Chinese Coronavirus 2019-nCoV - Prepare for the Worst Now

[John Galt]

well with canada in particular it's where the pulp for the masks is sourced, something special about it that makes it N95. they have a tiny amount of the population of the us. trade wise, we are a big unit, the us and canada. so blocking he masks for germany or whatever might be okay but not canada

trump should direct industries to meet these demands, but he likes to go with his gut about protectionism all the time. protectionism is terrible, especially in this time of crisis. we don't have the resources to act like that. maybe slowly over decades we can become that, but right now? dumb idea

[exploited]

*Canada sends pulp to America*
*America sends masks to Canada*

Holy shit what is this? Worst deal ever made.

[John Galt]

look exploited, i agree that it would be a terrible idea to stop the trade of masks. so does 3M. i don't think it will happen. if it does, i'll send you some extras. but i also think the hypernationalist response from people is totally unexpected. but i guess we're all stressed, you need something to take it out on

[exploited]

We should be coordinating with one another closer than we ever have.

Between the two of us we could easily source everything we need in North America, right now, without gargantuan supply line upsets.

We should be expanding trade and tearing down tariffs and consolidating federal efforts into a joint effort.

There is only one country that has been actively hostile here, and that is the United States. Enough is enough. You can't expect Canadians to not get f**k pissed, Galt. We'll cool down. I didn't even mean the NEVER AGAIN thing. It was mostly me being pissed off, but also a bit tongue-in-cheek and a tiny bit truthful. This has been a really rough ride for the relationship of our countries, and the middle of a global pandemic is the wrong goddamned time for you guys to be pulling this kind of shit.

[exploited]

And, yes, you'll find that Canadians will behave actively hostile towards countries that attempt to do things that kill Canadians.

[John Galt]

i mean, it's trump.

maybe, like what i assume happened to spacemonkey, he'll get the rona. wouldn't that be f**k nice.

yes, coordination is the thing that should be happening. some areas of america, i'm sure, have better healthcare capacities across the border and vice versa. things like this should be happening. it's very unfortunate that perhaps the worst possible man in the entire world for the job is the president of the united states during this catastrophe in the making. and yeah, the consequences for america will last for generations, at home, and abroad.

unfortunately we can't even mount a national response, and you're saying we need an international one. thankfully, through federalism, most americans live in areas where there have been responses, but we've got lizard person that goes by the moniker 'jared kushner' telling the american people that the federal supplies are for "us" and states shouldn't use them. who is "us", Jared if that is your real name?

i dunno. whole world is f**k. it's made worse with DJT in charge, don't get me wrong. but Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing is still going to send you masks. they would have to close the border to trade to get it to stop.

hopefully trump will just parade the My Pillow guy out there and so he can talk about god and pillows again and forgets about it

life is f**k surreal

[John Galt]

cnbc interview with 3M ceo, if you're interested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyrnzRJJhA

[exploited]

I hope you're right. Interview was reassuring at least.

The wartime analogy is a good one, because I think looking at the cooperation between Canada and the US during WWII is pretty indicative of what could be accomplished. We didn't have the men to field the gargantuan armies of the US, or at the beginning of the war, the ability to fight on the frontlines. By the end we were the 4th largest military in the world and were responsible for essentially the entirety of North Atlantic convoys, which kept Allied troops fighting and mitigated a great deal of civilian suffering.

As the federal governments of each country brought their industry to the fight, both countries engaged in very close planning with one another. For instance, we had all the lumberjacks and so sent them to the US and Europe to cut down trees, which they did, by the millions. We had all these natural resources and a population base that could be utilized, so we did that, and it helped us, and the rest of the Allies. Hugely. Literally everyone was better off due to this cooperation.

The kind of provincialism and protectionism displayed by Trump is stupid, but especially so during war-time. Leave the shortsighted nonsense to the Europeans, who are too stupid and barbaric to ever coordinate with one another properly. North America can and should run differently.

[Saz]

[Saz]