231–240 of 1001 posts
1) tie state taxes to per/capita testing infrastructure and ppe reserve
2) stress test public health institutes like financial institutes
3) use the military to war game these events
Westworld spoiler I’d have to watch again to be sure, but I think the scene in Westworld in Singapore is actually in Singapore because Paris was destroyed. There are scenes in futuristic sf also that show Fremont street among others.
> When the producers of HBO’s “Westworld” wanted to portray the American city of the future, they didn’t film in Seattle or Los Angeles or Austin — they went to Singapore. We should have gleaming skyscrapers and spectacular living environments in all our best cities at levels way beyond what we have now; where are they?
I've definitely noticed more and more of this in other shows. It's not at all a bad thing, just the opposite: it shows there's big money to be made over there.
What's the goal here? The American dream? Well, you need to be able to afford a home and children. People can't. Why not? Because they aren't paid enough for the work they do. The money is being made, but it ends up at the top, and not even corporate tax is being paid with all the tax optimization routes. So what do people do? They begin startups. Most of the time they're done by people who should even waste their ti…
https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/kingdom-of-happiness.html
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a New Deal style fund for infrastructure and human capital investment projects would be fantastic. Some ideas... Government will pay your former salary if you attend a Masters or PhD program and are succeeding there. Delay recent bachelors grads entering the workforce by heavily subsidizing Masters degrees and PhDs in STEM. (Only others if we must, personally I think social sciences are currently acting as a…
Aren’t most decent Masters and PhD programs paid already? My friends in PhD programs are paid a stipend. It’s not an industry level wage if that is what you were meaning, but they certainly don’t pay anything to be there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps desire is the wrong word to use. I don't think he means desire in terms of willpower or motivation, but in terms of ambition. I do think the world has lost some of of its ambition over the last 50 years.
I don't think "ambition" is the correct root cause for "not enough surgical masks", either. Look at someone like Bill Gates. He had the knowledge of how dangerous a pandemic could be, the financial resources to manufacture or stockpile the basic medical items which would be needed, and as much ambition as anyone on this planet. I hate to single out anyone in particular, as this is certainly not his fault. I don't mea…
If Bill Gates had manufactured or stockpiled basic medical items, someone would be complaining about why he didn't do it sooner, or accusing him of profiteering, or somesuch. It shouldn't be up to one person to be responsible for the foibles of the human race, even if they have outsized resources. They just become a scapegoat for our own lack of responsibility.
This is silly. There are clear differences in response. Here’s just one example:
21 Jan - The city department of public health activates its operations center to prepare for a potential outbreak. 28 Jan - The city activates its emergency operations center. 25 Feb - The city formally declares a state of emergency to prepare for an upcoming outbreak. 5 Mar - The city confirms its first case of COVID-19. 17 Mar - Shelter in place order implemented.
This was a great timeline. And it comes from the local jurisdiction so many here love to hate: San Francisco.
There are absolutely lessons we should be drawing from this pandemic. And one of them is that the political movements who want to drown government in a bathtub are putting your own lives and those of every vulnerable person you know because of that ideology. And those that want functional government aren’t.
I’m all for more radical solutions too. But if you aren’t going to learn the lessons of the present you’re in a shockingly bad place to tell anyone what’s right for the future.
Also, we need to tone down the white supremacy and learn some lessons from the Asian governments who did well here too. My search space for good ideas isn’t confined to “western governments” and neither should that confine anyone else’s.