Stever's blog

What do you think are the primary motivations behind reporting on the plague and shutdowns in a way so as to make it seem as if are obligated to shut down society and wall ourselves at home?

I saw this posting on reddit to the above title and it did a good job of summing up my feelings on the subject. A “multiple-model” approach to analysis usually yields good results. Posted by “chasonreddit” on reddit:

I’m a believer that there there are no huge conspiracies in government or media. There are simply a lot of different people working in their own best interest and perverted incentives get you the rest of the way.

• Media live for clicks and content purchases
• Pharmaceutical companies live to develop and sell new drugs
• Politicians live for votes (and power, can’t leave that out)
• Bureaucrats and civil servants do what they can do to hold and keep their cushy jobs.
• People love to feel morally superior to their peers.
• Businesses comply with government mandates because that optimizes profits.
• Businesses cater to the majority sentiment whether they share it or not to optimize profits.
• Some number of people are simply afraid of life and welcome an opportunity to take a time out.

Put all of those together and you can pretty much see the narative unfold.