A great piece on the (Western) history of “Anticontagionism,” along with a supposition that, for me, sums up why our system has failed so badly with the pandemic response:
“As always, the problem with utilitarianism is defining what’s actually good, though. Is it … money? Is public health more important than the global economy? How do you even do that math?”
The answer is... yes, public health is more important. Yet, even taking a moment to deliberate that issue results in people dying.