Category: COVID-19

I’m sharing a first-hand account from my friend, who lives near Miami, FL. His experiences trying to get tested for COVID-19 have been more painful than the actual virus. His symptoms have overall been mild, treated with cold and cough medicine (it’s a good idea to check your medicine cabinet and make sure you’re stocked up).…

The CDC strongly discourages healthy people from wearing N95 masks. Instead their primary advice is that people should hand-wash frequently. But even the CDC admits that few actual cases have been spread from an infected surface; the virus spreads from via close-proximity airborne transmission. Hand sanitizing will not protect you from breathing in the virus. The CDC’s anti-mask advice is coldly pragmatic. We…

Capitalism isn’t causing people to buy palettes of toilet paper and bottled water clearing shelves in COSTCO. Hoarding is not the dark-side of Capitalism. It is a human reaction to fear and scarcity that occurs in both Capitalist and Socialist systems. Under Capitalism, these scarcities are few and far between; often caused my natural disasters. They are so rare and out-of-the-norm that these instances cause…

Along with toilet paper, bottled water is the panic buyers most irrational purchase. Social media is full of images of empty shelves. But why? COVID-19 is not cholera. It’s not spread by our water supply nor does it live in our reservoirs and pipes. And unless you live in Flint Michigan, your tap water is perfectly safe to…

The image above is what Filipino’s call a ‘Tabo’; A small, hand-held pitcher, ladle or pan used in the bathroom and toilet. Until recently, many homes in Asia lacked showers. Even today many bathrooms in Asia feature a large bucket in the tub, that is filled with water. Bathers use the tabo to scoop up the water and pour it over their…

“America, welcome to Hurricane Shopping.” -my friend in Florida This is what the produce section in Whole Foods in Noe Valley looked like. Proving that even the Progressive, Well-Educated, Affluent residents of San Francisco, are just as selfish (and ill-prepared) as the rest of the country. In days prior, online memes were shared of people fighting over…

Read the NYT article here: https://nyti.ms/2TYIhuI My first reaction to reading about a Price Gouger was outrage. But then I thought: why is it worse for one asshole to amass 17,700 bottles and sell them, than leaving them in the stores so that 177 Panic Buyers can grab 100 bottles? At least the Gougers goal is to sell their inventory. The hoarders goal is to…