Blame Game

Now the escalating viral gossip circulating the internet and news media is the attempt to find the "cause" of the COVID-19 crisis. The blame game is a natural human tendency - especially when it comes to a virus.   So often when we get the flu we try to determine the cause - or really who gave it to you.  In fact the whole discussion and ramp up for tracing mechanisms is one of the critical needs for relaxing the shelter-in-place to properly quarantine those individuals at risk of spreading the virus.

Tracing automatically reinforces the historical look back at who or where was the first incident.  It was fascinating to listen to the lineage of the Santa Clara County Tracing: 

The conspiracy theories about the source of the virus in Wuhan China and whether it was caused by a mistake in the lab or in the wet market will rage on.  Blaming the Chinese for this virus would be like blaming the USA (now thinking the Spanish Flu started in Kansas) for the start and spread of the Spanish Flu.   What gain comes from blaming anyone for the crisis?

Yes there is always a benefit to understanding a cause if it provides a benefit of avoid future problems.  However when the search for a cause is primarily to "damn" the source and to redirect the attention away from solving the problem while at the same time washing your hands from responsibility of current actions - then looking for the cause is a waste of precious time and resources that can be applied to solving the problem.

Does naming "Patient ZERO" help?  Should we damn that person?  Should we damn wet markets?  Should we damn the Chinese? 

"He who is without sin, cast the first stone"