Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Dr Willie Soon, h/t Liberty Sentinel; what kind of sick person publicly celebrates the possibility that all their political opponents will die a horrible death? The answer is a journalist who works for mainstream British media, of course.
Coronavirus can trigger a new industrial revolution
The disease could be the shock we need to harness new technology and new ways of working
Ed Conway Thursday March 05 2020, 5.00pm GMT, The Times
Don’t take this the wrong way but if you were a young, hardline environmentalist looking for the ultimate weapon against climate change, you could hardly design anything better than coronavirus.
Unlike most other such diseases, it kills mostly the old who, let’s face it, are more likely to be climate sceptics. It spares the young. Most of all, it stymies the forces that have been generating greenhouse gases for decades. Deadly enough to terrify; containable enough that aggressive quarantine measures can prevent it from spreading. The rational response for any country determined to prevent loss of life is to follow China’s lead and lock down their economy to stem its spread.
And so airlines are cancelling flights; companies are scrapping travel. Factories in China and, …
Read more (paywalled): https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-has-a-silver-lining-cz8wpc6xj
Going by the web link, the original title of the article was “Coronavirus has a silver lining”.
The rest of the article is paywalled, and I don’t want to give an organization which would employ someone who could write something like that any financial support whatsoever, but I think we get the idea.
By all means, let us all celebrate and be jubilant as soon as as possible as any news arises of the deaths and potential deaths of others when this magnificent opportunity like this presents itself such as the Covid 19 virus. You must be so proud to be part of our human race. I am sorry, I forgot I was trying to talk with a person with any sign at all of human decency or any deep seeded true empathy or pure kindness or being able to not look for the benefits for themselves. And , yes, I am judging you, because the amount of such short-sighted you emphatically display needs to be called out loudly for the true darkness that it presents itself to all of goodness that can possibly perpetuate in all of our precious future human society.
“Unlike most other such diseases, it kills mostly the old climate sceptics. ”
Oops!
Sorry I posted this
I didn’t really mean to
Now I’m off to install my home solar panels and sing kumbaya
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/03/06/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse/
I subscribed to The Times for a few months. Then came two articles in rapid succession where I happened to know the facts, and the articles were completely wrong. Subscribers posted BTL pointing out the errors, with references. Those posts were rapidly deleted, in some cases in seconds. I concluded that The Times cannot be trusted as a source of information.
Ed Conway: “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if we made gas chambers to exterminate all Jews, Gypsies and h0m0sexuals, just imagine what a pristine ethnically pure society we would leave to our children!”
Some of us aren’t that old, Ed – I’m still mid career.
Ed looks older than I do, although he’s a bit younger.
Clearly the ravages of membership of the British elite are taking their toll – the enforced endless hang-outs in the exclusive London clubs with port drinking and over-eating. Not to mention the narcotic substances “illicit” for the despised masses but ad libitum for the elites.
The likes of Ed and Greta are however young enough that they will live to see the utter Ehrlich-esque falsehood of every single one of the climate alarmist claims. And so will I.
Coronavirus can trigger a new industrial revolution
The disease could be the shock we need to harness new technology and new ways of working
Ed Conway
Thursday March 05 2020, 5.00pm GMT, The Times
Don’t take this the wrong way but if you were a young, hardline environmentalist looking for the ultimate weapon against climate change, you could hardly design anything better than coronavirus.
Unlike most other such diseases, it kills mostly the old who, let’s face it, are more likely to be climate sceptics. It spares the young. Most of all, it stymies the forces that have been generating greenhouse gases for decades. Deadly enough to terrify; containable enough that aggressive quarantine measures can prevent it from spreading. The rational response for any country determined to prevent loss of life is to follow China’s lead and lock down their economy to stem its spread.
And so airlines are cancelling flights; companies are scrapping travel. Factories in China and, presumably soon in Europe, are being mothballed. The chimneys which once belched smog into the skies of Beijing and Shenzhen are smoking no more. Perhaps you saw the satellite map produced by Nasa showing that pollution across China, usually visible in dense patches blanketing the country, has almost entirely gone.
Hardcore climate activists have long railed against economic growth and in the months ahead they may have their wish granted as GDP growth from China to Europe and the US is hammered by coronavirus.
Yet this would be no normal economic slump. It’s not as if most companies have become insolvent. It’s not as if the plumbing of the financial system is broken. Even if the outbreak triggers a recession one can expect the economy to bounce back in the coming quarters. Along the way some companies and households will be unable to keep things ticking over. What these companies need isn’t necessarily money but time: time to pay bills, time for affected staff to recover and for mothballed units to be restarted.
And since this is no normal economic crisis it’s not clear that any of the normal remedies like cuts in interest rates or taxes will help. Far better will be forensic measures to ensure those businesses and households temporarily unable to pay their bills are given time to pay.
One bold idea would be to set up a natural disasters insurance fund to support those who lose their jobs or their businesses as a result of this and future crises. America’s Federal Emergency Management Agency has something called Disaster Unemployment Assistance, which could provide a blueprint. And while the Bank of England can (and probably will) cut interest rates, far more important will be other below-the-radar schemes such as financial help for companies whose supply chains are fracturing.
Most downturns are Darwinian moments for capitalism: out go old, lumbering companies that failed to move with the times; in come their disruptive rivals in a blaze of creative destruction. Hardship focuses the mind, and companies find more efficient ways of running their businesses. The economy that emerges should be more productive than its predecessor. Yet in this crisis the opposite may be happening.
The most efficient, which is to say the cheapest, way companies have found of manufacturing products is to use supply chains that straddle the globe in search of cheap labour. If something could be made for less on the other side of the world, so be it.
Yet coronavirus, which threatens to constrain the free movement of people and goods, will deny companies this cheapest avenue. Companies will have to think long and hard about whether intercontinental supply chains make sense. Already some companies are shifting production back home and opting for home-built components.
On the one hand that spells enormous disruption and could make all our lives more expensive. Yet there is also a silver lining which need not only appeal to Extinction Rebellion. What if this is the nudge we need to embrace a new model of globalisation?
For the dirty secret about today’s economy is that it is actually a product of yesterday’s technologies: the foundation of just-in-time supply chains is software and internet connectivity. The ultimate energy source is fossil fuels, in ships and planes. Today’s new technologies — 3D printing, AI, robotics — could enable a very different form of globalisation. Combine them and it is possible, as the economist Richard Baldwin says, to imagine hotel rooms in London being cleaned by robots controlled by cleaners in Poland, or lawns in Texas mowed by robots steered by gardeners in Mexico.
Yet for all the hype, the industrial revolution driven by these technologies still feels a long way off. Many offices are not that different from their 1950s ancestors; much manufacturing revolves around factories and supply chains which, save for the fact that they are split between different countries, Henry Ford would feel at home in; 3D printing has taken the hearing aid sector by storm but is still an irrelevance in most parts of the manufacturing world.
But coronavirus is one of those shocks that could force business to take the leaps they were hitherto too nervous to make. When supply chains are down and households are quarantined, suddenly the fourth industrial revolution, or whatever you want to call it, looks a lot more attractive. When physical cash is spreading the virus, using electronic money seems far smarter. When travelling and mingling is a risk, working remotely could become the norm rather than an aberration. That this will all help to diminish carbon emissions is an added bonus.
Of course, it’s quite possible life returns to normal after coronavirus. But one consequence of this disease could be that it forces us to take a long hard look at the way we run the world, and change it.
Ed Conway is economics editor of Sky News
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-has-a-silver-lining-cz8wpc6xj
“When physical cash is spreading the virus, using electronic money seems far smarter.”
That is a nudge for Bank of England ex-Governor Mark Carney’s Synthetic Hegemonic Currency, SHC, a green digital global credit system to eliminate “fossil” fuels. This was announced at Jackson Hole August 2019, backed ba BlackRock, the largest hedge fund. So BitCoin baloney was just a cat’s paw for a green bankers dictatorship. Sweden is trial running an eKrona. Brussels has mooted a digital Euro.
Time to quarantine the City of London, and Wall Street, immediately – contagion is deadly!
Thanks!
Unlike other civilisations, this current one doesn’t believe that wisdom and knowledge comes with time.
It will be the downfall of this civilisation
His personal website at sky news is currently unavailable. I wonder why.
Hmmmmm, I’m thinking Mr Ed might be wrong on this one. Simply because the vast bulk of idiots attending the XR carnivals do seem to be over 50, with lots being old enough to be retired, and consequently with time on their hands.
It’ll be interesting to see how this Ed character fares in what’s to come. Should the Reapers scythe visit his immediate orbit, I have little doubt he’ll use his column to weep buckets of tears and assign blame.
I think you are correct as half the idiots of this stunt appear to be on the high side of 50.
“Stop Funding Climate Death” – A message from their DIESEL POWERED FIRE ENGINE.
But that’s OK because spreading the propaganda is “excusable” emissions, I guess. Idiots.
Show me the bodies, ER, or STFU.
Global Average temperature will be an interesting watch over the next few months as flying and industry has reduced.
Being more than 80 years old I have seen most of the world’s weather (flying helecopters for 40 years ) and I can assure you that the weather has been the same since I started to remember 77 plus years ago . Always a cycle of x years and here it comes again. Schooling today is obviously politically activated to not teach history but ignorance.
I’ve read the whole article, it’s not malicious. He’s certainly being ironic and it’s basically a economic “what if”
exercise. About ways such a disaster as coronavirus might trigger different ways of working for example. Anyone doing a futurology exercise has to think of the downside as well as the upside of situations under consideration. That’s all he’s doing.
You need to read Lord Bertrand Russell’s Impact of Science on Society, to even begin to fathom the tactic.
All they are doing is eugenics, population reduction, along with a cabal.
In his 1931 book, The Scientific Outlook, he had devoted a chapter to “Education in a Scientific Society.”
Dare to have a look :
“If the youth is content to abandon his previous associates and to throw in his lot whole-heartedly with the rulers, he may, after suitable tests, be promoted, but if he shows any regrettable solidarity with his previous associates, the rulers will reluctantly conclude that there is nothing to be done with him except to send him to the lethal chamber before his ill-disciplined intelligence has had time to spread revolt. This will be a painful duty to the rulers, but I think they will not shrink from performing it.”
All Russell is doing is another what if exercise. Since 1931 the global population has grown dramatically and is far healthier and so proven all the Malthusians wrong.
What would be the economic impact if a pathogen only targeted people or a certain race, religion, sexual orientation, or political view? Get it now son of mulder? It’s pure nasty BS intended to antagonize.
And what if it was as dangerous as Ebola but spread like measals? What you say is well out of the scope of Conway’s article. I bet a movie has been made out of most disaster and evil intentions. Freedom of speech is under enough threat from the left in the UK attacks from other places is very worrying to me.
I have read the full article and imho there is a lot of clickbaiting therein – which appears to have worked rather well. Final sentence – “But one consequence of this disease could be that it forces us to take a long hard look at the way we run the world, and change it.”
The big delusion suffered by the likes of Ed Conway and others that are infected with personal climate alarmism is, they they think the young are all on his side of the climate debate.
I was pleasantly surprised by recent separate family gatherings where my 20 year old nephew and would be luvvie, expressed his views about man made climate change. He thinks it is all made up nonsense but went on to say, he never makes his views known to his fellow would be luvvies because of the hostility that would bring.
Another nephew a little older in his thirties made the very same comment. He is a director of an investment company, and says he has to close his door when the left wing advocates start pontificating about the need to change to clean energy. He can’t stand the nonsense, but lets them carry on, ignorant of their bosses views.
I have two PhD nieces in the hard sciences , both in their 30’s. It was their clinical analysis of the evidence that turned my (60 year old) Archaeological head away from AGW “science”. Admittedly it didn’t take much persuasion as the observations haven’t matched the Climate Change models for a long time in my field.
Interesting comment. Please expound on “their clinical analysis” if you feel so inclined.
Hysteria, coronavirus or climate change, is driven by base ignorance and #FakeNews click-bait. So says this septuagenarian.
Has anyone here actually read the full article?
I haven’t read any of Ed Conway’s work in quite a while, and I don’t subscribe to The Times, but when he wrote for the Telegraph he was always interesting and thoughtful, and often came up with an angle that wasn’t immediately obvious, so I think it’s highly unlikely that he’s saying what you think he is from the first two paragraphs of his article.
Surely that’s hate speech. Where are the thought police on this one?
It’s not hate speech if it’s the proper side making the wish. How could you miss that detail?
The Times journalist is merely a shadow of his esteemed Lord Bertrand Russell :
“War… has hitherto been disappointing in this respect, but perhaps bacteriological war may prove more effective. If a Black Death could be spread throughout the world once every generation survivors could procreate freely without making the world too full.”
– Lord Bertrand Russell The Impact of Science on Society
And I am sure he courts favor with Prince Philip :
“In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, to contribute something to solving overpopulation.”
–Queen Elizabeth’s consort Prince Philip, 1988
One would say the journalist deserves a Royal Title, like his German counterpart Dr. John Schellnhuber CBE .
Clicking on the link under ed conways photo, this came up
“Ed Conway is economics editor of Sky News and a regular columnist for The Times.”
‘Economics editor’ at sky news. No wonder sky news is all climatey these days.
If Covid-19 is as deadly as he hopes, killing off most of the elderly, it will also cause widespread panic, and the kind of lock downs that lead to supply chain shocks, demand shocks, and all kinds of terrible things. My point is, there is an irony in that, if such an apocalyptic outcome did in fact happen, the result would be not to make people more in favour of so called climate mitigation measures – ie green austerity – but exactly the opposite. Instead of a vague imagined fear, they would actually have something real to be alarmed about. Maybe they would come to appreciate all that fossil fuels have given to their hitherto comfortable existence, and just maybe they would turn against green austerity. I would say to that journalist, be careful what you wish for.
The ’employer’ is Keith Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News amongst many hundreds of global media titles……
Coronavirus won’t change the minds of rational skeptics, but, it has pointed out the biggest danger of free-range globalism.
And the dangers of uncontrolled immigration.
From the article: “the old who, let’s face it, are more likely to be climate sceptics”
That would be because the old have seen this kind of climate change charade before. Back in the 1970’s we were told the world was going to end because we were heading into a human-caused ice age because of our burning of fossil fuels.
Well, that didn’t happen, did it. So you can see why someone who saw one climate scam would be skeptical when another climate scam comes along. Young people don’t have enough perspective to see some of these things. They should listen to their elders about the Earth’s climate.
Btw, I haven’t had the flu or a cold virus (knock on wood!) in at least two decades, maybe longer. I’ve done this by following the recommendations currently being put out to try to avoid a COVID-19 infection, like washing your hands, and not being around people who are obviously sick with those things.
Could it be that the corona scare is similar to climate change scare.
1. We are encouraged to take draconian measures to stop something that’s so far percent lower risk of death than one month of driving a car.
2. The threat of corona is totally dwarfed by smoking related deaths, alcohol related deaths,malaria,cancer, heart disease etc.
3. It comes from China, a communist country that was able to totally dominate their own population to limit the outbreak. It still was not limited and spread to the rest of the world, like any influenza outbreak. Just like CO2 spreads.
4. It is hyped out of proportions. So far we have 20 influenza deaths for every Corona death. A very stable estimate from China seems to be less than 3 deaths pr million
5. What if this is like a Normal flu, it has already spread all over the population? This would make the deadliness lower than for the normal flu. In other words a very natural fact of nature that we cannot stop, just like we cannot stop the weather.
6. Because so few people are tested it seems like the death rate is so high. What if the virus is out in the whole population and just 3 in 1000,000 die from it. Then the death rate would be thousand times lower than for the flu. 
6. Could the coronavirus argue for a one world government, using the Chinese example with extreme curfews and limits to the rights of assembly?
7. Could be that the coronavirus is quite benign, like climate change, but because of the media each death is looked upon as something horrible?
8. Does Corona take the attention away from more important things, just like the focus on CO2? Governments are willing to use extreme resources on CO 2 reduction while they despreately need money for healthcare and education.
9. Does perception of risk get totally skewed like for climate change?
10. There have been over 10 million deaths so far this year, from all causes. There have been a bit over 3000 deaths from Corona. That means that for every Corona death there have been approximately 3000 deaths from other causes.
11. Some of these causes could be prevented quite easily.
12. Around 2 milion died from starvation, 667 dead for every corona death
13. 54000 women died in childbirth ,16 dead for every corona death
14. 173000 deaths by malaria, 54 dead for every corona death
15. 882000 deaths from smoking, 275 dead for every corona death
16. 441000 deaths from alcohol, 137 dead for every corona death
17. 190000 suicides, 59 dead for every corona death
18. 238000 road deaths, 74 dead for every corona death
19. The one death that most can identify with, is traffic death. We have 7400% higher risk of dying in traffic than from Corona, at least. Young people have higher traffic risk and lower corona risk , so here the risk ratio is extreme. And we gladly go into traffic every day.
20. Follow the money: Panic is not only a great political tool, it is also extremely profitable. The big pharmaceutical companies made billions on the swine flu. They are now soon ready with a vaccine, probably well timed to when the panic peaks. If the vaccine is safe doesn’t really matter. If people get problems like sleeping disorders, they just become life customers for other drugs. Win-win.
21. Moral obligation: just like CC, corona worlds order thinking can be motivated by moral obligation to do something. We may give up many personal freedoms in solidarity with those who might die from Corona. We don’t think of the 10 million who die from other causes.
22. Ironically some global warming could slow down Corona. So maybe the 2 crowds could join hands: keep the temperature low, keep corona going, and infect fellow CC believers by holding hands.
Missing the most important lesson from history, in other words Point Number 1.
In the 14th Century the Black death and pulmonary pest swept over Europe, after killing 10 million in China at that time. And to this day the fake news is that it was a natural disaster.
Just at the start, a building financial disaster culminating in the Peruzzi, Bardi bank collapse had already laid bare rural agriculture with policies including derivatives. Then the plague hit.
So To to deal with Corona, quarantine Wall Street immediately!
We have exactly, but on a massive global scale, this convergence.
See ““How Venice Rigged the First, and Worst, Global Financial Collapse,” . See “Survey of Venice,” by James Howell, 1651; Or the “Dance of Death,” by Hans Holbein, 1538. The Black Death, and its consequences, brought on by the collapse of the Lombard bankers, led to a new dark age, in which one-third to one-half of the population of Europe perished.
The way to deal with Corona Virus is to quarantine Wall Street.
Otherwise the “everything bubble”, post Lehman, contagion will be beyond any rational reckoning, and sure enough Carney, Leyen, Lagarde, BoJo, the Pentagon, Wall Street, the City of London will blame Corona.
Perfect cover, for daylight looting of bank deposits, health care, as the pestilence rages.
It begins to look like the Bardi Bank collapse of the 14th Century, with plague included.
The financiers are still in that oligarchical mold.