My spouse has been frustrated by attitudes that seem to imply we should be listening to the governments recommendations and following them to the letter- no more and no less. She tells me she remembers a time when adults made real reasonable decisions.
May of the Networks including MSNBC have running headers like "Joe Biden "Blunder? on Swine Flu" with comments that suggest he indeed made a bunder.
In response, the administration is carefully suggesting he didn't "mean " what he said" after angry letters from the travel and airline industry
Here is my spouse's note to Joe Biden
"Hello, Vice President Biden. I know the news analysts are going to analyze your comments to death, and the administration is probably going to have to do some damage control, and tourism and airline companies are going to be annoyed with you--but THANK YOU! Thank you for saying you'd recommend your family not travel in enclosed places if they don't have to. You've put the decision-making back in the hands of intelligent adults who can weigh the evidence and make our own choices rather than waiting to rely on "officials" for permission.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"
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Poster Science First added the crucial Joe quotation and rebuttal from Politico (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21925.html) in a comment:
Unscripted:
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not recommend taking any commercial flight or riding in a subway car "at this point" because swine flu virus can spread "in confined places." A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.
I would tell members of my family — and I have — I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said on NBC’s "Today" show.. "It’s not that it’s going to Mexico. It’s [that] you’re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. ...
"So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you’re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that’s one thing. If you’re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it’s a different thing."
That contradicted more restrained advice from President Barack Obama and the federal government — and the last thing the White House wants to do right now is shut down the airline industry and big-city subways out of mass panic.
Revised:
"On the Today Show this morning, the vice president was asked what he would tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this week. The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week. As the president said just last night, every American should take the same steps you would take to prevent any other flu: Keep your hands washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if you're sick and keep your children home from school if they're sick."
Yes they are concerned because on a Macro Level the government and industry need to keep as much of the economy going as long as possible
Yet, Should that mean that each of us think and act ONLY for the Macro Level?
We have a friend and fellow dkoser scheduled to visit later this month. Both of us really want to see her and do some important work together. Yet, both of us have been feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
We have also questioned our discomfort given that there is NO recommendation to eliminate non-essential plane travel at this time. This has been a bigger issue for me than for her. After all I reason, the economy! And if statistically the odds of getting Swine flu traveling by Plane given that we would have to be exposed and seated within 2 isles of the affected person to have a chance at catching the virus makes the odds even smaller. even more THERE IS THE FACT THAT MOST WHO DO GET Swine flu at this point get something which is not even the worst version of the yearly flu.
On CNN they showed how true this was by demonstrating by mathematical models how little difference there was in the growth of the flu epidemic if they restricted airline travel.
SO I shouldn't consider putting such meetings off, ...right? WRONG.
That model has to do with the SPREAD of the virus. Not with the relative safety of any individual in the system. The virus DOES spread more when we travel in these models. That means more individuals get sick. The point of the model was for the government to decide whether it should require a stop to plan travel for the purpose of containment. The answer to that at this time was NO.
The question of individual safety is a very different matter and should be decided by individuals who recognize that there IS added personal risk in such travel
What hit my spouse so hard is her observation for how different people respond to government guidelines today than they did in the past. she was alive during the spread of Polio. And while the declarations of the government were seriously considered it was just assumed that each individual and family would automatically consider the information and make choices to maximize their personal wellness. She felt confident that the families on her block were having the same conversations her own family were having and would act accordingly as it fit their circumstances.
Today, things seem different. Many seem to want EXACT word for word "rules" from the government and we feel the "right" thing to do is to follow these to the letter. Responsibility and choices in the past were the domain of the family and individuals, information the government.
As a result people tend either to accept the governments list of precautions and make no reflection on their personal situation; or reject anything the government has to say and consider it overkill or a unwarranted "scare"
Perhaps we have gotten these roles confused today. Joe Biden did not make a Blunder. His statement was not good for the profits of certain industries whose case and concern is NOT maximizing personal safety. His initial suggested would not bring the world economy to a grinding halt not inspire panic among thinking adults. It is just the good thoughtful common sense that used to be so much a part of of culture there was no need for this sort of discussion. The days when we would read, think, discuss and consider...and then act.