Conversation #63, Part 10: Bringing it Home (May 30, 2022)

This is the conclusion to our multi-part Conversation 63, which started with part 1 in early August, 2021. Grace leads this discussion with three main points, which she has summarized as follows:

First of all, this is not a matter of personal responsibility, but a matter of sound governance and leadership.

The second point carries some subtleties, but is basically that there are three ways (four, if you count doing nothing) to respond to a novel viral public health threat: Eradication, Elimination (nearly the same as eradication), and Mitigation. Absent context, these stratagems are morally neutral. But in this context, ideally Eradication, but at least Elimination is, and was, the only moral course.

Third, your virtue isn’t going to save you, or us. Terrible things befall virtuous people. Terrible people escape earthly justice all the time. This is not a matter of religious faith, or sympathetic magic, but of knowledge and trust.

How to Listen

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The Podcast channel on YouTube is here.