[Note: I found this in my drafts, written around 2021.]

Today I saw a well-known rationalist suggest that with Covid rapidly mutating, we should permanently seal all international borders to all travelers and only allow goods to pass through.

No one suggested anything like this during the similar 1957-58 Asian Flu.

What’s going on?

In the 2020s, we are trying to cheat death.

We don’t think we should have to die and we don’t think anyone else should have to die. It’s not fair! It’s mean. Someone ought to do something about it.

In the 50s, people didn’t think like this. They’d just come through WWI, the Spanish Flu, the Great Depression and WWII. Smallpox and other horrors were still common, the Korean War was raging and most cars did not come with seatbelts. People then were pretty cool with death and were much more concerned about Communism and where to get the best sundae.

What changed?

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