China should give reparations to the world for spreading Corona virus

[b.shahvir]

I firmly believe China should give financial reparations to the world for creating and spreading Corona virus.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

How could you prove it was a deliberate act and it could have been prevented from spreading? Even if you could how could you force them to pay compensation?

Should we not then say the same thing about the main developed countries polluting the world and causing climate change? You could argue historically it's been the US, who is going to force them to pay repatriations to the rest of the world?

Where would you end if you started down this line?

 

[b.shahvir]

It has to start somewhere.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Yes it has to start somewhere, Spanish flu starting in Spain over 100 years ago, does that mean they created and spread it deliberately? It's just the place where the first cases were found. We seem to have these pandemics occur roughly every 100 years, i do not see how this is any different. It just happened started in a country which the west considers to be "unfriendly" for reasons outside the scope of this conversation so it's deemed "acceptable" in the west that we should blame them and accuse them to making it deliberately IMO.

 

[b.shahvir]

But in this case many media reports indicate that this virus originated in the Wuhan lab. The characteristics of the virus do not seem natural and indicates being man made.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

This is a science forum, usually in such places we require proof. Media outlets reporting something has never been acceptable as "proof" for other topics so why should we accept it here? There is a lot of politics going on here between the US and China and I feel that is what has really been pushing this line. I live in the UK and our media is not making these allegations.

 

[rsk]

But in this case many media reports indicate that this virus originated in the Wuhan lab. The characteristics of the virus so not seem natural and indicates being man made.

Western media reports.

I agree with the above - even if it were proved that the virus had been created and spread from Chine, if we insist on reparation for that, why not for pollution, colonisation, exploitation of resources etc? All of those have done (arguably, scientifically) far more damage than Covid.

 

[b.shahvir]

Media outlets reporting something has never been acceptable as "proof" for other topics so why should we accept it here?

Apart from the media what then is the other source of proof for the common man? We have to rely on media for information. The content could be fact checked.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Media is a source for information for the general public and is susceptible to the same bias and political leanings as anyone else, you need to take this into account when reading/watching the media. I am sure you have media outlets pushing a more favorable Democrat agenda and others pushing a more favorable Republican agenda so which one is right? Arguably both and arguably neither depending on your own political viewpoints.

A classic example we hear about is how 80% of viewers of a patriotic US news organization believe WMD's were found in Iraq when no one outside the US can find any evidence of that.

 

[b.shahvir]

Agreed. Then what is the source of proof?

 

[b.shahvir]

why not for pollution, colonisation, exploitation of resources etc? All of those have done (arguably, scientifically) far more damage than Covid.

None of the above are responsible for large scale loss of livelihood, financial losses and death as compared to covid.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

In this case, I would say an international team of independent investigators free form political bias gaining full access to the WUHAN lab and all it's data. This is unlikely to be allowed by China though so we are left with in the same scenario as we have at present.

Suspicions and no way to prove it either way. People are understandably angry due to the way their lives have been affected and the desire to blame someone is not exactly unexpected.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

The death rate would be far lower had all countries taken this seriously at the start instead of pretending it was just a bad cold for fear of damaging their economies.

Exploitation of resources and shipping them back to the country doing the exploiting prevents them from being exploited by the country they are found in, thus in effect taking money away from the local countries, making us richer while making them poorer. We have been fortunate in the west as we are generally the ones doing the exploiting and reaping the benefits so as a western population we do not see first hand what the effect. Colonization happens to achieve exploitation. So I find it hard to accept that livelihoods and financial losses are minimal for those other countries. On the pollution front here in the UK each household has recycle bins. Instead of being recycled as that is more expensive, they end up being shipped to countries like Turkey and the far east where they just sit in huge piles polluting other countries but not our own.

At the end of the day it all depends on if your viewpoint is a local one or a global one. Traditionally we have had a local viewpoint but the world is at the stage now where we are so integrating and interdependent that a global view has to prevail to resolve global problems. We are just not there yet though and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

 

[rsk]

None of the above are responsible for large scale loss of livelihood, financial losses and death as compared to covid.

Oh, I would dispute that.

 

[hutchphd]

None of the above are responsible for large scale loss of livelihood, financial losses and death as compared to covid.

Ask native Americans about the scale of their loss. Or black human beings badly packaged in Africa and shipped to the Caribbean. Or the Kulaks. Or the Jews. Or the Armenians. Or Rwandans.
How do we measure the "scale" of these losses? Dead is dead
The most virulent infestation on the planet Earth is the human organism. F*x news and China doublespeak are just vectors.

 

[jack action]

It's really weird that need to blame someone every time something bad happens. But "China" is not "someone", it's 1.4 billion people.

In this particular case, if it was a lab from my country who was the source for Covid, I certainly wouldn't want to be held responsible (by having my taxes raised) for all the damages done in the world. I have no clue about what is done in those labs, so why should I be held more responsible than someone living outside my country?

For China, it's even worst, as the people in that country have most likely less power than me to choose their leaders and most of them live in great poverty (anyway, worst than me for sure). As a person who lives in one of the richest countries in the world, I would feel bad to put such a burden on them.

Reducing 1.4 billion people - most of them innocent - to the word "China" is clearly too easy. And they are people in other countries that have played a role in the Covid spreading, I'm sure.

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed for Moderation...

 

[berkeman]

I firmly believe China should give financial reparations to the world for creating and spreading Corona virus.

Thread will remain closed. OP has been reprimanded about posting unsubstantiated claims, especially those that spark a politically-oriented thread on PF. Lordy.