LogFAQs > #937950796

darkknight109 posted...

This is a false dichotomy.

It really isn't, though.



darkknight109 posted...

There is no contest between "Public Health vs. Economy", because public health *is* the economy. We're seeing this in micro-scale in Georgia where, despite the governor's attempts to re-open the state (far too early), consumer and employer confidence is still extremely low. Many businesses have said they will not open, despite the state lifting restrictions, and many consumers will still be staying home.

Yes, which is the whole reason you can't just say "Okay everybody, back to work". It's not an all-or-nothing scenario (THAT is a false dichotomy). It's the main reason why there have to be plans for slower roll-outs combined with safety measures (ie, the sort of things that essential businesses are currently doing to stay open and limit spread).

Which is why "Hey, we need to start thinking about how we're going to get people back to work" is absolutely a valid premise. We can't just hide with our heads in the sand and pretend everything will be fine as long as we wait out the virus, because it really won't. There IS more than just the health issue in question.



darkknight109 posted...

Filling your workforce with sick and dying workers is not going to kickstart the economy; it's going to prolong the pain, because it's going to cripple affected businesses by destroying their workforce and driving away customers

Having over 30% unemployment rate for months, to the point where people can't afford to buy food or pay for other necessities isn't going to help the economy (or public health) either.

Like I said, it's a balancing act. You can't sacrifice public health to maintain the economy, but you can't sacrifice the economy to maintain public health. You have to steer between the two extremes, because if you don't we're absolutely fucked as a country coming out of this. And people will die from a ruined economy just as surely as they can die from a virus.

There are already businesses that will never reopen after this, as the owners have already found it economically impossible to maintain things, and won't be able to be able to afford to restart afterward (this is why many people were asking for small business support from the government). The longer the shutdown continues, the more businesses will never reopen. The more businesses that stay closed, the worse the economy becomes, the more people stay unemployed and financially desperate, etc.

Nothing we do was ever going to "stop" the virus from spreading. The most we could ever hope for was to "flatten the arc". Limited exposure allows hospitals to keep from being overwhelmed and buys time, but there's always going to be a huge spike when people start un-quarantining themselves.

The best scenario is for a long-term slow roll-out with people maintaining social distancing in public but still being able to help jumpstart the economy again, not just hiding until November (because that's what it would probably take to be 100% safe with this) and letting everything else collapse in the meantime.

No matter what, we DO need to be discussing the economy, even if the discussion winds up being about all the things we can't/shouldn't do. Essential businesses are still running, and the model they've been using can be extended to "slightly less essential but still pretty important" businesses. A number of businesses are already telecommuting, and others might be able to find ways to do so if efforts are made to implement new procedures. Restoring consumer confidence in businesses and getting them out to shop (in safe ways) is part of the discussion that needs to be taking place.

Just shrugging and going "Ehh, fuck it, we'll worry about it when the virus is completely gone" is a recipe for a decade or so worth of economic crash worse than the Great Depression.
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