Stable doors and dodgy logic
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
March 12, 2020 6:46am CST
Do you know the old saying "closing the stable door after the horse has bolted"? It comes to mind following the latest move by President Trump to ban all Europeans (from 26 countries) from flying to the United States. He has kindly excepted citizens of the United Kingdom and Ireland (as well as returning Americans) from his diktat.
Leaving aside the practical difficulties involved here - such as what happens to people with dual nationalities? - it surely overlooks one blindly obvious fact, namely that the coronavirus is already well established within the United States with thousands of confirmed cases. There are already enough carriers within the country for the disease to spread widely. In other words, the horse has already left the stable.
Granted, you do not want yet more carriers to arrive on your shores, but that is where the faulty logic comes into play. Just because there are infections in particular European countries does not imply that individuals flying from those countries are any more likely to be carriers than people from other countries that are not on the list.
For example, the Czech Republic (on the list) has a population of 10.5 million people and has reported 94 infections. Israel (population 8.5 million) has a higher infection total at 100. Are Israelis being banned from flying to the United States?
And what about those returning Americans? If they have been visiting places in European countries with high infection rates, why are they less likely to be carriers than citizens of those very same countries?
As I say - some dodgy logic is at play here as the stable door swings on its hinges!
6 people like this
5 responses
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
12 Mar 20
These measures were implemented in many European countries, too. We just have to accept them, even if we don't agree with them.






