Right. We couldve done better…agreed. probably couldve kept deaths down from 500k to 100k
But in the scheme of things, the human portfolio if you will, isnt it a small loss? Im speaking from a nonhumancentric viewpoint. Kind of a drop in the bucket? if you took that percentage loss on a specific holding in your financial portfolio, it would be irrelevant. and nothing compared to gains in other areas: babies! new drugs and surgeries! etc.
or If we heard say, there were a 10 perce. Increase on total lost forest, or a 10 perc species extinction, wed take it in stride. no one would be like, WE MUST ACT! we’d be like, meh. like we are right this minute. meh.
give me money. ecosystem trouble? ho-hum.
But we lose our minds if an extra less than 1/10 of 1 perc of us die? I’m not saying that we should’ve stayed open to benefit the economy. quite the opposite.
just that our deaths are kind of not that big a deal, really, so long as they happen in an orderly, somewhat predictable manner , and aren’t caused by other’s carelessness or disregard for us, such that we are enraged by a particular localized injustice, in which case we get really really worked up. Look, if I knew I was gonna have a heart attack tonight for sure and die tonight, i’d still be outraged if some drunk driver KIlled me this afternoon.
I’d be like, that rude, non-mask wearing, bad driving moron!
And although i’m arguing that human life is not worth all that much in aggregate, Im not talking about the individual lives, which are obviously infinitely precious to each of us, and precious to our loved ones, in some cases.
Im talking the global perspective, as seen froma distance, not alpha centauri distant, maybe just from the Moon, where our lives seem to be not very valuable.
Humans gonna human. Dumber than rocks. Not gonna be careful.
look at it this way; an extra 500,000 iraqis died in the iraq war. but really, who cares? Do we worry about it, or even remotely feel anything? barely. because it’s a drop in the bucket, right? and who are they anyway? nobody. why does their country end with a Q? don’t they know that q’s must be followed by u’s? barbarians!
covid seems worse because it highlights how much we truly dont give a shit about each other in our own society, financially, physically, etc.
. on the other hand, if we weren’t such a bunch of pleasure and sensation seeking, self-centered, restless, risk taking jerks. perhaps the economy as we know it would come to a standstill.
all that we’d sell would be a bowl and aspoon, a meditation mat, and a blanket.
