Posted on 04/05/2020 4:58:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
If your name is Bill Gates, it’s safe to assume that you are not living paycheck to paycheck. So, his suggestion of closing down the entire economy for at least two months is of little consequence to him and his family. They won’t miss a mortgage payment or fret the MasterCard bill.
The same can be said for many of the other experts who are recommending a nearly total shutdown of American commerce. The creators of the alarming models. The ones who daily speculate about the potential death toll. The ones who groaned when Dr. Oz suggested that hydroxychloroquine, a drug commonly used to treat malaria for 70 years might be effective against this virus. Remember the ones who even refused to allow Americans access to the drug? Almost all of them (including Governors) are government employees. They get paid every two weeks.
Their recommendations cost them little, personally.
Consider the costs of their expensive regulation proposals. With no personal downside for experts, it makes it easier to recommend draconian fifty dollar solutions to ten dollar problems.
The price tag is not their problem. And being wrong carries no consequence.
We’ve seen this play out before. The scientists who developed the hockey stick climate models were tenured professors and government-paid experts. The consensus of scientists who joined their chorus were as well. Hollywood types were happy to add their two cents worth, as long as they could keep their Gulfstreams. Scientists who worked in the private sector, the ones who raised legitimate questions about the models were shamed and called climate deniers. Remember?
The solutions for their supposed climate calamity now sound eerily familiar. We simply must shut down large sections of our economy. Energy companies and airlines first. The world will end in (fill in the blank) years if we don’t follow their expert advice. Fanning the flames of fear to force change is a proven strategy. They all get to pat themselves on the back, impose their recommendations on the unwashed masses while never missing a paycheck. They get a jolt of feel-good endorphins. We get a lower standard of living. But that of course, is not their problem.
Was it just a coincidence that our friends on the Left wanted to load up the $2 Trillion stimulus bill with thick slices of the Green New Deal? As long as we are already subsidizing the closing down large sections of the economy, why not make some parts permanent?
Much of the same can be said for many of our corporate leaders. While they prepare for massive layoffs of their employees, they line up for huge bailouts from Uncle Sam. We are already hearing about some slashing dividends for shareholders. How many of these execs are forgoing their generous pay packages?
We now see that shared sacrifice has its limits. The fact is that half of our citizens are being asked to bear the costs of “flattening the curve.” The other half continue to get their pensions, social security and salaries.
Would government workers be as quiet if they were furloughed in proportionate numbers to the layoffs in the private sector? Would some professors be demanding that colleges reopen if they weren’t getting paid?
This is not to second guess or say that these experts are bad people. They are well-intentioned. We don’t have to question their motives. But, it is fair to question the recommendations from experts when they create enormous financial pain. Pain which they will never personally feel. Would those experts make the same recommendations if they were forced to lay off a third of their associates? People they know and work with?
With all do respect to Mr. Gates, assuming we follow his advice and close down everything for another two months, is there any guarantee that the virus won’t spring back when we do re-open? Couldn’t we be right back at square one? What then?
No one would argue that the situation we face is not serious. Especially for seniors and those with compromised health conditions. We are in a war. But, if we are all in the same boat, then everyone should share in the consequences of expensive proposals. Especially the experts.
On the plus side, the entire world now knows what a real “hockey stick” looks like.
Okay, I'll say it. I second guess them and they are bad people.
Besides, if they're "experts", why are they guessing in the first place?
Whenever they talk about “experts”, I always think of the guy who proposed the idea of a courier company - what would become FedEx - as his business thesis in university and got a failing grade, because the learned professors said it would never work
Or Lord Kelvin, the World’s most famous scientist in the late 1800s, who said in 1897 that heavier-than-air flight was impossible ... then 6 years later two bicycle-makers proved him wrong
Always question the “experts”
The fact is that half of our citizens are being asked to bear the costs of “flattening the curve.” The other half continue to get their pensions, social security and salaries.
There is the problem, exactly. Since the govt is borrowing huge sums of money, cut all govt employees wages by 50% while they’re ‘working’ from home or locked down. Things will open up a lot quicker.
Here is the banker’s scenario. All the people in service industries, restaurants, hotels, travel, etc will fall behind on some payments, their credit scores will fall an average of 50-100 points, then the banks (who will get all the money they can lend at no interest) will charge them 3-4% up to 10% more for a car loan, etc. It’s all good to them. People will get homes foreclosed on, banks will buy them up for cheap with next to no interest money, then wait for the real estate market to come back and make more $$.
Why should government keep getting checks, backpay, work from home pay while the rest of us suffer?
I’m not against military retirees either, but that’s what everyone throws out there when govt employees are not participating in any of the pain of an economy in panic. It’s way past time for govt employees to share in the pain rather than be insulated from the financial suffering of the people who make it possible for them to even have a check.
Sounds all right to me—agree totally.
Many are IYI
Intelligent yet idiots
Defining the Intellectual Yet Idiot
You can read Taleb’s satirical piece, but here’s my quick summary of the characteristics of IYIs:
Education: Almost always attend “elite universities,” such as the Ivy League or Oxbridge. NOTE: Most students at these schools are not IYIs, but a decent percentage qualify.
Industries: Tend to have experience mostly in academia, the government, “think tanks,” and the mainstream media.
Skin in the Game: None. They advocate for or against policies from which they never feel the negative effects, making such advocacy meaningless.
Media: Like The New Yorker and TED talks (ugh).
And, most importantly, the IYI never deadlifts (more on why that’s important).
https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-beat-the-intellectual-yet-idiot/
As we used to say when Boomers were young, many of them are “idiot savants”.
Wow. Is there enough bandwidth?
Or is bandwidth still a thing?
Why is the Fake Congress still getting paid? It’s not like they are doing any essential work. We are all suffering while they continue to get fat salaries and ridiculous benefits.
Stop Fake Congress pay NOW. Perhaps Presidennt Trump can shame them into not accepting paychecks. It’s the least they can do for We the people. Then again, they have no shame.
Would a White House petition be in order?
My neighbor is a “non-essential” government employee. She is furloughed - and just as frustrated as we are.
But, she is on paid leave, not unpaid.
The question isn’t so much military retirees, but about government line workers on paid leave over this virus. (IMO)
Payroll for senators and reps is basically pocket money for them. It’s the connections and influence where the real dough comes from. That’s why people spend millions to get a job that pays thousands.
Is there a connection with Bill Gates wanting millions of citizens to stay home and computer usage? When everyone is Locked Down in their home for days on end; is there an increase in business for Google, Explorer, and a dozen other MicroSoft products?
The cure for expert worship is actual experience with experts.
Huge amounts of money don’t make you an expert but they think they are. You have an opinion just like the janitor who works in you high rise
The problem with experts...
They all seem to be interconnected.
Of course. The us has been conditioned to see them as gods in this country.
I always had respect for doctors until my mom got sick and we made so many trips to the ER and finally when she was hospitalized.
The instant I started to meet and talk to her ‘specialists’ I was stunned at their lack of understanding, lack of honesty, ANY actual concern and their inability to communicate
Pocket change for them; a whole lot of money for the rest of us. Why should they benefit while we suffer?
Bill Gates bluetooth armband.
https://newsammo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_4301.jpg
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