In the news this morning, I see that America is now overtaking China in Corona cases. And it is still only the early stages. Will Trump be held responsible in the next election for basically doing nothing?
Probably not. I count him, same as Ramaphosa, as now one of those "wartime" presidents: The sudden halo the latter is now enjoying has me very bemused. Guy could go out shooting toddlers and people would only pause their prayer circles for a minute or two to wonder what the kids did to deserve it.
In other news: My american contacts are now starting to ask me directly if this is all a conspiracy and why:
(a) Covid seems to have spread too fast, almost as if by air (groan): I pointed out that actually, the transport used was way faster than air.
(b) How come it seems to have progressed linearly east to west: It didn't, and the earth doesn't look like that.
(c) Why do some places tell their people to stay indoors and some US cities only want 2 days of shut-ins: Because the USA sucks.
(d) Why is this seemingly coordinated on a global scale: Cause that's what global pandemics ARE.
Sigh...
Once again, I see this complete failure to understand the nature of exponential growth. People look at the initial low numbers, and the seeming slow spread, and they are lulled into complacency. Then the thing suddenly explodes, which is what exponential curves do, and then people wonder how the hell this happened.
Some two or three weeks ago, my brother showed his son, who is studying mathematics, the corona stats. He says his son turned white as a sheet the moment he recognized the exponential curve. For these past weeks now, he, his son and I have suffered from a condition we dubbed exponentia: an affliction of those who understand how exponential growth curves work, even while all around them, everyone is still partying, and which manifests as anxiety and a sense of helpless dread.
The partying actually increased my anxiety, because the party will suddenly end, overnight, only to be replaced by total, unreasoning panic. Ye gods be with our society then.