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  1. #111
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norm75 View Post
    Glad to hear it. My only hope in the outcome of all this is that the world can become more united and those that are prone to being a bit of an arsehole have a change in personality. Maybe I am being overly optimistic.
    Someone made the point that all those hundreds of billions spent on ‘defence’ each year are not a great deal of use now that we face an actual threat to our health and way of life.

  2. Likes: cali (27th March 2020)
  3. #112
    Senior Member Mirek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS View Post
    Someone made the point that all those hundreds of billions spent on ‘defence’ each year are not a great deal of use now that we face an actual threat to our health and way of life.
    To have no army is not a solution to anything. That's just stupid. There is a very old but very true saying. If you don't want to feed your own army, sooner or later you will feed someone else's.

    The main point is that states can't use their money effectively. There is enough money but the money just sinks in ineffective and ever growing bureaucracy.

    Also the priorities. There was no pandemic in the world for one hundred years and no major war in Europe for seventy five years. When nobody remembers how it was back in those days, nobody is scared enough to prepare himself - even though purelly logically the next disaster has to come one day. So while our forfathers had to cope with many epidemics, wars or other disasters and they were preparing for them, we've been spending money on our comfortable life thinking that nothing can happen to us.

    This is as well one of the drawbacks of democracy. Politicians are chosen for 4-5 years and they have to deliver something on a very short term. Selling the public an idea to spend their money on something which may come in next fifty years or maybe not, is near impossible task.

    It doesn't need to be a pandemic, not even a war. Just imagine what would happen in London after a week-long blackout. I saw the result of a simulation game for Prague and it was nothing nice to read. We are simply unprepared.

    Ask yourself. Would you vote for a man whose program is to spend a quarter of the state budget on preparations against an armagedon of any kind instead of for example social benefits?
    Last edited by Mirek; 27th March 2020 at 18:15.
    Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest Gump

  4. Likes: cali (27th March 2020),Katvala (27th March 2020),KiwiWRCfan (28th March 2020),pantealex (28th March 2020),WRC1 (31st March 2020)
  5. #113
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    Defense can do it's part with an outbreak like this, in keeping things under control and helping with logistics.

    A must see for those interested, lecture from Bill Gates about "the next outbreak", it is 5 years old but sadly more relevant than ever before.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af6b_wyiwI

  6. Likes: Gregor-y (29th March 2020)
  7. #114
    Senior Member Mirek's Avatar
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    Yes, we have already thousands of soldiers fielded around the country helping with the situation and organizing logistics. Also the army is an organized force. While in case of emergency people can organize a lot of good activities, the army can do most of that in more organized and effective fashion, immediately and on centralized orders. Historically the disasters also often bring riots. In such case the army is able to keep preventing the country from falling into chaos which would be a disaster squared.
    Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest Gump

  8. #115
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    My last post was written with hope but scepticism.
    The trouble is in my country people just don't seem to want to help themselves. For instance I am self employed and the government have just released details that along with employees we now will be entitled to 80% of pay calculated over the last 3 years of bookwork.

    I am in the position where I can still work, but these new measures allow for self employed people to work and also claim the 80% pay check which doesn't entirely sit comfortably with me.
    My wife is also self employed and runs a hair salon which has to close.
    Government say the employees will get 80% of pay, but we have to pay it first before we can claim it back which is not realistic.
    My wife has also been doing care work for the elderly for the last couple of years and has been given plenty of work doing this whilst the salon is closed. She has also been told that all her staff can have work doing this job.
    Anyone my wife has spoken to about this has declined to do it, as they have heard if they get another job they can't claim the 80% pay cheque for sitting around doing nothing.
    Rather than work, help people in need, and get 100% pay they would rather be a strain on the system.

  9. #116
    Senior Member skarderud's Avatar
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    After WW2 it was a quite heavy poliomyelitt pandemie in Europe, lots of people died and many got fysical problems.
    So a pandemie is not that far away.

    Sent fra min SM-G950F via Tapatalk
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  10. #117
    Senior Member Rallyper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by skarderud View Post
    After WW2 it was a quite heavy poliomyelitt pandemie in Europe, lots of people died and many got fysical problems.
    So a pandemie is not that far away.

    Sent fra min SM-G950F via Tapatalk
    True.

    @Mirek. We had pandemies in 1968-70 (Hong Kong) and H1N1 in 2009... So not 100 year since last time.
    "Reis vas pät pat kaar vas kut"
    Tommi Mäkinen, back in the years...

  11. Likes: Mirek (28th March 2020)
  12. #118
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mirek View Post
    To have no army is not a solution to anything. That's just stupid. There is a very old but very true saying. If you don't want to feed your own army, sooner or later you will feed someone else's.

    The main point is that states can't use their money effectively. There is enough money but the money just sinks in ineffective and ever growing bureaucracy.

    Also the priorities. There was no pandemic in the world for one hundred years and no major war in Europe for seventy five years. When nobody remembers how it was back in those days, nobody is scared enough to prepare himself - even though purelly logically the next disaster has to come one day. So while our forfathers had to cope with many epidemics, wars or other disasters and they were preparing for them, we've been spending money on our comfortable life thinking that nothing can happen to us.

    This is as well one of the drawbacks of democracy. Politicians are chosen for 4-5 years and they have to deliver something on a very short term. Selling the public an idea to spend their money on something which may come in next fifty years or maybe not, is near impossible task.

    It doesn't need to be a pandemic, not even a war. Just imagine what would happen in London after a week-long blackout. I saw the result of a simulation game for Prague and it was nothing nice to read. We are simply unprepared.

    Ask yourself. Would you vote for a man whose program is to spend a quarter of the state budget on preparations against an armagedon of any kind instead of for example social benefits?
    I didn’t say we shouldn’t have an army, indeed ours is also helping with the response to Coronavirus but I wonder how many hundreds of billions Britain and the USA have spent in the last two decades destroying the Middle East that might have been better invested into ventilators, intensive care beds and training nurses (which we also need outside of a pandemic)

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  14. #119
    Senior Member Mirek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS View Post
    I didn’t say we shouldn’t have an army, indeed ours is also helping with the response to Coronavirus but I wonder how many hundreds of billions Britain and the USA have spent in the last two decades destroying the Middle East that might have been better invested into ventilators, intensive care beds and training nurses (which we also need outside of a pandemic)
    That's a fair point. Agree with that.
    Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest Gump

  15. #120
    Senior Member Gregor-y's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RS View Post
    but I wonder how many hundreds of billions Britain and the USA have spent in the last two decades destroying the Middle East that might have been better invested into ventilators, intensive care beds and training nurses (which we also need outside of a pandemic)
    As with healthcare in the US, in addition to grossly lining a number of pockets military spending also employs a significant number of people so any proposed changes can be disparaged as endangering jobs.

    I believe there was an article showing Lockheed's component assembly for the F-35 takes place in over 1/3 of the districts of national representatives, making their support a matter of propping up the local economies.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/this...-fiasco-2014-8
    Last edited by Gregor-y; 30th March 2020 at 16:02.

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