What frustrated me most is that we could still fucking do that.
There's no "too late sorry honey" for enforcing a real lockdown. No, you see, cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are down slightly over the last couple of weeks, so it's time to reopen further.
Hey back to work as a blood sacrifice to American empire.
It would take a hell of a lot more than a 2-week lockdown. Countries that have done a good job of keeping infection rates low, like China and S Korea have kept this shit under control with some fucking hardcore efforts which have been constantly maintained. In South Korea, they've utilized the power of mass surveillance to track everyone at all times. When there was an outbreak at a gay club last summer the South Korean government used cell phone and credit card data to identify thousands of people that were in the area and sent them cell phone notifications demanding that they quarantine and get tested or face fines/jail time. This probably led to hundreds or maybe even more than a thousand people getting outed (most unmarried Koreans still live at home with mom and dad, you can imagine what people might conclude when an unmarried ~30-year-old man calls into work and says he needs to quarantine for 2 weeks, the same day as a big news story comes out about an outbreak that was started by a gay man). They made similar steps when there was an outbreak at a cult church early on in like Feb or Jan of 2020
China is, to my understanding, has a similar tracking program, using QR codes or something.
And honestly, like, I'm not even saying that SK has handled covid the wrong way, because the efforts that the govt is putting in has probably saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives, but we shouldn't act like there's a simple solution, like a 2-week quarantine would get the numbers down and keep them down with no other effort.
Obviously, the NSA is already collecting data like that on us all the time (in spite of it being flagrantly unconstitutional), and I see the argument of like "well, they're already collecting that data might as well use it" but frankly, it seems pretty scary to me to think about how something like that would normalize mass surveillance. The idea of the US empire utilizing the power of mass surveillance and the carceral state to do what they're doing in Asia is pretty freaky tbh
Mass surveillance is already normalized in this country. The NSA spying news was met with a mild shrug from the American collective consciousness. No one cares.
Its normalized and gets shrugged off because its unobtrusive. We know the data gets collected, but it get sent off to some data storage complex in Utah where no one looks at it, except probably a computer program that automatically searches for some keywords.
That's a far cry from getting a message that basicslly says "we know you were out clubbing on friday. Go get tested or we're gonna send the cops to your house to throw your ass in jail." Or something like this
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51733145
As I sit at home, my phone beeps alarmingly with emergency alerts.
"A 43-year-old man, resident of Nowon district, tested positive for coronavirus," it says.
"He was at his work in Mapo district attending a sexual harassment class. He contracted the virus from the instructor of the class."
A series of alerts then chronicle where the men had been, including a bar in the area until 11:03 at night.
These alerts arrive all day, every day, telling you where an infected person has been - and when. You can also look up the information on the Ministry of Health and Welfare website.
No names or addresses are given, but some people are still managing to connect the dots and identify people. The public has even decided two of the infected were having an affair.
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What frustrated me most is that we could still fucking do that.
There's no "too late sorry honey" for enforcing a real lockdown. No, you see, cases, deaths, and hospitalizations are down slightly over the last couple of weeks, so it's time to reopen further.
Hey back to work as a blood sacrifice to American empire.
Not dying from Covid is unfair to those who have died from Covid
It would take a hell of a lot more than a 2-week lockdown. Countries that have done a good job of keeping infection rates low, like China and S Korea have kept this shit under control with some fucking hardcore efforts which have been constantly maintained. In South Korea, they've utilized the power of mass surveillance to track everyone at all times. When there was an outbreak at a gay club last summer the South Korean government used cell phone and credit card data to identify thousands of people that were in the area and sent them cell phone notifications demanding that they quarantine and get tested or face fines/jail time. This probably led to hundreds or maybe even more than a thousand people getting outed (most unmarried Koreans still live at home with mom and dad, you can imagine what people might conclude when an unmarried ~30-year-old man calls into work and says he needs to quarantine for 2 weeks, the same day as a big news story comes out about an outbreak that was started by a gay man). They made similar steps when there was an outbreak at a cult church early on in like Feb or Jan of 2020
China is, to my understanding, has a similar tracking program, using QR codes or something.
And honestly, like, I'm not even saying that SK has handled covid the wrong way, because the efforts that the govt is putting in has probably saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives, but we shouldn't act like there's a simple solution, like a 2-week quarantine would get the numbers down and keep them down with no other effort.
Obviously, the NSA is already collecting data like that on us all the time (in spite of it being flagrantly unconstitutional), and I see the argument of like "well, they're already collecting that data might as well use it" but frankly, it seems pretty scary to me to think about how something like that would normalize mass surveillance. The idea of the US empire utilizing the power of mass surveillance and the carceral state to do what they're doing in Asia is pretty freaky tbh
Mass surveillance is already normalized in this country. The NSA spying news was met with a mild shrug from the American collective consciousness. No one cares.
Its normalized and gets shrugged off because its unobtrusive. We know the data gets collected, but it get sent off to some data storage complex in Utah where no one looks at it, except probably a computer program that automatically searches for some keywords.
That's a far cry from getting a message that basicslly says "we know you were out clubbing on friday. Go get tested or we're gonna send the cops to your house to throw your ass in jail." Or something like this
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51733145
Essentially, there is no good option in Amerikkka. There is no simple solution because any potential ones are ruined by the US state.