Covid op-eds

Getting Ready for Next Time

"Doomsday Clock Runs Slow ," Leo MOrris, Indiana Policy Review (2021).

To Leo, Indiana Policy Review. I liked your Atomic Scientists article's general thrust, which was that their clock has often been silly with respect to nuclear threats and that covid turned out to be a flop. I think you should write a second article on the Clock, tho, because they are RIGHT that it should be closer to midnight than ever before. Nuclear annihilation was never a real threat, because MAD works. Covid was never as big a danger as we thought. BUT, covid showed us that we are totally incapable of dealing with a major pandemic. If we get something like cough-trasmitted Ebola or small pox going, we could get wiped out. We've had our warning shot with covid, and next time might be the real thing, and we haven't learned much. We totally panicked, and then instead of rigorous test and trace and emergency vaccines, we used lockdowns and cheap masks and massive government giveaways with relatively trivial amounts spent on research into prevalence (random surveys),  spread, treatment, why some people get it bad and some mild, and even vaccines-- tho we did OK with thorwing money at vaccines and were constrained mainly by the FDA.  And we learne d the CDC is utterly incompetent, yet we've done nohting and there is no outrage.