R Naught and Austerity...

Source: NPR

As I noted in my post on Sequestration, we are truly reaping what we've sown to the wind of libertarian philosophy and austerity.

"Tightening one's belt" is painful in actual practice, but makes for a good soundbite for politicians that get free healthcare and a six-figure salary for working less than one-third of everyone else's very busy year.

A nurse has been infected; that affects me as I have relatives - a young son in college in particular - in the Dallas area. Yet, as I've discussed basic precautions with him, I'm not as concerned as the news has whipped us up to be.

1st point: the corporate news is driven by Nielsen ratings, i.e. they need you to LOOK at them constantly to justify their diminishing existence.

2nd point: Business Insider details the last 10 pandemics that almost wiped out mankind - when mankind was in the smaller enough numbers to actually wipe out.

3rd point: the infrastructure of Liberia is third world, but don't worry! Third-term, "Oops heard 'round-the-world" Governor "Good-Hair" turning down billions of Medicaid and Medicare expansion dollars in the most obvious political stunt of the 21st century probably had nothing to do with their lack of preparation - nothing at all!

4th point: R0 or R naught is the reproduction number of a virus. Please note: Ebola has an R naught of ~ 1.5 to 2, meaning the Dallas nurse is likely not going to be the only one infected. Measles has an R0 = 18. Yes, there's a vaccine for measles and a possible one for Ebola of simian origins, which leads to my next and final point:

We don't need an Ebola health czar: a confirmed Surgeon General would do. The CDC nor the NIH can perform "magic" nor miracles with a budget slashed by 490 million and 2.5 billion (see Sequestration link above). What we need is our collective national heads either out of the clouds or out of our rears where methane flatulence dwells! We need desperately to stop electing slackers that start their campaign slogans with "government is the problem," when in a democratic republic - in order for it to function properly - it is "We The People" who give our consent to representative government to look out for our best interests...not a well-heeled, moneyed few who's psychological balance I think we all need to question.