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A tale of two paradigms

Here is an interesting observation by Jo Nova of two sets of reactions in an article titled Company stops Ebola, Bureaucracy puts it on a plane:

The rubber plantation has 8,000 workers with 71,000 dependents. It is an hour north-east of Monrovia, surrounded by Ebola outbreaks. The virus arrived on the plantation in March. Knowing that the UN and the Liberian government were not going to save them, the managers sat around a rubber tree and googled “Ebola” and learned on the run instead. They turned shipping containers into isolation units, trucks into ambulances, and chemical cleaning suits into “haz-mat” gear. They trained cleaners, and teachers, they blocked visitors, and over the next five months dealt with 71 infections, but by early October were clear of the virus. There were only 17 survivors (the same 70% mortality rate as elsewhere). But without good management, there could have been so many more deaths.

In contrast, the nanny-state takes a good brain and stops it thinking. In Texas, trained health professionals were caught unprepared, following inadequate protocols they assumed were good enough, and even risking their own lives. A nurse who cared for a dying Ebola patient — and knew how bad Ebola could be — still needed to phone someone to ask if it was OK to board a plane with a slightly raised temperature (99.5F or 37.5C). The official she spoke to “didn’t Google”, they just said yes because her temperature was lower than the official threshold of 100.4F.

Read the whole thing.

33 comments to A tale of two paradigms

  • Paul Marks

    Interesting. People must indeed take responsibility for such things – not pass the buck to officials

  • Jerry

    Sorry – too quick on the enter key !!

    ‘People must indeed take responsibility for such things ….’

    If only ……………..
    but it will never happen, on any appreciable scale, again.

    Due to our marvelous education system(s) controlled and guided by ‘graduates of left wing panty waisted bastions of indoctrination ( colleges and universities ), there is no longer ANY critical thinking taught.
    Self reliance is derided.
    Individualism is frowned upon by our ‘betters’.
    Decades of
    pick one ( or more )
    ‘don’t take the law into hands’ ( even if it means you’ll lose your life )
    ‘wait for the authorities’ ( yeah, they know how to handle EVERYTHING !! )
    ‘don’t rock the boat’ ( just shut up and go along with everyone else )
    ‘government will take care of it’ ( just like they have done so nicely with
    everything they’ve touched )

    We have a society of apathetic, ignorant, cowardly people who, to a degree are simply not interested in thinking for themselves let alone acting on their own decisions. It’s far too easy to simply wait and / or let someone else, ANYONE else, decide what to do and possibly act.

    Ebola and how it is being handles by ‘governments’ is simply the latest example.

  • Yeah, there are private efforts and there are bureaucratic efforts, but then there are things that make you go WTF. Sorry, I’ve just run into that and am still scraping my jaw off the floor.

  • llamas

    It’s interesting that the apparently-so-far-successful containment of Ebola in Nigeria is down to the actions of one individual (who has now died of the disease herself, poor soul) and that her efforts were actively resisted by officials of the Liberian government, who surely had cause to know just how serious this disease is, but chose to follow their ‘process’ instead.

    http://news.yahoo.com/ebola-nigeria-hero-doctor-adadevoh-122828747.html

    It will be too much to hope that the next Ebola patient who makes it into Nigeria will be stopped by another person as wise and independent as this, who’s prepared to ignore the process and rely on her own knowledge and skills.. After all, it’s apparently A-OK with the ‘process’ to fly to New York City after treating Ebola patients in West Africa for a month, then swan all around the city during the incubation period, totally unrestrained.

    The incompetence of governments – all governments – in the face of this disease is simply staggering. The latest fiasco in NYC merely highlights the fact that their incompetence is not diminishing. In the face of a disease that spreads exponentially or worse, a steady level of incompetence is a recipe for disaster – the response has to improve more-than-exponentially, just to stay ahead of the infection.

    A week ago, I wagered that there are >100 persons from West Africa who have been meaningfully exposed to the virus already inside the US, unknown and untraced. Little did I think that that 100 could possibly include a doctor who had been treating Ebola patients up until the day before he stepped on a plane, and then swanned into JFK like nothing even happened. If such a self-evidently high risk for being a carrier of the disease, who openly advertised where he had been and what he had been doing, is not stopped by the process, then there might as well not be any process at all.

    It’s like the TSA, all over again.

    llater,

    llamas

  • Laird

    “It’s like the TSA, all over again” but this time with actual relevance.

  • CaptDMO

    US-
    Yep, Federal Emergency Management Agency vs. Wal-Mart.
    Hurricane preparation and subsequent response.

    Local management “allowed” to respond.

  • Snorri Godhi

    Most readers of this blog will feel smug rather than surprised by this story.
    What did surprise me was this:

    the managers sat around a rubber tree

    I have this image of people sitting on the ground in a circle around a tree, and talking to the tree rather than to each other.

  • JohnW

    But Perry, didn’t you know Ebola is good for the planet?

  • Laird

    Interestingly, that is the same concept which was the central plot device in this week’s episode (called “The Front“) of the TV series “The Blacklist.”

  • JohnW

    I watched Herzog’s ‘Encounters at the End of the World’ recently and the scientists there were similarly enthused about the extinction of mankind.

  • I am reminded of the movie “12 monkeys” (a classic, I might add).

  • Bruce

    Will the “rescue” aircraft be re-named “Ebola Gay”?

  • Julie near Chicago

    Again, let me recommend the article by Dr. James Pagano, posted on Clare Spark’s site:

    October 16, 2014
    Ebola, the CDC, and Government Ineptitude

    http://clarespark.com/2014/10/16/ebola-the-cdc-and-government-ineptitude/

    –I posted the first few paragraphs at the current bottom of the comments, at

    http://www.samizdata.net/2014/10/a-bet-on-ebola/

  • JohnW, why has this not been more publicised I wonder? Such people should be pariahs. Frankly I would love to see a video of anyone who even clapped approvingly in favour of genocide and figure out who they are, what fields are they working in and are they getting tax money?

  • Julie near Chicago

    Alisa and llamas, thank you both for your links.

  • Julie near Chicago

    Perry, my god! There are always nuts and psychopaths among us, but that he would get this wonderful reception from the Texas Academy of Sciences!

    To the whole bunch of them, I say, “Fine, and you go first.” To West Africa, to replace Dr. Craig Spencer who, I’m sure, is sorely missed.

    Wearing nothing but their undies.

    If anyone’s interested, the link for Forrest Mims’ entire piece, Meeting Dr. Doom:

    http://web.archive.org/web/20070103220740/http://www.sas.org/tcs/weeklyIssues_2006/2006-04-07/feature1p/index.html

  • RickC

    I tried to do due diligence with the Mims/Pianka article. Mims may have taken a few liberties with Pianka’s presentation. Pianka claimed the more egregious comments Mims called him out on were taken out of context. In the case of the presentation before the Texas conference we will probably never know what was said exactly. No recording and no transcripts were made. Pianka claimed later, there was an outcry at various conservative websites over this with Pianka’s defenders involved too, that his speech was basically the same as one he’s given numerous times and there is a copy on the internet.

    The speech, this was in 2006, even led to a rather weak interview of Pianka at Fox News by one Tucker Carlson. Pianka still came across as a Malthusian crank – too many people, resources depleted, nature being destroyed, etc.. Tucker never asked Pianka the big question on population as he said quite clearly that population had passed the earth’s carrying capacity in the 70s. That question being, “What methods would you propose for getting the population down to the levels you deem sustainable?” I’m guessing his answer would be revealing.

  • JohnW

    Nature is going to regulate us out of existence, apparently.[min 4.30]

    But that’s OK.

    “Human existence on this planet is going to be a fleeting one and sponges and microbes have a much better chance, but it doesn’t make me nervous either. You know, I have a very good answer to all this, why it doesn’t make me nervous: Martin Luther, in the 16th century, was asked, What would you do if tomorrow the world would disappear, if it would end in a cataclysmic catastrophe? And he answered, “I would plant an apple tree today.” -Werner Herzog.

  • Regional

    Julie near Chicago,
    The previous Labor Minister of Communications used to boast he could order the MSM to wear red undies on their heads, he didn’t have to order them. When it comes to supporting Labor, the MSM makes Hitler’s Brownshirts look like Nancyboys.
    This bias is typical of the ‘Western’ MSM.

  • Julie near Chicago

    JohnW, my money’s on the cockroaches.

    RickC, noted, thanks for trying. What bothers me is whether, if the speech was as claimed, the audience’s reaction was also as claimed.

    As for Pianka’s speech, if anybody’s interested he defends himself, sort of, at

    http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/Controversy.html

    At least, the text implies it’s written by Dr. Pianka.

    There is also a list of links at the bottom. I followed one of them, called “A Promise,” to

    http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/apology.source.html

    The posting offers a somewhat qualified apology for believing Prof. Mims’ account without further checking. Then a few “nothing” comments, and the War begins.

    Here are some rather depressing quotes I found at beforeitsnews.com. NOT checked for accuracy nor for context.

    But I’m inclined to accept the T. Roosevelt & T. Turner quotes as the real deal. And by now everybody who’s anybody knows that Humanity Is A Cancer.

    – – –

    “If I were reincarnated, I would wish to be returned to Earth as a killer virus to lower human population levels.” Price [sic] Phillip, Duke of Edinburg [sic]

    “Depopulation should be the highest priority of U.S. foreign policy towards the Third World.” Henry Kissinger

    “Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind” Theodore Roosevelt

    “A total world population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.” Ted Turner, in an interview with Audubon magazine

    “There is a single theme behind all our work–we must reduce population levels. Either governments do it our way, through nice clean methods, or they will get the kinds of mess that we have in El Salvador, or in Iran or in Beirut. Population is a political problem. Once population is out of control, it requires authoritarian government, even fascism, to reduce it….”“Our program in El Salvador didn’t work. The infrastructure was not there to support it. There were just too goddamned many people…. To really reduce population, quickly, you have to pull all the males into the fighting and you have to kill significant numbers of fertile age females….” “The quickest way to reduce population is through famine, like in Africa, or through disease like the Black Death….” Thomas Ferguson, State Department Office of Population Affairs

    “In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill…. But in designating them as the enemy, we fall into the trap of mistaking symptoms for causes. All these dangers are caused by human intervention and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome. The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.” Alexander King, Bertrand Schneider – Founder and Secretary, respectively, The Club of Rome, The First Global Revolution, pgs 104-105, 1991

    “A cancer is an uncontrolled multiplication of cells; the population explosion is an uncontrolled multiplication of people…. We must shift our efforts from the treatment of the symptoms to the cutting out of the cancer. The operation will demand many apparently brutal and heartless decisions.” Stanford Professor ” Paul Ehrlich in The Population Bomb

    – – –

  • JohnW

    Have you never heard of VHEMT?

    “At The Guardian’s website, Guy Dammann applauds the movement’s aim as “in many ways laudable”, but argues that it is absurd to believe that humans will voluntarily seek extinction.”

    Yeah, if only humanity would exterminate itself.
    To quote Dr. Stadler, from Atlas Shrugged, “Disgusting, isn’t it? But what can you do when you deal with people?”

  • Julie near Chicago

    Johnm

    A lovely idea, Mr. Dammann, and you go first. However, I see that “human extinction [is] the best solution to the problems facing the Earth’s biosphere and humanity.”

    Leaving aside the issue of just what is the meaning of “best” when there’s no entity around capable of forming the idea of “best,” I will concede that once a person has killed himself he has no more problems (assuming St. Peter lets him in, anyway), but at that point presumably it hardly matters to him. I should think the principle also applies to the species Mankind.

    Of course the method of self-extinction by means of abstinence has been practiced by at least one group, the Shakers, but there don’t seem to be any Shakers around these days whom we can consult for their advice as to whether the scheme proved to serve their interests jointly and severally.

    As for Dr. Stadler, I suspect Miss R. felt that way herself from time to time.

    Me too. 🙁

  • Julie near Chicago

    Sorry, John. That “m” was supposed to be a comma. 🙁 again.

    . . .

    Speaking of the Shakers, I see that it’s possible for the species to survive the celibacy of its members, apparently even without our modern, more sanitary methods of fertilization. Per

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers

    there is indeed one Shaker community still in existence, “Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, which is located in Maine.”

    The article goes on to note, “…[T]heir belief in celibacy…resulted in the thinning of the Shaker community….” Which is more or less what I would have expected.

    Still, there are some paintings depicting the Shakers at the site that I think are quite nice.

  • Kevin B

    God, I want to grab these human exterminationists and pull them nose to nose and scream in their face “What the fuck for?!” “What is the purpose of this mass murder?”

    I mean, if they get their way and some virus reduces the population to 500 million souls, what then? In the last thousand years, the earth’s population grew from less than 500 million to 7 billion, How long would it take for an educated population surrounded by the remnants of technology to grow back? And how welcoming would this population be to their green overlords when they exited from their bunkers in order to proclaim their mastery?

    So let’s destroy all humans. In fact, let’s destroy every creature with an opposable thumb right down to the last tiny lemur on Madagasgar. Within a million years there’d be some other race of intelligent beings. How environmentally sound do you think a race descended from dogs would be? What about pigs? My money’s on the bears. You know, those bears that as they approach hibernation time catch as many salmon as they can, but then only eat the eyes because they’re stuffed full but need the vitamins. Very green.

    So, poor Gaia gets a bit of a break from nasty rampaging intelligent beings, then it’s back to being poisoned by technology again. Poor dear can’t catch a break. Still, a few billion years love and then the sun eats you and it will all be over.

  • RickC

    Julie, I have all of those quotes and a few more. I pull them out when trying to explain to the uninitiated just how sick these greenie, would be tyrants can be. I have other quotes from people like Maurice Strong I share to show that no matter what the science says regarding AGW there is an agenda, or multiple agendas, all seeking to use that “crisis” to further their own nefarious ends. Those ends all falling under the general rubric of control of the masses by some self-appointed elite.

  • JohnW

    As for Dr. Stadler, I suspect Miss R. felt that way herself from time to time.
    Me too.

    Absolutely not!

    You are missing the point.

    When you and I say that we mean some people can be irritating and difficult at times and ignorance sometimes tests your patience etc..

    That is definitely NOT what that infamous quote by Dr. Stadler means.

    He means mankind is, to quote Kant, constructed of Crooked Timber – an unnatural freak, an abomination of nature, whose metaphysical existence is fundamentally flawed.
    Man is a cursed and fallen creature and it is right that his life and his means of life [fossil fuels etc.] should be detested.

    Ayn Rand captured that psychology perfectly-

    “Miss Taggart,” he [Dr. Stadler] said, a tone of gentle, bitter persuasiveness in his voice, “I am older than you. Believe me, there is no other way to live on earth, Men are not open to truth or reason. They cannot be reached by a rational argument. The mind is powerless against them. Yet we have to deal with them. If we want to accomplish anything, we have to deceive them into letting us accomplish it. Or force them. They understand nothing else. We cannot expect their support for any endeavor of the intellect, for any goal of the spirit. They are nothing but vicious animals. They are greedy, self-indulgent, predatory dollar-chasers who—”
    “I am one of the dollar-chasers, Dr. Stadler,” she said, her voice low.

  • Julie near Chicago

    John, I assure you I’m aware of Miss R.’s point (and of the rest of the quote). Nevertheless, you stated the part you stated, which is what prompted what I thought was my wryly humorous (though, I think, perfectly true) response.

    Rick: Sure, great “Quotes Not to Live By”! Especially the ones from Strong, which I’d love to see (hint, hint). Although I’d bet not one in a thousand men-in-the-street has heard of the man.

    KevinB, yes, it’s a trifle frustrating. However, not so sure about your point about the dogs. Now descent from the hyenas might be a little different….

  • RickC

    Alright, Julie near Chicago, here’s a taste.

    Each of these quotes is from Maurice Strong, Secretary General 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, First Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Secretary-General 1992 UN Earth Summit

    “What if a small group of world leaders were to conclude that the principle risk to Earth comes from the actions of the rich countries? And if the world is to survive, those rich countries would have to sign an agreement reducing their impact on the environment. Will they do it? The group’s conclusion is ‘no’. The rich countries won’t do it. They won’t change. So, in order to save the planet, the group decides: Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” – Interview 1992 on the plot of book he would like to write

    “The concept of national sovereignty has been an immutable, indeed sacred, principle of international relations. It is a principle which will yield only slowly and reluctantly to the new imperatives of global environmental cooperation. Is is simply not feasible for sovereignty to be exercised unilaterally by individual nation states, however powerful. The global community must be assured of environmental security.” – 1992 Rio Earth Summit

    “Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.” Rio Earth Summit, 1992.

    “I am a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in methodology.”

    I have no idea what he means in that last quote.

    Strong co-founded, with Mikhail Gorbachev, the Earth Charter Commission. The preamble of the Earth Charter states, “We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace…The protection of Earth’s vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust”.

    And yes, there is a whole section on social and economic justice.

    The preamble is here: http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/content/pages/Read-the-Charter.html

    And if you’re not feeling paranoid enough he’s one of the big names behind the UN’s Agenda 21, which if you’ve read it is pretty scary.

  • JohnW

    John, I assure you I’m aware of Miss R.’s point (and of the rest of the quote). Nevertheless, you stated the part you stated, which is what prompted what I thought was my wryly humorous (though, I think, perfectly true) response.

    Julie, I stand corrected.
    Thank you.

  • Julie near Chicago

    Thanks for the quotes, Rick. Yes, I’m very much aware of Strong, the Rio Earth Summit of 1992, and Agenda 21, which we paranoid libertarian-ish conservative-ish nutters believe is a hefty driver behind the totalitarian predations of the EPA — and a cover for those of the Sith.

    For instance, there is this business of the Rural Councils:

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/06/21/does-the-new-white-house-rural-council-uns-agenda-21/

    Section One of [Executive Order] 13575 states the following:

    Section 1. Policy. Sixteen percent of the American population lives in rural counties. Strong, sustainable rural communities are essential to winning the future and ensuring American competitiveness in the years ahead. These communities supply our food, fiber, and energy, safeguard our natural resources, and are essential in the development of science and innovation. Though rural communities face numerous challenges, they also present enormous economic potential. The Federal Government has an important role to play in order to expand access to the capital necessary for economic growth, promote innovation, improve access to health care and education, and expand outdoor recreational activities on public lands.

    Warning bells should have been sounding all across rural America when the phrase “sustainable rural communities” came up. As we know from researching the UN plan for Sustainable Development known as Agenda 21, these are code words for the true fundamental transformation America.

    The third sentence also makes it quite clear that the government intends to take greater control over “food, fiber, and energy.”

    The last sentence in Section 1 further clarifies the intent of the order by tying together “access to the capital necessary for economic growth, health care and education.”

    The new White House Rural Council will probably be populated by experts in the various fields that might prove helpful to the folks who live and work outside of large urban areas, right? Well, Tom Vilsack, the current Secretary of Agriculture, will chair the group, but let us review the list of members appointed to serve on this new council – according to the order, the heads of the following groups have been appointed:

    [There follows a list of 25 Federal departments and agencies, not omtting the VA! — J.]

    Following the link in the above excerpt, we find this also (article contains several more links):

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/06/14/is-the-soros-sponsored-agenda-21-a-hidden-plan-for-world-government-yes-only-it-is-not-hidden/

    ‘Sustainable Development’ sounds like a nice idea, right? It sounds nice, until you scratch the surface and find that Agenda 21 and Sustainable Development are really cloaked plans to impose the tenets of Social Justice/Socialism on the world.

    At risk from Agenda 21;

    Private Property ownership
    Single-Family homes
    Private car ownership and individual travel choices
    Privately owned farms

    The Agenda 21 plan openly targets private property. For over thirty-five years the UN has made their stance very clear on the issue of individuals owning land;

    Land… cannot be treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to the pressures and inefficiencies of the market. Private land ownership is also a principal instrument of accumulation and concentration of wealth and therefore contributes to social injustice; if unchecked, it may become a major obstacle in the planning and implementation of development schemes. The provision of decent dwellings and healthy conditions for the people can only be achieved if land is used in the interest of society as a whole.

    Source: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat I),Vancouver, BC, May 31 – June 11, 1976. Preamble to Agenda Item 10 of the Conference Report.

    There are two more very good reasons to be wary of Agenda 21 and the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) that supports it: George Soros and the United Nations.

    The article continues with discussion of goings-on in California at the time of writing. There is a video of Rosa Koire (anti-Agenda-21 activist, basically) speaking for an hour and 34 minutes. Note that the link here goes to weblog in Kansas which lists some sources of funding for ICLEI in 1998-9. The link to its source, a pdf by the ICLEI, is broken, but the seriously interested and the morbidly curious will find it here–the funding info begins on P. 26:

    http://web.archive.org/web/20101124050358/http://iclei.org/documents/Global/icle_biennial98-99.pdf

    There is also a video clip of Glenn Beck on the issue.

    Thanks for the link, also. In particular I’ll have to see what Strong personally says about extinguishing humanity.

  • Julie near Chicago

    Oops! Over the Legal Limit, for links that is. Oh well. It was a response in particular to Rick on our pal Maurice (thanks again, Rick) and Agenda 21. :>)

  • protoAmerican

    36.0-37.8C is normal temperature though and not a fever, so putting a finger on that is misguided, the author should have focused on the safety protocols you put in place on everyone who has been in contact with the disease, sick or not.

  • Julie near Chicago

    JohnW,

    :>)

    . . .

    Rick,

    “I am a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in methodology.

    He’s using “capitalism” to finance his socialist agenda and projects, and he probably also knows perfectly well that hardcore socialism cannot be self-supporting, not in the long run.

    Or else he’s explaining away his acquisition of wealth against a possible charge of hypocrisy.

    Take your pick.

    Socialism needs capitalism to feed off. Hitler was very aware of this.

    I like this, from commenter Regional, October 25, 2014 at 10:28 pm:

    http://www.samizdata.net/2014/10/samizdata-quote-of-the-day-486/

    which is the topic directly preceding this one.