Current Events > This coronavirus mess is starting to feel like the prologue to a movie

(+) Yeah! (+)

Italy imploding

Countries slamming shut borders

Corruption and incompetence in handling the outbreak

A mile wide section of New York designated as a "containment zone" and bringing in the National Guard

Cities across the US declaring states of emergency

Things are pretty insane. Hopefully it's a failure of a movie and things get wrapped up quickly

From what I've read Italy is imploding because the country is incredibly corrupt and incompetent.

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Duncanwii posted...

From what I've read Italy is imploding because the country is incredibly corrupt and incompetent.

and the USA isn't? Plus Italy has the 2nd best healthcare system in the world

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https://imgur.com/3z18Szl

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Give it time. It will eventually.
Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.
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They should make a zombie movie where everyone sits around for 3 weeks making jokes about the name of the virus before actually doing anything

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World War C

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https://youtu.be/5EyC3o4UsI0

Zack_Attackv1 posted...

Hollywood is creatively bankrupt.

the poor go bankrupt first
then middle class
Rich will survive this.
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Tell me about it.

JBaLLEN66 posted...

and the USA isn't? Plus Italy has the 2nd best healthcare system in the world

Yeah, that's very concerning how swiftly and totally it fucked Italy

The USA just doesn't know how fucked it is yet, because the current admin is trying to hide the numbers to prevent market crashes.

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Didn't I Am Legend start with a virus wiping everyone out

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Prototype was a really fun game

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Thus began the Purell wars.
Men and women killing and trading their bodies for hand sanitizer. The men designated to protect and disburse the Purell were given the nickname...

The Purilfiers

Half man, half disinfectant, these are their stories

People's attitudes towards the Corona virus are too influenced by pop culture

When people think of epidemics they think of zombie movies, Contagion, Pandemic, The Stand, etc. Widespread, apocalyptic scales of death that and threaten to make the entire human race extinct.

So when they hear about a pandemic, some people start stocking up on canned foods, toilet paper, water, and whatever they think they might need if society crumbles into a Mad Max style hellscape. And those people get called out, rightly, for panicking and being foolish.

The biggest problem, though, is that there's no middle ground between that and thinking it's no big deal. People hear the news, and the first thing that pops into their head is a Hollywood style disease-apocalypse, but because the reality is nothing like that they dismiss it as nothing but fearmongering. It doesn't help that real fearmongering does happen.

And part of it is because of the way we're wired. It's easier for us to think of the big, scary problems that grab our imagination. The more mundane and subtle ones are harder for us to conceptualize and plan for. That's why people will obsess over things like school shootings but not worry about things like cancer or heart disease which are far more likely to kill us. But they're less dramatic, and the ways to save ourselves from them are more nebulous and take constant small actions over a lifetime.

The thing is, though, that coronavirus is definitely a big deal. People need to adjust their thinking. Stop thinking in terms of things like "The streets will be littered with dead, I and everyone I love will die if we don't shelter ourselves" and think more of the mundane, less dramatic ways that a bad disease can affect you. You probably won't die, but you could transmit it to other people who are more vulnerable and do die. You could lose a grandparent or someone around you with an existing medical condition. Or you could get it, and while you won't die you will be bedridden for days and maybe have slight respiratory issues for the rest of your life. Or maybe your condition wouldn't be that bad except it's exacerbated by the hell of having to wait forever just to get medical care because hospitals are overcrowded. And that medical care runs you up a bill that leaves you with a huge debt that it takes you years to pay back.

We're not looking at the extinction of the human race but you should take it seriously. Wash your hands regularly. Don't touch your face. Avoid being in public with large amounts of people if you don't have to. Wear a mask if you can--not to prevent yourself from getting sick, but to avoid spreading it to other people. Because you could very easily be a carrier who isn't showing symptoms, which would lead to the disease spreading more and could lead to the death of other vulnerable people.

And again, try to see through the fearmongering and panic. Sometimes things DO turn out bad, like how the media had kept fearmongering over hurricanes to the point where people weren't taking them seriously, and then along came Katrina. Don't just dismiss everything--avoid panicking, yes, but get informed and take reasonable precautions if you can.

Remember: just because the boy is crying wolf, that doesn't mean real wolves stopped existing in the world.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78461668

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