Has anyone conjectured that the acknowledged rapid spread, but most seemingly most dangerous for the 40+ age groups would cull older, less productive people...also those holding what are now considered obsolete values or behaviors?
Leave the young pliable breeders in place while justifying near absolute control of a populace?
A viral Logan’s Run?
[Has anyone conjectured that the acknowledged rapid spread, but most seemingly most dangerous for the 40+ age groups would cull older, less productive people...also those holding what are now considered obsolete values or behaviors?
Leave the young pliable breeders in place while justifying near absolute control of a populace?
A viral Logan’s Run?]
And then there’s the never-ending struggle for power among China’s elites. What better pretext for stringing Xi Jinping up from the nearest lamp post than the deliberate release of this pathogen? Not out of any particular empathy for the dead victims but because Xi’s demise would create a lot of job openings below him, as his closest associates down the ladder are gotten rid of by his rivals.
Chinese history is replete with both types of revolutions/mutinies. Xi would be nuts to tempt fate with such an off the wall idea.
China’s rulers aren’t queen ants presiding over ant colonies completely subservient to them by instinct. They have always been constrained by potential mutiny by powerful members (in their own right) of the imperial clan, influential courtiers, wealthy members of the gentry/aristocracy and military commanders appointed as self-sufficient viceroys to fend off significant foreign or domestic threats. The handful of examples of elite mutiny here are just the tip of the iceberg.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongle_Emperor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Gao
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Cao
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Lushan
There are literally hundreds of similar, less prominent ones.
In living memory, the most prominent examples of elite competition include the following:
A regional military commander’s defiance of a kill order for Deng Xiaoping. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Jianying
A prominent military commander’s coup attempt:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_571
A successful coup by Deng Xiaoping against Mao Zedong’s designated chairman-for-life successor:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Guofeng