306: Covid-19, avoiding people, and family

I chose to stay at my mom's outside the cityWhy?Read stories, saw difference between places with SARS and MERS experience versus notNY and US woefully underprepared govt, corps. People didn't get itNot worried about my health, but systemAdvice is distanceWhat could happenCloser to Italy than China or IranTalked to friend in medicineTalked to friend who had been following mostUS lacks central authorityWhy not?Mom is 76. Stepfather close. I could unknowingly bring diseaseSolution isn't possible for everyone. On the other hand, everyone who can slow spread shouldAt first felt privilegedBut hard to find preciselyHaving mom?Having mom still alive?Her living outside the city? Many other situations doesn't help.That I can afford to go somewhere else?Normally couldn't but situation demands it. Like many, I can't afford. My largest source of income last year was corporate speaking, which is all disappearingIn any case, able to relocate possibly for months results from work at pruning unnecessary, which anyone can doI don't have kids, which enables a lot, but a major factor in not having kids is not being able to afford them.Feels like the opposite of privilege, not being able to afford somethingStill, people have told me I'm privileged for it.Candidly, it feels that way, but I can't put my finger on it. My family isn't loaded. If middle class is privileged, I guess, but then everyone outside poverty is privileged.Back to CovidWhat made case for me was seeing scientific models that what we're seeing with minimal testing implies far more we haven't tested, which implies far more who can transmit but haven't shown symptoms, which could be you or meBiggest problem would be if we don't learn from it.Biggest lesson so far: can't not fly -> can not flyBecause however big Covid, scientists have predicted pandemics based on overpopulation and over travel for generationsThey've also predicted a lot more to come.Best course beyond this pandemic is to implement globally what Thai people did: lowering birth rate globally to around 1, 1.5 children per woman.In the immediate, follow expert advice, of courseThe two articles that influenced me most:Coronavirus: Why You Must Act NowHow Will Coronavirus Spread? Liz Specht Breaks Down Systemic Risk – by the Math – As 16 Million Are Quarantined in ItalyThe chart I described, from the first link above: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.