Re: Corona

Posted by Leeedy On 2020/3/22 8:57:39
Quote:

Tim Cole wrote:
I disagree. "Monsters on Maple Street" was a ripoff of The Crucible and a play on McCarthyism. If Sirling wrote a parable on influenza there would have been panic buying of cigarettes.

The correct way to refer to this corona thing is SARS Corona. The last SARS was killing both doctors, nurses, and patients so this thing is very serious.

My employer has begun shutting down. The reality is that, without initial containment to kill off the disease, everybody will eventually get this illness. The present government action is serving only to slow the spread and potential mutation to plague like manifestation. As well as a collapse of for profit medical care. Thus, ignore safety at your own peril.


Disagreement is the stock and trade of forums-or at minimum, a by-product. And whether or not "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" (the actual title) is or isn't a ripoff of anything (and I don't believe it is) this was not the question posted in this forum. The original statement was to the effect of why didn't "Rod Sirling" (the man's name was Serling... as in S-e-r-l-i-n-g, not "Sirling") write about it. And... we could go further by invoking the names of both Philip K. Dick and Richard Matheson... but I won't.

As to whether "Monsters" was a reference to McCarthyism or not... this can be debated forever. Some people said it was aimed at communism and other political movements. Some said it was about race. Others said it was about foreigners in the USA. Everybody has an analysis and an angle. BUT... the most obvious point the story made was how stupidity, panic, suspicions, hysteria, fear of anyone different, fear of the unknown and mob mentality can snowball very quickly into a nightmare that may not be stopped. If you saw the episode, perhaps you will recall the space aliens on the hilltop above the town at the end, watching the people on Maple Street riot and kill one another. The one alien turns to the other and says something to the effect of "You see how the process works? We'll just go from one planet to the other and let them destroy themselves..."

We could also go through a litany of related Twilight Zone titles, but this would likely just present more opportunity for dispute... which I personally detest. So that's all I have to say.

As for what the present virus spread is or isn't, having once been married to both an MD and an RN, I'll take what they say as a guide, if I need one. But yes, ignoring precautions with this or any virus is done at one's own peril.

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