liberal left media. And that’s possibly why joe public on the right takes the media with a pinch of salt.
I read just today that in the US the Democrats and MSM were screaming (as they usually do) because Trump has said the virus death rate wasn’t as bad as had been made out. All hell broke loose and he was mocked and such like with the fervour of a witch hunt.
It turns he was actually right because if you take into account ALL the people who contract it and those that die the death rate is somewhere below 1% and at worst between 1% and 2%. But the official numbers are (depending on where they get the info) between 2% and 3.4%.
Personally I’m firmly on the Conservative right and don’t think it will be as deadly as some fear. I think there are vulnerable demographics. Old people, those with suppressed immune systems, those that have a difficult life style or don’t have access to health care.
Scare mungering (at the moment at least) seems to be a big thing in liberal left media. And that’s possibly why joe public on the right takes the media with a pinch of salt.
I read just today that in the US the Democrats and MSM were screaming (as they usually do) because Trump has said the virus death rate wasn’t as bad as had been made out. All hell broke loose and he was mocked and such like with the fervour of a witch hunt.
It turns he was actually right because if you take into account ALL the people who contract it and those that die the death rate is somewhere below 1% and at worst between 1% and 2%. But the official numbers are (depending on where they get the info) between 2% and 3.4%.
Personally I’m firmly on the Conservative right and don’t think it will be as deadly as some fear. I think there are vulnerable demographics. Old people, those with suppressed immune systems, those that have a difficult life style or don’t have access to health care.
let's be honest, if labour were in power do you think they would do anything different, it is what it is, just point scoring..rather juvenile.
to be honest, no one really knows, but i think flights arrving from abroad passengers should be vetted, id just be cautious and careful
if i lived in a city, other than that carry on as normal, i suppose you could buy a box of surgical gloves...and use them when out, doors etc..me.. im not bothered or worried one bit.
to be honest, no one really knows, but i think flights arrving from abroad passengers should be vetted, id just be cautious and careful
if i lived in a city, other than that carry on as normal, i suppose you could buy a box of surgical gloves...and use them when out, doors etc..me.. im not bothered or worried one bit.
//I did read somewhere that we touch our face up to 15 times per hour without knowing it, to stop me doing this I've constructed a full face mask, a bit like if I was taking fencing lessons, out of chicken wire//
I have condoms on my fingers at all times and replace them if I want to rub my eyes in disbelief. Mind you I am not what you might call hard up.
I have condoms on my fingers at all times and replace them if I want to rub my eyes in disbelief. Mind you I am not what you might call hard up.
Of course the official stats will lag behind the real stats, that's a real effect. But Trump said it was a "hunch", and surrounded that hunch with plenty of bad advice that if anything is actually more concerning. He's right that there's a chance that many people could carry the virus without showing symptoms, but far from reassuring that just increases its chances of spreading out of control. A death rate across all cases of "way under" 1% is only possible if half a million people have had the disease worldwide so far, which is 5 times the official number. That's not an ideal situation, then -- nor is there any justification in that figure beyond that it makes Trump seem blessed with the wisdom of the gods. He's not a scientist, and I'm actually not sure he'd take too kindly to the suggestion that he's a statistician. His business prowess has always been based on attitude and appearance rather than something so dry as a statistical approach.
Oh and, another point: Trump's supposed wisdom here is somewhat tempered when he calls it the "corona flu", acted surprised when he learned that winter flu was a thing, and asked seriously if flu vaccines were any use in combatting this.
Oh and, another point: Trump's supposed wisdom here is somewhat tempered when he calls it the "corona flu", acted surprised when he learned that winter flu was a thing, and asked seriously if flu vaccines were any use in combatting this.
Oh and the other thing -- Trump doesn't need to be an expert statistician and/or scientist to still be regarded as impressive, surely? Being good at business and good at politics should be enough for most people without adding fields they've literally never studied or taken seriously into the bargain.
Trump can't be taken seriously in claiming he has a natural aptitude for science because his uncle was a professor at MIT. Presumably he can't recognise the fact that he's being surrounded by yes-men.
That should be another thing to criticise him for, objectively: in making obviously untrue, self-aggrandising statements at a time of (inter)national crisis.
That should be another thing to criticise him for, objectively: in making obviously untrue, self-aggrandising statements at a time of (inter)national crisis.
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