Western Europe’s last major outbreak of medieval plague began in 1720, when a “mortal distemper” seized the French port city of Marseille. The disease arrived on a merchant ship called the Grand Saint Antoine, which had picked up infected passengers during a journey to the Middle East. The vessel was quarantined, but its owner—who also happened to be Marseille’s deputy mayor—convinced health officials to let him unload its cargo. Plague-carrying rat fleas soon spread across the city, sparking an epidemic. People died by the thousands, and the piles of bodies on the streets grew so large that convicts were conscripted to dispose of them. In nearby Provence, “plague walls” were even built to try to and contain the infection, but it still spilled over into southern France before finally disappearing in 1722. By then, it had killed roughly 100,000 people.
Credit to: History.com
This is what happens when people “assert their rights” in face of a threat they do not understand and for some reason ignore, reject or actually aid and abet.
One man, for financial gain, was allowed to unload his cargo – and the rats. Once the rats had the run of the city, it was all over. 100,000 people died.
Once the health care system is overwhelmed, bodies start piling up on the sidewalks. There are now first reports in the United States where care facilities for elderly are running out of room and are having to pile up bodies next to sheds.
Rats you could see. Fleas you could feel. Viruses are a million times smaller.
We are about to overwhelm our healthcare system. Books will be written in the coming years about what happened in this country in the spring of 2020, and the books will not be kind to our government and leadership. So much was wrong, so many people erred, and so much unnecessary damage was done due to ignorance, greed, and ego.
Do I have an urge to exercise my constitutional right to assemble, go to church or the movies?
I think not!
I agree with your points here although they are more dour than mine regarding how poorly the response to the pandemic is being handled by Trump. That he is handling this worse than some deputy mayor of an 18th century French town is not a big surprise to me. What is and remains to be surprising, is his consistent approval rating. Especially in the face of his management of this crisis. Nate Silver, a statistician, keeps tabs on this here https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/ . His rating although never getting to 50+% rarely fall below 44%. Raising the question, what is wrong with us, meaning the electorate?
Somewhat tangental to this topic, I would suggest you read ‘A Distant Mirror’ by historian Barbara Tuchman. It is a recounting of the Black Plague that occurred in the 14th Century all over Europe. Not only is it a great book about the most famous pandemic, it is just, a really well written and thoroughly researched work of nonfiction. It puts you there and you really feel the terrifying impact of that pandemic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Distant_Mirror
Getting “A Distant Mirror”. Looking forward to reading it – if you can look forward to a thing as gruesome as that.
Yes, I am puzzled about our electorate. This should not be happening. The country should be shouting from the rooftops to impeach and remove, or execute the 25th. The fact that we’re not doing that shows how successfully we have DUMBED DOWN AMERICA already. The people, at large, are ignorant and uneducated. Couple that with social media and corrupt main stream media, disinformation is easier to distribute than ever. Hitler did all the stuff that’s going on right now here. Except, it took him a couple of years. He didn’t have Facebook and Twitter to help him. He had to do it with rallies only.
Again, Godwin’s Law.
Mary – In this case I do not accept your Godwin’s Law challenge. Hitler did EXACTLY what Trump is trying to do right now. He undermined the legal system, took unconstitutional steps to dissolve the Reichstag and then made them obsolete through executive order. By the time the political establishment figured it out, law enforcement was turned and democracy was no longer existing. THAT HAPPENED. I am simply stating it here.
Interestingly: A Distant Mirror is already in my Kindle. I just hadn’t started reading it yet! Looks like we’re aligned.
Godwin’s law doesn’t say that the comparison is inaccurate. Just that it happens.
True. It does happen. Maybe Hitler was a durable (don’t want to say stable) genius, to be influencing people’s thinking even 100 years after he was active.
good!!!