So much fear. Driven by unanswered “what if” scenarios. Authorities seemingly more interested in maintaining the appearance of calm than communicating reality. But all this does is make them look self-delusional. BioHazMat crews on TV decontaminating living quarters. Do I need personal protection equipment (PPE)? Is it safe to live or work in Dallas?
Let’s get logical about Ebola in the hopes of removing some fear, and maybe rightfully focusing some where it needs to be for our protection.
We are practically watching a jury trial where We The People are in the jury box. On one side, the defense, are those who think everything’s fine and there’s nothing to worry about. On the other side, the prosecution are those who are arguing for more to be done. And make no mistake. This outbreak of Ebola is a trial. Unfortunately, the politicians seem to be jumping from prosecution to defense, repeatedly, with the only seeming goal to be “correct” in hindsight. They just want us jurors to cast our vote for them. But this is instead adding to our fears.
In the midst of such uncertainty, I suggest we each act like the juror that we practically are. Listen to what competing sides have to say. Exercise independent thought. Judge the credibility of the person doing the talking, those offering “evidence” for our consideration. Don’t be afraid to determine that, if something waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck, and swims like a duck, it’s a duck! regardless of how many people are arguing to us that it is not a duck. Be wise.
The role of the juror is to sift through the evidence offered by the prosecution, and the defense, and decide which is credible, and if so how credible. It is not to just accept all evidence as credible, nor is it (worse) to determine the credibility of evidence through politicized lenses. Once upon a time THIS was known as being prejudiced. So perhaps the first step toward sanity is to give more credibility to those with medical expertise, and less credibility to those whose primary expertise is to win elections.
I don’t know how this is going to turn out. Nobody does. Each day we will learn more, whether or not there are more cases. But I have my suspicions and concerns. So for the moment, I am focused on being the environmental law expert that I am, and using my expertise to help deal with contaminated property and dispose of contaminated waste as needed.
