That's what I'm afraid of, and hence why I really don't want to see a bailout of the airlines. They've been effectively ran into the ground; some of it due to regulations, but most of it from their own incompetence. I was supposed to go to Greece in September with a stopover somewhere in central Europe, and the costs of flights are essentially the same as they were two months ago -- despite a lack of demand and oil prices at 20 year lows. Undersupply will be a problem, but a lot of people aren't going to be flying across the atlantic when 40% of the workforce was laid off for months. If we're truly in a depression, there won't be any demand at all.
I think you're right about folks staying closer to home. If oil remains lower due to oversupply and demand, gas should be cheaper, so people will drive. Another thought I was having is that folks will become more risk averse, not just financially or economically, but also in terms of travelling to certain areas for health concerns. The only piece of good news that could stem from this outbreak is the realization that your health actually matters, so the daily trips to grab that 1050 calorie iced latte might not be such a good idea. And that may even trend towards the idea of visiting places such as China, or others with environmental factors most wouldn't have considered before.
Oh, I think the airlines should eat sh%t. Their business models don't work anymore and they, arguably, were part of the unsustainable "problem" before all this. £29 to fly from Lisbon to London? I mean, that's cheaper than a bus ticket to the Spanish border here. That's cheaper than a family meal at a restaurant. The economics made absolutely no sense between subsidies, lack of airline fuel taxes, etc.
As a national service, since these things are going to be bailed out that way, I can see holding a few carriers afloat to keep the lights on. But otherwise this is an industry that needs to shrink 80%+ for the medium to long term.
I think people will probably think twice about going to more populous areas for their health. You're going to have the usual hard time getting a black person going to national parks, given the attitude that evolving as a civil society has meant no longer having to wipe your ass in the woods. But travel is also about culture. I actually see the long term effects of this being good for rebuilding the many global cultures that were being commiditized and McDonalds-franchised everywhere. Being local will mean something more again. Places will retain more of their uniqueness instead of looking like every other downtown with the same branded crap.
In London we're getting lots of dead birds near 5G towers. There is research starting to show 5G and previously 4G waves affecting male fertility etc. People are now saying that the 5G is making the COVID symptoms worse, this is starting to roll.
Russian trolls never get a day off.
I started working for a new law firm in January. They're known for having a huge workload and many people did not want to go there, despite the very decent wages. Many lawyers preferred softer workplaces, where they might rip you off, but you don't have to work as hard.
In January everyone thought I was crazy to want to work for such a firm.
Today everybody wants to be my friend.
People are scared.
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Remember when I was telling you that what you experienced as a career setback might actually turn out to be something in your favor?
You never know...
No. It's a serious virus and it is killing people.
The vast majority of (European) casualties are over 80 however.
There is no reason to shut down our entire economy because old people die. Let me make this easy to understand: old people die all the time. And you know why? Because being old makes you frail and weak.
Do we need to take general measures? Absolutely. We need to do everything we can to protect people.
But did we need to shut down schools and essentially destroy the careers of 20-30 year olds? No, we did not. In fact a lot of scientists even advised against closing schools.
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My mom is in her 80s, and there's a very decent chance she could die of this. But then statistically anybody in their 80s has an 8-10% of dying every year just by being alive. I get that.
But crushing the health care system where falling off a ladder becomes potentially fatal now? No, I don't think that's a great tradeoff.
And while you could argue that many governments have needed a dose of euthanasia to control their spiraling pension debts, and probably nature has always done its job of preventing severe cases of gerontocracies by injecting a few rogue RNA strands to keep things fresh now and then, let's also remember what the medical profession really is.
The job of a doctor isn't just to keep old people alive. The job of a doctor is to prevent natural selection. Talk about sisyphean.
Doctors see the very young, the very old, the very unlucky, and the very stupid. And sometimes just the very poor. When we make a conscious decision to value one life over another's purely on something like this, you're pretty much condemning that whole lot there.
Some philosophical approaches, like Utilitarianism, might advocate. Others think that a society that sells out its fellow citizens for a quick buck is so morally corrupt it isn't worth living in. There are multiple ways to interpret that.
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@Kyle Trump is on live now. Let’s see what reporter pisses him off with a fair question this time.
Ah, I need to watch some new South Park.
It's always mutating. This is called life. If it wasn't mutant, it would be dead. Life would be dead. See the system, not the reductionist individual thing.
This is great. But I can always count on you for great philosophical material.
Today, he was bitching about how he won't get a stimulus check from the government because his income is too high and, when I brought it up to see if his opinion had changed, he is still against federal funds for improved unemployment or food support aka stimulus package actually benefiting the at risk? He still wants his check though. He's in the market for a Porsche 911 so he needs the money.
I don't think Americans realize how much the rest of the world looks at them like financial system antiques of the 20th century whenever they talk about getting government "checks".
There are reports that 2 million people have died from the virus in China... 2 mil might be a little exaggerated but 1 mil is totally believable.
The Russian trolls never sleep.
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Do Europeans really feel a debt to China over this? This situation should be the long awaited wakeup that China needs to get smacked around a bit.
