Stockholm Syndrome

*Worth noting that it looks like Shinzo Abe stuck his fingers in his ears and thought first of the Olympics rather than any kind of correct strategy as well. But fortunately for him the virus didn't take hold quickly in Japan and he does appear to be taking it seriously now.

What Dungeon said really, with not a lot to add.

I generally look to Scandinavia as a more tolerant and socially responsible region than the UK and US. I generally look at their political system with jealousy and laugh at how people in this country can so easily be convinced that some of their policies are draconian communist claptrap!

Or just higher taxes and public investment to support everyone in society.

I like that Denmark have come out and declared that no business that does not pay their corporation tax in the country will receive state support.

I’m pleased the tax avoidance of the mega rich like Branson is now being called in to question. Zero tax that man has paid to the uk. It’s a sad shame that the mega rich avoid their monetary responsibility to society. And I know people will come back on this, but I just mean corporations should pay their fair share.

Them there is my socialist views though, and I know raging fascists like Dunge with his Boris posters and Tbatcher shrines will never agree. I’m cool with that, even if it does make me a bit sad.

Anyway, after that massive digression, I’m kind of the view that if Sweden have made that call, as a socially responsible country I feel they will have made it for the right reasons, and not economically motivated to protect the rich.

Maybe I’m naive though...

BS - it's simply impossible to get the response to this horrible situation right, some countries may get it less wrong than others.

Only time will tell what the best strategy has been, and even then it will be really difficult to make comparisons given the different situations in each country.

The lockdown may be reducing the Covid-19 impact in the short term but the health and economic damage it is causing could result in more deaths in the future.

One good quote from this week - 'We've all got a PHD in hindsight'.

I'm withdrawing my usual winkeye given the seriousness of this topic, it wouldn't be appropriate.

I suspect that having a population 15% of the UKs, with nearly twice the area and a population density 8% of the UKs, might make it easier to manage a herd immunity strategy in Sweden, without overwhelming the health care system.

comment by Vulpes (U6011)
posted 58 minutes ago
I suspect that having a population 15% of the UKs, with nearly twice the area and a population density 8% of the UKs, might make it easier to manage a herd immunity strategy in Sweden, without overwhelming the health care system.
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Sweden has an 87% urban population, NZ 87% also, Australia 86% and the UK 83%. So all would be quite comparable really and worth comparing results vs their different approaches to the epidemic

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/sp.urb.totl.in.zs?most_recent_value_desc=true

Not necessarily comparable in that way, for example London is 10 times the size of Sweden's largest city Stockholm. They have just 9 population centres above 100,000 people whereas we have 76.

There will be many other factors affecting the spread of the disease too, so not a simple comparison.

comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
Not necessarily comparable in that way, for example London is 10 times the size of Sweden's largest city Stockholm. They have just 9 population centres above 100,000 people whereas we have 76.

There will be many other factors affecting the spread of the disease too, so not a simple comparison.

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There are many factors but overall size is irrelevant. We're talking about percentages not raw totals

comment by Scruttocks (U19684)
posted 22 hours, 49 minutes ago
comment by Nuneaton_fox (U7936)
posted 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
Not necessarily comparable in that way, for example London is 10 times the size of Sweden's largest city Stockholm. They have just 9 population centres above 100,000 people whereas we have 76.

There will be many other factors affecting the spread of the disease too, so not a simple comparison.

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There are many factors but overall size is irrelevant. We're talking about percentages not raw totals
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Of course the overall size is relevant for any comparison.

All I'm saying is that there are significant complexities at play here so it is unlikely that simple, meaningful comparisons based on (say) percentage urban population can be made.

comment by Scruttocks (U19684)
posted 23 hours, 7 minutes ago
There are many factors but overall size is irrelevant. We're talking about percentages not raw totals
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Been telling my wife that for years.

comment by Tamwolf (U17286)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Scruttocks (U19684)
posted 23 hours, 7 minutes ago
There are many factors but overall size is irrelevant. We're talking about percentages not raw totals
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Been telling my wife that for years.
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And is she still not happy with a generous 25%?