What I learned from reading Dawn Cook's First Truth

[elfs]

What I learned from reading Dawn Cook's First Truth: Self-quarantine against a disease with a 95% infection rate and 100% mortality is an inherently evil act, and you will be condemned forever for not taking the sick and feverish into your city and caring for them before the disease wipes you out.

Comments

[kengr]

Misquoting something I recall from somewhere:

"Compassion is *not* a mutual suicide pact".

[norincraft.livejournal.com]

Yes, but then I think of Stephen Girard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Girard)

From the Wikipedia entry:

In 1793, there was an outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia. Although many other well-to-do citizens chose to leave the city, Girard stayed to care for the sick and dying. He supervised the conversion of a mansion outside the city limits into a hospital and recruited volunteers to nurse victims, and personally cared for patients. For his efforts, Girard was feted as a hero by the City Hall after the outbreak subsided.[4] Again during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798 he took the lead in relieving the poor and caring for the sick.

Somehow I can't imagine Bill Gates, or any other billionaire for that matter, doing the same thing now --- even though Girard was about on par with Gates as being the wealthiest man in the country.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

[(Anonymous)]

That case was an individual risking their own safety. Someone running a city must decide for likely thousands of people, given we're not talking about modern day cities. It is heroic to risk yourself, it is irresponsible to risk thousands of others without their consent.