It's an Ill Wind

[Kurt Buff - GSEC, GCIH]

On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 8:06 PM Peter Fairbrother <peter at tsto.co.uk> wrote:
>
> On 14/03/2020 23:28, Kurt Buff - GSEC, GCIH wrote:
> > On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 7:29 AM Peter Fairbrother <peter at tsto.co.uk> wrote:
> >>
> >> 2- It's an Ill Wind
> >>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XRc389TvG8
> >>
> >> So now we know: first, that the UK government is actually deliberately
> >> trying to infect over 40 million UK citizens, and in doing so expecting,
> >> on their figures, 400,000 deaths.
> >
> > Uh, no, they're only not quarantining or taking other measures. That
> > is not the same as "trying to infect"
>
> To my mind it is; "Trying to" is to deliberately do something in order> to obtain a desired effect. If the "something" happens to be "nothing",
> it doesn't change that IMO.


The limits of an impoverished mind, I suppose, incapable of
differentiating between action and inaction.

> Remember those philosophy problems with a train and someone on the track
> and a set of points?

Yes, a classical false dilemma.

> Well to my mind one way is clear and the other way has a million bodies
> on it, and just because the points are presently set to the million
> bodies doesn't mean that deliberately choosing not to change the points
> avoids being responsible for the outcome.
>
> Especially when changing the points is your responsibility.

Ever hear the phrase "Not my monkey, not my circus"? It applies here,
or at least it should. The point of government is to prevent crime,
not tragedy.

> > Some of your analysis is OK, but this statement is false. I don't hear
> > of government agents with spray bottles of viral concoctins chasing
> > down their subjects on the streets, or invading their homes, in order
> > to infect them.
>
> But there's more, they won't let others change the points: head teachers
> want to close schools, but the government is planning to send them to
> jail if they do.
>
> To my mind that pretty much IS the equivalent of chasing down their
> subjects on the streets with spray bottles of viral concoctions.

Too much government, not enough freedom. Pournelle's Iron Law of
Bureaucracy applies.

> Maybe I took too much poetic license. But I don't think so.

And I do think so.

Kurt