throwawaybb2

> ...financial pain for a few decades combined with a potential literal decimation of the population, I'm perfectly fine with the solo financial pain

You will be getting decimation of the population with financial pain regardless.

> But there's absolutely a way to avoid long-term pain: the aforementioned lockdown/helicopter-money plan. Shut down, have everyone not absolutely essential stay isolated as much as humanly possible, provide direct cash payments to individuals or huge wage subsidies tied to mandatory guarantees not to lay anyone off, provide free health care to everyone affected, and enforce internal travel restrictions to keep outbreaks contained.

I am guessing one of the countries you would be taking about is South Korea? The one that that provided up to 14% of their GDP in subsidies to do the things you listed [0]. This being of course after major money makers declining: international travel (accounts for 4.2% of GDP) and exports (40% of GDP) [0].

It's safe to say some printers are hard at work somewhere. Long term pain solved for government officials not for it's citizens. I would say the same thing about the US as well.

I do agree with your last paragraph highly.

0:https://thediplomat.com/2020/08/covid-19-pushes-south-korea-...

> That requires workers to show up to work.

Is there another system that enables all workers to work/sit at home without any negative impacts to the nation's short term and long term economical success?