re: For those of you old enough to remember, how does this situation compare to 9/11

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I knew WHAT you meant but would prefer you advance your argument effectively and correctly

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You didn’t “advance” the “discussion” (who’s “arguing”?)

And you’re “115k” became “100k” in a mere 17min... if we keep this up we’re going to handle this thing together

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And you’re “115k” became “100k” in a mere 17min.

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Maybe the Outlook is improving, Douchebag.

Let's get some wings before September.

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Pettifogger

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Agree with pretty much all that you said, with one exception,

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9/11, however, changed our understanding of our own vulnerability in the world

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Change "however" to "also," and we are in full agreement.

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9/11 changed our understanding of our own vulnerability in the world

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So has this pandemic. War and pandemics are not new to human history, as we are well-aware of their inevitability, but regarding which one we've forgotten more about our vulnerability to, if I had to choose only one, I'd choose the latter- especially to the first world civilizations.

Pandemics don't recognize peace treaties, nor do they honor allied commitments. To a virus, national boundaries need not be of concern, for theirs is singular: find the host species, and feast on him. This bug reminds us that a man in Iran is the same as a man in Alabama, that having an "R" or a "D" behind your name is irrelevant, and that our god of gods, king of kings, and the one who "controls" the fate of it all is a farce; we don't control a damned thing in the big scheme of things. We can create and control bombs and bullets for Baghdad, but not a one to save us from ourselves or a tiny little virus. We are a monstrosity of a king in the skies over Afghanistan, but in the annals of history, we are the court jester.

Mankind is a finite ruse, and this pandemic is our checkmate: A move from which a king cannot escape.

Yesterday evening I went to roost a turkey with the intent to kill him today (and kill him in an extremely violent manner). As the sun settled behind the horizon I sat and watched and listened as a perfect little Hooded Warbler 5 yards away carried out his duty of putting the little corner of the meadow we were both in to bed. It made me happy to see him grace me with his presence and taking advantage of the habitat that I've worked so hard to provide him with, and it was at that moment that I'd achieved what I really desired; which was an escape from the reality of what it is to be a human in the here and now.

But right as I settled on that revelation and had begun to contemplate it, the warbler ceased his roosting calls and let his guard down for the night, and at that exact moment, in the last minute of hunting light, a sparrow hawk exploded into him. The sound that the poor little thing made when the hawk hit him was terrible, but even more than that, watching the process of his inherent will-to-live being overcome with his struggle to accept his fate that lead to his final sounds and throws of death while being plucked and eaten alive was almost too much to take. It was all so heartbreaking, and for a second I hated that hawk with all of my being- not just for what he'd done to the warbler, but mainly for what he'd done to our serenity...my serenity. I wanted to intervene, but I knew it'd of been the hypocritical thing to do because I was there to kill and eat also, but in addition to that, I realized I'd almost tricked myself into believing that my serenity was more important than the circle of life that got me here, and that the full belly and survival of that hawk was less important than my futile attempts to escape the reality of life that I so often forget about.

And so, 9/11 exposed the United States, but March 31st, 2020 exposed homo sapiens for what he really is: A helpless animal who's subject to the laws of nature. We are no different than the sparrow hawk and the hooded warbler, and we forget that quite easily, or I do, at least.

But isn't it funny- isn't it downright ironic- that the culprit of it all, the one who has made us question our royal immunity and immortality as kings, is a spiked speck of genetic, zombielike dust with the name of, "Corona": Corona because its spikes have been adorned with a crown- a crown like that of a king.

And so if you ask me, that microscopic crown is a fitting reminder for us to ponder the question of "Just who is really running the show around here? The one that we all have a small, short part in?"

Not me.

One of the major differences is psychological. As bad as 9/11 was, the enemy was known. As Americans, we just knew we'd regroup quickly and use our military to go blast the shite out of someone. Also, it brought people together. Anyone else remembers how packed churches were for the first few months following the attack. How the return to "normal" as soon as possible was a battle cry and a big middle finger to the terrorists.

Covid-19 is way different. No visible enemy who you can drop bombs on. "Return to normal", is more of a plea to God than a battle cry. Most of all, we are being told the only way to fight this enemy is to stay isolated away from each other because each one of us may be their own "terrorist attack".

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You called the worst terrorist attack in US history “a mess for a few months”. The phrase “Never Forget” was coined for exactly this reason - after 20 years someone calling 9/11 “a mess for a few months“

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I own it. Now own that you got your feelings hurt by some random stranger's comment and didn't care to try to understand it. The 'mess' part was related to the economy and relative to what I believe this virus is going to do to the economy. That's it. Now, stop going around virtue signaling like some idiot lib...its not a good look, and I'm guessing know better.

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Give a concrete examples of how you think this will change modern life

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a concrete

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Sure.

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examples

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Oh FFS, make up your mind.

I kid, I kid. I know grammar is hard for you, but do not be dismayed, for we all have to play the hand that life has dealt us- yours just happens to be literacy.

But I'll humor you by sticking with a singular, concrete example...nah, you know what? Frick that, no I won't.

Try to keep up.

You ready?

K, here goes: Policies will be enacted (and are already in the works) to severely limit and/or reverse our absolutely idiotic dependency on foreign countries (especially communist ones) for nearly all of our manufacturing and supply lines of basic healthcare PPE's and equipment.

It is clearly a matter of national security, and even for libertarians like myself, national security is one of the most important jobs (and one of only a few) that the federal government owes to its people. The big government that folks like you love so much has shite the bed on this front over the last 30 years when they not only allowed the foreign outsourcing to happen, but incentivized it in order to line their pockets with another "quiet" million while knowing full-well about the threat to national security.

Bottom line, they (the federal government) didn't do one of their primary jobs, and what does a politician love to do when he or she shits the bed? Change the sheets and place the blame elsewhere. (Problem is, they're way better at shitting the bed than changing the sheets.)

The ramifications of that one singular issue will be plentiful, and the collateral actions and reactions by both enterprise and the governments that they operate under will be many.

And although I'm getting dangerously close to the OT "tldr, hurr durr" limit, I'll give another simple example that has already happened: People are losing their asses on their retirement and businesses are closing and will not reopen. E.g., a Chinese restaurant down the street that we love has just recently closed for good, and the owners, whom we are very good friends with, are moving away for good too.

Another (GASP!): The exponential growth of the federal government after all of this is over will be staggering, and they will not dissolve that power and go away easily- they never do. The psyche of the citizenry and its governing powers are changing in many ways and in many different directions, and to deny that it won't come to a head and have an affect on our day-to-day lives is lunacy. Every time the gavel falls in Washington D.C. and a law is passed our every day lives are affected, and, newsflash, the gavel is falling quick and easy with this crisis.

"Boom": modern life changes due to this virus. Very simple ones.


This is not hard. Use what little imagination you've left and attempt to see the forest instead of the trees, or don't- I don't care- because I certainly wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't, given the fact that society is chock full of pea-brained, short-sighted imbeciles.

Oh and by the way,

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Are you OK?

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I'm fine, but because the concept of using an analogy to "spice up" the comparison between the sudden shock-of-conscience on 9/11 vs. the "slow burn" of this pandemic is lost upon you, coupled with your poor literacy and short-sightedness, I'm compelled to ask you the same thing, but I'll go even further:

Just how short was the bus that took you to school every day?

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For those of you old enough to remember

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Damn you’re making me feel old

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If just 115k die, that is twice the loss is life in Vietnam??? I don't think the country is emotionally and spiritually ready for that.

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Double a really bad flu season. We’re not spiritually ready for a really bad flu season?

IMO you can't really compare the two. 9/11 was overwhelming, it came at us all at once, but while the nation was worried and some scared, the majority of the people were not at risk.

Of course, it still has an impact on the world today because of what followed as a result of 9/11. It also gave justification to some things that were done that you can argue that didn't need to be done.

The Bush administration used it to go into Iraq. That lead to the creation of ISIS, BUT for most Americans it didn't impact their day to day life.

This current pandemic is something that is everyday. You don't have to just worry about yourself, but you have to worry about the people you are around. While most people who get COVID19 will recover, there is that small chance that you can be a carrier and pass it down and someone could die because of it.

Anyone who have older parents, grandparents, etc.. There is a legit concern there that if they come in contact with it, they can die.

Then there is the economic impact. This has a direct impact on a lot more people.