tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post3355328373498344847..comments2024-03-27T23:28:20.274-04:00Comments on Face to Face: Returning epidemics driven by geographic inter-connectedness (study)agnostichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-45550726806818768142015-02-18T03:00:30.518-05:002015-02-18T03:00:30.518-05:00Read the post again, moron. It's not about pop...Read the post again, moron. It's not about population density.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-49054434227290636932015-02-17T23:26:28.363-05:002015-02-17T23:26:28.363-05:00High population density contributes to epidemics. ...High population density contributes to epidemics. YOU DON'T SAY. Put that on the cover of Duh journalhttp://memegenerator.net/instance/33123913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-42939381137720387612015-02-12T23:32:07.195-05:002015-02-12T23:32:07.195-05:00Classical Greece is surprisingly well-documented i...Classical Greece is surprisingly well-documented in general.Curtisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-68148830823810783242015-02-11T22:50:22.345-05:002015-02-11T22:50:22.345-05:00That's really interesting, that there's ha...That's really interesting, that there's halfway decent data on alien residents ("metics") that far back.<br /><br />Also worth noting the rationale -- "Hey, at least they're artisans and craftsmen, not just pure sponges." Their points-based immigration scheme didn't save them from collapse, and neither will it in the modern West.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-33778151154785984522015-02-11T12:09:38.071-05:002015-02-11T12:09:38.071-05:00"It isn't just observers of modern cultur..."It isn't just observers of modern culture who are blighted by PC and careerism; it's also so-called historians."<br /><br />Its interesting, because the Age of Pericles is often seen as a great achievement in Western history. Yet Pericles' policies show many of the marks of status-striving. For instance, the construction of huge decorative buildings like the Parthenon... immigration; the availability of cheap labor; Athenians aggressively settling in other city-states; massive prostitution system established within Athens serviced by slave girls. <br /><br />The inequality-equality theory certainly leads to a different view of history. Scholars have long puzzled over the disaster of the Peloponnesian War and the end of Classical Greece, but now we can see it was the natural result of a long period of rising inequality.<br /><br /><br />Not only Turchin's theory of inquality, but also "Face to Face"'s theory of cocooning, leads to a reintepretation of history. What are we to make of the fact that much of our intellectual foundation was laid during the long falling-crime period in the 19th century?Curtisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-10234694552221769502015-02-10T23:42:58.732-05:002015-02-10T23:42:58.732-05:00I'll share something from my pediatrician'...I'll share something from my pediatrician's visit when I had my 13-month-old get his <br />vaccinations. She has articles posted about the measles outbreak and she's a bit <br />excited about what's going on in the news, but she doesn't have a single parent who <br />is anti-vaccination. <br /><br />I told her about my son and I being exposed to whooping cough about nine <br />months ago by a short Hispanic lady (looked like a recent immigrant) at a <br />flea market I haunt. She then lowered her voice to barely above a whisper <br />and told me that in that county, they had an outbreak of whooping cough <br />there three years ago due to the immigrant population.<br /><br />As far as interregional movement: the snowbirds are making us sick at <br />church. They are some of my favorite people, real salt-of-the-earth types,<br />but the crowding! And at that time of year. We switched to an earlier,<br />more sparsely populated Mass just for the season. Dahlianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-81331086444766944212015-02-10T23:09:09.876-05:002015-02-10T23:09:09.876-05:00"I remember reading, and seeing drawings of, ..."I remember reading, and seeing drawings of, entire Indian villages wiped out by measles because they had no immunity to it. The survivors had to run and leave the corpses unburied."<br /><br />This comment reminded me of a book about the macro-level reasons for the epidemics among Indians in the Southeast.<br /><br />Epidemics & Enslavement by Paul Kelton studies the cycle of disease after European contact. It looks deeper than the lack-of-immunity explanation to examine other vectors: the slave raids between villages, the connected trade networks, and other practices, such as adoption after warfare and subsistence farming, which increased population centers but sapped the soil, leaving a malnourished, vulnerable population.<br /><br />There’s a foolhardiness in overlooking the environment, and all its inputs, when the discussions start about biology. Ecological points are very important to consider. Thus, Disneyland, with its rotating crowds that branch further after each day, makes a perfect ground to get the wheel turning. Incubation periods, then, mask the spread, until the inane, baffled pleas—“How did this happen?”—begin.The Vermifugenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-89526005681074803192015-02-10T21:28:59.188-05:002015-02-10T21:28:59.188-05:00"For instance, the plague in Athens during th..."For instance, the plague in Athens during the Peloponnessian War is considered by many scholars to be random"<br /><br />It isn't just observers of modern culture who are blighted by PC and careerism; it's also so-called historians. Dwelling too much on how multi-culturalism invariably foreshadows the collapse of a past nation would hit too close too home so let's just pretend that the past had such awful nativism that we ought to be encouraged by "modern" ideas of "progress".<br /><br />It's fascinating (and sometimes disturbing) to think of all the ways that (in)equality manifests itself. It's also interesting that there is so little understanding of these things. <br /><br />Maybe in the midst of a given period things just seem natural and inevitable so there's very little conscious thought of how equality changes from one era to another. <br /><br />People notice and question some changes in certain values but they rarely attribute them to an era having too much inequality. I guess when we're in a high inequality era it seems like people become so disengaged, basically autistic, that we lose our grasp of very basic aspects of behavior and what motivates it.<br /><br />Why have workplace shootings explodes since the 80's? A modern lefty would put it down to bullying, bad wages, trouble paying the bills etc without noticing that the shooter could've done more to avoid these issues. A righty would put it down to the shooter lacking the guts, will, and restraint to control himself; the environment would be left out as a valid reason. Maggie Thatcher: "there's no such thing as society".<br /><br />What both camps miss is that these kinds of psychotic melt downs are caused by periods of high inequality which are caused by people mutually agreeing to a winner takes all competition. This tooth and nail never ending competition creates anxiety, desperation, and frustration among the non mega rich who know too well that one "little" issue could get them fired, broke, divorced, or arrested, making them a hopeless loser. There is also great animosity between people who are constantly competing. This on the edge mentality leads to people going off after another stressor becomes too much too bear.<br /><br />Of course both camps also rarely acknowledge the now tattered support networks that people could rely on in the 20's-70's. Liberals claim we've come a long way from the Me 1st 80's. The Obama age has ushered in a newfound era of compassion (no way you dumb asses people are too distrusting of others or are too busy trying to get ahead /stay afloat to bother helping anyone anymore). Conservatives make the delusional claim that such networks are overrated, that even considering getting "too much" help is going to further corrode what's left of our self sufficiency and work ethic.Ferylnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-49422113183117576792015-02-10T21:21:59.443-05:002015-02-10T21:21:59.443-05:00Spewing the germs that Athenians won't spew.Spewing the germs that Athenians won't spew.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-36442325253101695172015-02-10T20:29:57.503-05:002015-02-10T20:29:57.503-05:00Turchin explicitly ties inequality and overpopulat...Turchin explicitly ties inequality and overpopulation to the Bubonic Plague in Medieval Europe. There are other historical applications. For instance, the plague in Athens during the Peloponnessian War is considered by many scholars to be random; yet under the reign of Pericles leading up to it, there was significant immigration into Athens. We can assume that period was also one of inequality and status-striving.<br /><br />Curtisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-43479926340013786392015-02-10T20:20:28.980-05:002015-02-10T20:20:28.980-05:00I remember reading, and seeing drawings of, entire...I remember reading, and seeing drawings of, entire Indian villages wiped out by measles because they had no immunity to it. The survivors had to run and leave the corpses unburied.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16046202647270439670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19346366.post-85179157104246609982015-02-10T16:51:00.603-05:002015-02-10T16:51:00.603-05:00I do listen to the Alex Jones Show (his paranoia i...I do listen to the Alex Jones Show (his paranoia is sometimes right and even when it's totally off base it's still kinda funny) and the various hosts have been mewling about the vaccination thing for awhile. They act like there's some sorta corporate/government/socialist conspiracy to make people relinquish control of healthcare to, god forbid, some outside authority.<br /><br />This is the point at which I jump off the right wing train. The hard core individualist posturing of many right wingers becomes dangerous when it is so blindly hostile to the importance of society placing sensible restrictions on our actions. As you point out, restraining our movements would infringe on a given person's hedonistic desires but ultimately it would be in everyone's interest to tone things down.<br /><br />Still, the macho righties love to euphemistically paint everything as a "right" or "liberty". Dammit, get the gubmint's hands off my camo tank with fully functional weapons systems!<br /><br />As we've discussed, this unintentionally goofy and narcissistic bravado becomes more prevalent in the plains and really soars in the mountain and desert inland West.<br /><br />I think this anti social paranoia will be reduced when things become more equitable again. I don't think people in the 20's-70's were so agitated and brashly hostile towards authority. Then again, authority was more competent and fair in those days. Now that we're in the Obama age the righties want to throw the baby out with the bath water.Ferylnoreply@blogger.com