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COVID-19 Unlocks the Truth About Totalitarian Governments.

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Fnord
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03 Mar 2020, 2:34 pm

A quote from This NPR Article:

Quote:
When someone says we can accomplish something but we must pay a price, do not rush to applaud. One day you may become the price that is paid.
The anonymous writer is giving a first-hand account of how a totalitarian state handles a health crisis...
Quote:
The order to lock down the city appeared from nowhere on Jan. 23 at 2 a.m., without any sign or explanation to residents -- even though everyone knew what was up.

People rushed to shop at 24-hour convenience stores at 3 a.m. to gather necessary food and other items. We tried every method to escape from Wuhan, but the cage was already locked.

On new year's eve, Jan. 24, I watched the glorious performances from a gala aired on CCTV, Chinese television. But our celebratory meal was sparse, pieced together from the few ingredients I'd been able to buy in that last-minute shopping trip.

Then on the second day of the new year, another order arrived out of the blue, notifying us that the Wuhanese shall not drive. But this order only survived for less than six hours -- perhaps because the authorities realized that, with public transportation shut down, cars would be needed to drive medical staffers to work and back home. So community officers called upon residents of Wuhan to provide rides for many of these workers -- and to get permits to do this driving. Under the pressure of massive criticism, the government had to revoke this order for residents to provide rides.

Other orders were issued that reflected the chaos. Residents were asked to donate rice and oil to feed the medical staffers at Wuhan's top hospital since there was not enough food to guarantee meals for them. But we are the taxpayers. Shouldn't the government be able to provide?

From former schoolmates who now work in the medical profession, I learned that medical workers were not given medical supplies and were exposed to a risk of death. Many people wonder: Why didn't they go on strike? It is because they were informed that if they went on strike, their licenses to practice medicine would be revoked and their family members' jobs would be affected.

In America, we have our Constitutional rights. But will they be enough when the troops set up roadblocks?



BenderRodriguez
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03 Mar 2020, 2:59 pm

Totalitarian states... everyone hates them and talks about the enemy but they know little and care even less about those who had the misfortune to be born in such places...


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Fnord
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03 Mar 2020, 3:08 pm

BenderRodriguez wrote:
Totalitarian states... everyone hates them and talks about the enemy but they know little and care even less about those who had the misfortune to be born in such places...
We know so little because of the Great Firewall that China has erected. America is just one signature on an emergency declaration away from being put on lock-down just like China.



Magna
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03 Mar 2020, 3:13 pm

I wouldn't have a problem with staying at home for a month, staying home from work for a month and being able to still take my walks outside.



BenderRodriguez
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03 Mar 2020, 3:19 pm

Fnord wrote:
BenderRodriguez wrote:
Totalitarian states... everyone hates them and talks about the enemy but they know little and care even less about those who had the misfortune to be born in such places...
We know so little because of the Great Firewall that China has erected. America is just one signature on an emergency declaration away from being put on lock-down just like China.


How bad is it? I was supposed to go to an event in LA and a convention in San Francisco this month and they were both cancelled.


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Last edited by BenderRodriguez on 03 Mar 2020, 3:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fnord
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03 Mar 2020, 3:21 pm

Magna wrote:
I wouldn't have a problem with staying at home for a month, staying home from work for a month and being able to still take my walks outside.
Please have your papers ready, and keep your hands where they can be seen. Thank you, and have a nice day!



Fnord
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03 Mar 2020, 3:23 pm

BenderRodriguez wrote:
Fnord wrote:
BenderRodriguez wrote:
Totalitarian states... everyone hates them and talks about the enemy but they know little and care even less about those who had the misfortune to be born in such places...
We know so little because of the Great Firewall that China has erected. America is just one signature on an emergency declaration away from being put on lock-down just like China.
How bad is it? I had to go to an event in LA and a convention in San Francisco this month and they were both cancelled.
The panic is affecting traffic on the roads. It normally take me almost an hour to drive to work. This morning it took only 23 minutes.



Magna
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03 Mar 2020, 3:28 pm

Fnord wrote:
Magna wrote:
I wouldn't have a problem with staying at home for a month, staying home from work for a month and being able to still take my walks outside.
Please have your papers ready, and keep your hands where they can be seen. Thank you, and have a nice day!


I need a break anyway. A break from work, a break from people, a break in general.



BenderRodriguez
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03 Mar 2020, 3:39 pm

Fnord wrote:
BenderRodriguez wrote:
Fnord wrote:
BenderRodriguez wrote:
Totalitarian states... everyone hates them and talks about the enemy but they know little and care even less about those who had the misfortune to be born in such places...
We know so little because of the Great Firewall that China has erected. America is just one signature on an emergency declaration away from being put on lock-down just like China.
How bad is it? I had to go to an event in LA and a convention in San Francisco this month and they were both cancelled.
The panic is affecting traffic on the roads. It normally take me almost an hour to drive to work. This morning it took only 23 minutes.

Silverlining? :lol:

Stay safe man.


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BenderRodriguez
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03 Mar 2020, 3:44 pm

Magna wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Magna wrote:
I wouldn't have a problem with staying at home for a month, staying home from work for a month and being able to still take my walks outside.
Please have your papers ready, and keep your hands where they can be seen. Thank you, and have a nice day!


I need a break anyway. A break from work, a break from people, a break in general.


Is there any other way you could take a break? I've had an exhausting year and now I'm on sabbatical, I know where you're coming from.


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03 Mar 2020, 5:54 pm

^ Magna, can you take a break from money? That's what would kill us if my husband could not work. I can mostly work from home.

Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Keep your hands away from your face.

We stay stocked up due to hurricane, etc.


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Magna
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03 Mar 2020, 6:23 pm

blazingstar wrote:
^ Magna, can you take a break from money? That's what would kill us if my husband could not work. I can mostly work from home.

Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Keep your hands away from your face.

We stay stocked up due to hurricane, etc.


Bender: I had a massive autistic burnout from my work and spanning over a decade until last year when I switched jobs to another company within the same field. Unless I find some other type of work that I just love, I don't think I'll ever fully recover from the burnout.

Blazingstar: I'm on salary and I get twenty days of paid time off (PTO) which are days that can be used for anything from sick time to vacation. If I was quarantined or something for a month, I could work from home and still get paid.



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04 Mar 2020, 6:51 am

I've had a big one in my 40s and combined with some personal stuff I was going through, it was brutal, more like a breakdown. I had to time off work. Maybe if I knew about AS I could have prevented things from getting that far, but it's hard to tell.

I don't know what to say, except wishing you well, these are very difficult situations.


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07 Aug 2020, 9:34 am

As long as the Trump administration and its GOP minions think more Democrats will suffer and die from COVID-19 than Republicans, they’ll either avoid doing anything to fight the virus or will do the bare minimum to make it look like they’re doing so.  Come to think of it ... it could be even more Orwellian than that: As long as they can make Trump supporters think more Democrats are suffering and dying than Republicans, they’ll keep on their present course.

Around a week or so ago the Red states bypassed both the Swing and Blue states in cases per capita and are now running around 7% ahead in official COVID-19 cases per capita, with no sign of slowing down.

This may have a lot to do with Mr. Trump's more recent slow, quiet turn toward providing more support for COVID-19 treatments, and backing off on his hatred of mail-in ballots, but only in red states!