What do we do about us?

When I thought about this post China came to mind. I mean they're the ones who started this pandemic thing. Wet markets (whatever they are), not telling 'til it was too late and completely fucking up the supply chain 'cause China shut up shop. Right.

Well wrong. The likelihood of a pandemic has been highlighted over and over again in the recent past. The impact of such an event has been documented and policy wonks and politicians have been made aware of the possibility in most Western economies. In the past preparations have been jacked up as a result of the SARS, MARS and Ebola scares but...

We in the West were completely unprepared. You can't say then it's not our fault - it's China's. My simple proposition is this.

In the 50's 60's 70's and 80's we, in the West and our client states, were prepared to spend billions a year to prepare ourselves for a nuclear war. Yet we aren't prepared to spend money to protect us from what is known could be a devastating pandemic. Also we've spent years planning for an asteroid hit - think dinosaurs and extinction and a bit of money. Massive solar flares  - a huge effort to figure out how we handle them and the resulting economic and social disruption.

Nuclear war and a near extinction asteroid event are  unlikely, but if you have regular transmission of viruses from animals, human  mass transportation, billions of people close together and a political system that is opaque and a history of mass infection isn't that worth trying to get ahead of.

It's political. I don't understand why some people say this is pandemic is a lie, a conspiracy it ain't as bad as the left make it out to be. Thousands have died!  and I agree we have to get the trade off between health and wealth right, yet much of the analysis and debate is based not on any reality but dogma. This is stupid, stupid.

This pandemic has opened up and exposed the divide in society. It's unfair that people like me with a secure income, no mortgage, a garden and loads of contact don't suffer while millions of others are without work, money and space to recreate do. A billionaire can get relief in the hundreds of millions yet someone without work is on the breadline.

The UK  government's been asleep on the job. We've put our health service workers at risk, the thousands in care home at risk, the self employed at risk, the old at risk and our nation's very being at risk because our Gov't wasn't awake or prepared.

No it's not China fault. It's ours.