It’s unwise to generalized from an N of 1.
If it was “thermos aquaticus”, would that be a fisherman’s coffee supply? 
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Rather than attempt to definitively say whether the COVID epidemic did OR DID NOT originate in a wet market (or a laboratory accident), I think the Chinese (and other autocratic countries) have learned something very POWERFUL from the pandemic:
Imagine a disease MORE lethal than COVID, but MORE CONTAGIOUS than measles….
and imagine spreading it in a country wracked by “libertarian zeal against wearing masks”!!! That would pretty much be our downfall!
The zeal would go instantly. Or those with it would. Within weeks. How about an encephalomyelitis coronavirus?
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So why is the Right Wing playing right into the hands of Chinese (and other) disease mongers?
Politics. Mob politics.
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Our downfall?
If so, theirs also.
Such a disease would spread worldwide, masks or not.
And it would do great damage everywhere.
It would be the equivalent of calling down artillery on your own position. It happens, but it is an act of desperation and self destruction.
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Because they can’t see beyond their own elbows, let alone across an ocean.
Thinking our enemies abroad don’t become desparate is wishful thinking.
And authoritarian regimes will always be more able to quarantine the sick and the vulnerable more effectively than America can.
Yes, but with a cost. It does not matter much if 100’000 are angry but if 100’000’000 get angry, even the mightiest dictators worry. If 1’000’000’000 get angry, the power of the dictator is gone.
Keeping the majority of the population calm (or at least socially passive) is extremely important for any dictator. Fear of domestic chaos or rebellion is a key factor in the decisions done by the leaders of China, Russia and other nations where the leader has practically the powers of a dictator. An exception might be the countries where the leader has a serious illusion of being invincible or does not care about the consequences.
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Stalin and Mao had no problem keeping the population calm by the millions…. they starved them to death, but kept the armies fed.
And of course their armies and essential workers would be immunized before anything like that was released.
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