This is probably my fourth week of working from home and working for home. I frantically check news on my phone atleast 3 times a day in hopes of finding some good news. Sadly, not much luck, although a relief is that Washington state's hospitals are not running at max capacity.
One news I came across just now is that as Wuhan has opened up, residents believe that the number of deaths was way more than the 3000 odd reported by the Chinese Communist Government. That's a big news (for me) because I had fallen into the trap of just looking at the numbers and judging how efficient and effective a particular authority was in limiting the outbreak. Given how much variation there has been in how countries are dealing with this, the report about Wuhan made me question my earlier thinking that China had done a fantastic job at controlling this. In this case, of course numbers matter because we are talking about the number of people who passed away. They tried silencing the whistle blowers of the outbreak, infected people were forcibly taken away to quarantine facilities, and now even with the quarantine lifted they don't feel really free. India is probably adopting a similar approach - using force without any hesitation when needed. How come force is the only approach for these countries when here in the USA, self-quarantine is the suggested and seemingly working approach? When we say all humans are similar, that's probably true - we all need food, water, shelter, kids, and a better life. Though humans are born similar, all societies are not similar. Most of the Asians who have chosen to live here have probably consciously and unconsciously been conditioned to the societal norms here. Free-will is extremely important here and individual responsibility is pretty high too. However, governance is lacking a more scientific and brave approach. The people in power seem to be stuck in the past, but luckily industrialists here are on their way to becoming philanthropists and socially responsible. If this country can get good governance, nothing can stop it. But what is the cause and what is the effect - bad governance or bad sections of the society? Even if one can't solve this puzzle, enough good can be done through other sections of the society in power -journalists, industrialists, talk show hosts...
One news I came across just now is that as Wuhan has opened up, residents believe that the number of deaths was way more than the 3000 odd reported by the Chinese Communist Government. That's a big news (for me) because I had fallen into the trap of just looking at the numbers and judging how efficient and effective a particular authority was in limiting the outbreak. Given how much variation there has been in how countries are dealing with this, the report about Wuhan made me question my earlier thinking that China had done a fantastic job at controlling this. In this case, of course numbers matter because we are talking about the number of people who passed away. They tried silencing the whistle blowers of the outbreak, infected people were forcibly taken away to quarantine facilities, and now even with the quarantine lifted they don't feel really free. India is probably adopting a similar approach - using force without any hesitation when needed. How come force is the only approach for these countries when here in the USA, self-quarantine is the suggested and seemingly working approach? When we say all humans are similar, that's probably true - we all need food, water, shelter, kids, and a better life. Though humans are born similar, all societies are not similar. Most of the Asians who have chosen to live here have probably consciously and unconsciously been conditioned to the societal norms here. Free-will is extremely important here and individual responsibility is pretty high too. However, governance is lacking a more scientific and brave approach. The people in power seem to be stuck in the past, but luckily industrialists here are on their way to becoming philanthropists and socially responsible. If this country can get good governance, nothing can stop it. But what is the cause and what is the effect - bad governance or bad sections of the society? Even if one can't solve this puzzle, enough good can be done through other sections of the society in power -journalists, industrialists, talk show hosts...
