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Comment by rurp | Hacker News Reader

Uh, in what world is wiping out half a population not that bad??

The new world, post smallpox that wiped out up to 90% of the population. That's setting quite a low bar though, it would still be about on par with the black death.

One could argue that thinning the population of the older demographic with pre-existing (and expensive) conditions could be a net benefit to governments with socialized healthcare. See Taiwan which has repeatedly had to refund their system because of an aging population and the related growing costs.

I'm not disputing your point, but with respect to Taiwan, the fact that visiting a doctor is almost a sport certainly doesn't help - An average of 14 visits per year per person:

>There is a high level of health seeking behaviour in Taiwan. It is part of the Taiwanese culture to take medicines or to seek medical help frequently, even for minor ailments.

>The average outpatient department visit rate is 14 times per year per person.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3960712/

That's not what I meant. I was saying that there's at least 50% chance that you might be immune to this virus. Who knows, there might be 1000 people who were infected but never went to hospital because they got better without medical care.

It would be good for the environment

Humans are part of the environment. Every bit as much as a tree or a koala is. So it wouldn't be good for all of the environment.

I've noticed it's never people in a vulnerable group that talk this way.

If they really believed in it, they could start by giving the example and hope others follow.

Christ. I can't imagine wanting half the population to die "for the greater good"...

Thanos Did Nothing Wrong /s

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