London's Great Plague and the response to Coronavirus.

Unequal Implementation, A study made about the Great Plague makes interesting reading today.

This paper will argue that the government’s health policies not only failed to help the sick but in fact harmed the poor while at the same time these policies did little harm to the wealthy and in some ways gave privileges to them.

What were these health policies you say?

Chapter two discusses the negative impact of quarantine on the individual and argues both that the public health policies were written in a manner that was more palatable to those with wealth and the quarantine was inconsistently applied to the wealthy

Meanwhile, in America today:

Celebrities, politicians and professional athletes faced a backlash this week as many revealed that they had been tested for the coronavirus, even when they didn’t have a fever or other tell-tale symptoms.

Of course, that's not the only inequalities back then that are being repeated today.

Chapter three focuses on the economic impact of the plague and especially the government’s response... To do this it will focus on the restrictions to trade, the costs on the individual in quarantine...the inequalities in funding.

While Wall St. gets $1 TRILLION a day, while the working class get nothing.

how do you think this is going to end?

Share
up
14 users have voted.

Comments

boriscleto's picture

up
9 users have voted.

" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

that the wealthy are getting tested first, as they are the cohort most able to effectively and safely self quarantine and therefore should be prioritized LAST.

It is the poor and especially the homeless who need to be tested FIRST as they are the ones with the least access to sanitation, healthcare and shelter and therefore most likely to spread the virus.

up
13 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

edg's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

Rich and famous people are getting infected and likely had the greatest exposure due to travel and public appearances. See: All the Celebrities Who Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus. The list includes actors, musicians, athletes, and politicians.

As restrictions on movement take effect, the situation may change and the risk for poor people may increase dramatically. But that hasn't been the case so far.

up
3 users have voted.
Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@edg

NBA player has coronavirus, he holes up in his crib and orders in.

Homeless person has coronavirus, he barely has a hole and must still forage for food.

You tell me. Who is more likely to spread the virus and by how much?

up
7 users have voted.

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

edg's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

The basketball player probably infected 100 people already because he was out in public talking to fans, signing autographs, attending parties, etc. Priority of testing had to be based on who exposed the most people to the virus. The priority may flip, as you suggest, but I disagree with your assessment of who needed to be tested first AS OF NOW.

up
2 users have voted.

@Not Henry Kissinger The rich and famous do not have to work. They love sheltering in their mansions and compounds anyway.
The homeless are out in the world in contact with lots of people. Minimum wage workers must soldier on to McDonald's.
The health, the immune systems of the rich and famous are as good as it gets. The poor have diseases that have never been diagnosed, or have never been treated, because they are too poor to see a dr.
We are an unhealthy population to begin with.
I have this idea those low death rates statistics that show this virus mostly attacks the elderly with health problems just didn't apply to the US. They have universal, birth to death healthcare in the country where those statistics were established.
Only a portion of our population knows their heart conditions, their diabetes, etc...
They are so vulnerable.
I want to just bitch slap some politicians.

up
12 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981