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I was right.

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Cyborg:
Not intended to bait, actually. We all know you can't awaken people who quit reality a long time ago. And we're going to see that as the death numbers go up, as people who need ventilators can't get them, as people die amongst our family and friends. I don't feel the need to debate people in this thread. I don't have to, you can look at the statistics here:
https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6
QED.

Like you, I have had to quickly arrange my estate. I'm preparing to die. In so doing, I can't help but remember the sneering, snickering attitudes. The willful ignorance and flight from responsibility. You know what I'm talking about. There are people who delight in folks who suffer, physically or otherwise. Because they are a different color, a different race, homosexual- name any stupid reason. There are people who checked out from any sense of responsibility. And some of those folks I remember as being here. Not everyone, not you, Chris. So I guess you could say, I have been doing a lot of I love you's, a lot of sharing of stories and appreciation for the positive things from the people in my life story. But there's just a few, where I just wanted to flip the bird. Not at you. But, you all know who you are.

It's a goodbye, not a debate. I'm preparing to leave this life, not of my own free will, but by the results of the actions and inactions of the above. Words matter. Actions matter. Reality matters. Facts matter.

So consider the bird flipped.

x4000:
In that context, then, you have my full support and agreement on flipping that bird.

Estate planning and wills and all of the above are... extremely necessary.  But I hope that you can keep some hope, and find a way through this despite the odds.  Statistically speaking, the odds may be something that are extremely not in your favor, and they are very much not in the favor of myself and a number of those close to me.  I am hopeful that my wife and I both make it through this, or at least her if I'm not able to.  Our own mortality is something a lot of us are staring in the face right now.

Even so, statistically, despite the stupidity of those in power and a ton of heartbreaking stories already, it's not certain that death is in any particular individual's near future.  Even amongst the most vulnerable populations with the most exacerbating of conditions (pollution, pre-existing conditions, etc), the mortality rates are something like 15% max (you're 75+ years of age and have a health problem), although that is something I'm suspicious of for a few reasons.  I think infection numbers are under-represented, so the mortality rates are probably much lower in reality.

The rates of hospitalization are another matter, and if the system gets flooded so that there are not enough respirators for those who need the ICU, then the mortality rates skyrocket because of people who died who could have been saved.  Aka, what is happening in Italy with most everyone over 65 who needs ICU support, unfortunately.

My point being, it's good to have our affairs in order, and if you take a group of 100 people such as us, it's entirely reasonable to think that anywhere from 6-15 of those people will die in the next year.  That's an enormous loss of life, and it's hugely tragic and will affect pretty much everyone the world over in indirect fashions.  But at the same time, it's not a definite death sentence for much of anybody, even those on the short lists... and amongst adults it's also not a guarantee that anyone NOT on the shortlist won't be one of those 6 to 15 individuals instead of someone on the shortlist.

So I mean... personally I'm mentally preparing myself for some people around me that I care about to die.  I don't know who, although I know which people it's more likely to be compared to others.  My wife, my ex, and myself are among the people who are more likely rather than less, which is not comforting in the least.  But it's also possible that all three of us will be just fine.  Someone perfectly healthy that I know and care about, who has no reason to be thought of right now, may instead be the one who goes.

I feel like the reality is it's going to be a lot of a giant mix of things, and all sorts of people are going to die, and it's going to be confusing and sad and a terrible time.  But it's not a guarantee who lives and dies, and I hope that we are both still seeing each other around for years to come here on the forums.  But the odds are very very high that several someones from the forums won't make it through the next year, and we'll probably never know who it was that didn't.

I dunno.  It's a lot to process.  Our own personal mortality, and those of everyone around us.  But that's how I've been thinking about things.

Draco18s:

--- Quote from: x4000 on March 24, 2020, 04:50:06 pm ---The rates of hospitalization are another matter, and if the system gets flooded so that there are not enough respirators for those who need the ICU, then the mortality rates skyrocket because of people who died who could have been saved.  Aka, what is happening in Italy with most everyone over 65 who needs ICU support, unfortunately.
--- End quote ---

Yeah, Andrew Cuomo is already saying he can't get enough ventilators from the federal government and Charlie Baker said his state is being outbid on critical medical supplies, losing to the federal government.

Cyborg:
I have been writing letters and making phone calls, trying to organize my social groups to do the same, to urge and do all that I can. Also been working on trying to convince my company to do medical supply manufacturing. Trying, running into a lot of walls.

It's bizarre to me. I'm jumping up and down, pointing to DEAD BODIES, and I get blank faces and flat affect responses. It's so strange. Dead bodies. Dead #%!*%*g Bodies. People just turn away.

Draco18s:
Don't die. We'd miss you.

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