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Comment by quietthrow | Hacker News Reader

Again severe failure on the govt’s part. Their inaction in when it was needed the most led to all these circumstances that makes it ripe for situations like these. As the number of infections spread and economic situation get worse these kind of things will get really really bad. Once the second and third order effects kick in it’s going to be a catastrophe. And our leaders answer to all of this is to give $1200 checks to people. All they care is about the economy as it gives them higher odds for their reelection. I don’t understand how such incompetence can be tolerated and why they are not fired and instead have to wait till next election.

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> Again severe failure on the govt’s part.

If you live in a democracy, then you are part of the government. You can't just blame other people for this.

Agree. Active citizenry is the cornerstone of democracy. That’s why we have elected officials. But when they are unfit for the job and it doesn’t mean you blindly follow them to the abyss. There is something to be said for course correction and not waiting for the next cycle to make changes while millions of people get impacted. There is no doubt that people will needlessly die due to our abject failure to provide these test kits in a timely manner. Maintaining status quo / Dealing with things just for sake of tradition dosnt make sense in 2020. By that logic we should still not have women’s rights and continue on slavery because that’s the way it had been for so long? The leaders can do whatever they want and we have to wait for the next cycle beastie that’s the way things have always been?

That’s ridiculous. An average citizen cannot vote more medical supplies into existence no matter how hard they vote.

Depends on who you voted for. 49% of the people that voted are in a perfect position to blame others.

Not that I think it would have really mattered. All the western countries were struck by surprise it seems, even though they had months to prepare.

I think it’s largely to soon to judge countries on this issue. In my mind the outliers are:

South Korea, as they had much better testing than China and new infections have been increasing at ~1% per day for the last week. It’s still early, but it’s a very promising sign.

Finland on the other hand had it’s first diagnosis on February 26th and closed all schools etc on March 16. That’s an unusually rapid response, though it’s to soon to say how effective it is.

PS: At least in the US it’s rare for the the people in power to actually get even 50% of the vote. But, I think we can safely blame non voters just fine.

This is flippant pablum. The majority of voters did not choose the current administration.

I elected people to govern. If I have to govern for them, what exactly are they being paid to do again? Besides, what we need during a crisis is expedient, logical decision making, not incredibly slow and decentralized power.

> Again severe failure on the govt’s part.

Just imagine how bad it would be if we turned industry over to the government to run, too.

That seems like a complete non sequitur, but it reminds me of an old joke.

1. Elect people who don’t believe in government 2. Get shocked when they do a poor job. 3. ??? 4. Profit

More seriously, I don’t think this is the kind of situation where people are ever going to be happy with how it’s handled. But, governments can do a better or worse job.

It doesn't matter if the people running the government believe in it or not. Central economic control doesn't work.

Then why is USA so afraid of China?

China gave up on central economic planning to a great extent, and turned to capitalism. The rise of China's economy was a direct result.

Every western country has used some central economic control continuously for the last 100+ years. Tariffs are ancient, but more modern tools like the FED or child labor laws are far from recent.

Saying they never work is clearly disingenuous.

PS: Unless you’re thinking of central planning aka communism and just using the wrong word.

> Every western country has used some central economic control continuously for the last 100+ years. Tariffs are ancient, but more modern tools like the FED or child labor laws are far from recent.

Tariffs and child labor laws are not remotely "turning industry over to government to run."

Would private industry have won WW2 on its own, or put humans on the moon? That’s the level of commitment and organization that is now required. Private industry is great at many things, but sacrificing profit for a shared goal is not one of them.

The US in WW2 was not a planned economy. The government put out contracts, and private capitalist companies delivered the goods. The government did not run industry. Capitalism worked so well the US was able to fight the war in two theaters while also supplying the other Allied nations. The Axis powers got simply overwhelmed by what American capitalism produced.

> or put humans on the moon?

In the 1960s, nope. The Apollo shots cost $288 billion in today's dollars. That kind of money simply wasn't available to any particular corporation back then. It wasn't sustainable by the government, either, as we went to the moon, landed, came back, and then ... oh well. Nobody has been able to justify the cost since.

But today we are seeing capitalism make enormous cost reductions in rockets, and that will change the game completely.

Nobody is claiming that the government should run the factories directly. They should have showed up in early February at the ventilator and PPE factory doors with blank checks to ensure that output is ramped up to 11 immediately.

I was replying to "sacrificing profit for a shared goal", which means the government runs it directly.

Writing a check to the company is very different.

"why they are not fired and instead have to wait till next election."

Because we still have laws, and elections. What do you want a military coup?

I would say I want more tests kits, more protective gear for health professionals, more unified and clear communication. What use are said laws and elections if they are not able to provide security for the citizens. They sound great in theory and that about it. Because of these clowns so many people are going to pay with their lives or their daily livelihoods or both. If the only option to removing incompetent people from gov is a military coup then we have a bigger fundamental problem. It can’t be binary. World can and does operate in shades or gray. So no military coup is not what I want.

I'd take a few high-profile covid deaths.

Honestly, right now? It might improve things. If literally the only thing they do is force a sensible election system, it’ll be worth it.

> If literally the only thing they do is force a sensible election system, it’ll be worth it.

If global history (even just the past 70 years) is any indication of the results, there's a very high chance a coup won't force a sensible election system. Let's not dream up this situation

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