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Comment by airstrike | Hacker News Reader

That is literally the opposite of what is happening in TFA. If anything, you are arguing we're overpreparing.

I think the question is whether this surge of investment will lead to future complacency or whether the stockpile will be managed and maintained at this level into the future. The US trashed a bunch of masks without replacing them a few years before the pandemic - presumably because someone decided we were spending 'too much' on it.

I hope this is just paranoid anxiety, but never underestimate the power of the federal government's ability to disappoint via reckless reactionism.

Not back-filling all in all was probably a reasonable decision at the time. On the other hand, a lack of on-shore manufacturing capacity to address any on-demand needs is less forgivable. How could we not have a scenario that would have exposed that?

That was the alarming part I saw at the beginning of the pandemic. I had no idea that medical mask/PPE manufacturing had been moved offshore to the extent that it had. It would seem to me to be a capability that any country should have as part of their national biodefense strategy.

What manufacturing hasn't been moved offshore? The majority of it to a country we're told is an enemy? Could the pro-globalization global elites be any less accountable?

You were doing fine until "global elites". There's no organized cabal driving this outcome, just greedy humans solving for local optima that are globally suboptimal

Perhaps. From my vantage point, global elites and greedy humans are synonyms. That is, the greedy who - for their own benefit - pushed the globalization agenda, cleaned up financially, and now are too busy counting their booty to own their role in our current sideways-ness. That latter disconnect is common of elites of any sort.

We're on the same page.

p.s. It doesn't have to be "organized". When there's a common goal, and finite paths to that ends, human behavior automagically begins to synchronize and optimize. Another way to envision it is starlings. No conspiracy, yet highly (enough) organized and "in sync."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVko9jyAkQg

I hate to break it to you but all humans are greedy. It's a feature, not a bug, and it is in our DNA. Some just don't have an avenue to manifest said greed but would very likely do so if given the opportunity.

Just like you can't expect a woodchuck to not chuck wood, don't expect humans to not be greedy. That will only result in disappointment and resentment.

Rather than trying to fix greed, embrace its inevitability and modify your goals so that you create systems which channel that greed into positive externalities.

We're getting off-topic. I never said it was a bug. What it is, it is. Regardless, some obviously lack self-control to a fault. And regardless of the feature, that doesn't give anyone a free pass on accountability.

I have no problem with greed per se. I also have no problem with those who want to lead. But with those decisions comes responsibility and accountability. Bug? Feature? Not my concern. I'm simply not willing to give out free passes either way.

I did not miss that in my comment.

Yeah, lots of reactionary blasting of your comment from people who didn't realise your point was that in future, if the stocks aren't used, some smartass politician is going to be "see!?! we didn't need it! why should we replace the expired stuff?" and leave the stocks at a state where the usefulness for an emergency is nil.

Unfortunately, there's no incentive when spending taxpayer money for the person who "buys" insurance for tail risk events.

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