# Why the liberal 'pooh-poohing' of the Ebola danger? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 4, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388 "2014-10-04T16:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/21 "2014-10-04T19:49:21Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Screw this. > > _ **Cite** _, **Dale Sams**? You beat me to it. OP, do you have examples? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/22 "2014-10-04T19:57:58Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > You know, it never even crossed my mind to think of this as a liberal vs conservative issue. I thought of it as “Ebola is serious, but let’s calm the shit down” vs “Literally everybody is going to die!!!” issue. Yeah- unfortunately I think it actually is taking on some political dimensions. Which is absolutely stupid, but that’s humanity for you. This is a serious problem and nothing is foolproof, but at the risk of sounding like a guy at the beginning of a horror movie, it’s extremely unlikely that it’s going to become an epidemic in the U.S. for all the reasons people are citing rationally: advanced medical facilities and training, better sanitation, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/23 "2014-10-04T20:04:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > at the risk of sounding like a guy at the beginning of a horror movie, it’s extremely unlikely that it’s going to become an epidemic in the U.S. I’m going to quote you when the Ebola Apocalypse starts! ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/24 "2014-10-04T20:07:35Z")
Ah. **TR.M** reveals a tiny portion of the non-grammarian side of himself. Rather unattractive, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/25 "2014-10-04T20:14:34Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I haven’t personally noticed any “liberal ‘pooh-poohing’ of the Ebola danger,” but if it did exist, it wouldn’t surprise me. Fear of Ebola would translate to fear of foreigners (especially BLACK foreigners), and that would make a liberal’s head explode. It would also necessitate that liberals join the rational call for closing our borders to illegal immigrants, and that would make their heads explode even worse. > [@jimbuff314](#): > > Ah. **TR.M** reveals a tiny portion of the non-grammarian side of himself. > Rather unattractive, I think. Dammit, **Tim R. Mortiss** was right. My head exploded while I tried to think of a way to explain that _Africa isn’t in Mexico._ ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/26 "2014-10-04T20:20:44Z")
I’m calling it. October 4th, 2014 is officially the day when it became impossible to discuss literally anything in the US without someone trying to shoehorn it into a narrative of partisan political conflict. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/27 "2014-10-04T20:31:56Z")
> [@jimbuff314](#): > > Screw this. > > _ **Cite** _, **Dale Sams**? Well the above already cited the Daily Show. Several posters here have already tried to equate ‘pooh-poohing’ the threat with ‘rational thought’ or ‘liberals’ with ‘scientists’ and ‘intelligent people’. And you only need to go to Drudge Report to see the right-slanted view. So what exactly are you asking? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/28 "2014-10-04T20:33:19Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > You will never see me calling anyone an idiot for not believing that Ebola isn’t spread through air, because the skeptic in me knows that science is subject to change. We have tons of evidence that it doesn’t spread through air, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible and that it could never happen. Or that it’s not already happening. This is a paranoid and unreasonable position to hold. “Science is subject to change” does not mean “any worst-case scenario I can come up just might come true.” I mean, think about it. HIV could become airborne. It’s not impossible that it isn’t spreading through the air _right now_! Why not semi-seriously run through emergency scenarios in case your city gets hit with flying AIDS? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/29 "2014-10-04T20:34:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’m going to quote you when the Ebola Apocalypse starts! …coming soon… on AMC… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/30 "2014-10-04T20:38:01Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I mean, think about it. HIV could become airborne. It’s not impossible that it isn’t spreading through the air _right now_! Why not semi-seriously run through emergency scenarios in case your city gets hit with flying AIDS? 20 years ago a lot of people were asking this question. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/31 "2014-10-04T20:51:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 20 years ago a lot of people were asking this question. And its a fair question for public health officials and epidemiologists to ask. Its what they studied, what they are paid to think about. For me, wasting time on “what if AIDS went airborne” or “what if I get sweated on by someone with Ebola” aren’t really good uses of my time. I have anxiety in my life…manufacturing it isn’t necessary. Educating myself so I can make the same decisions that health officials make also doesn’t seem like a great use of my time - I’m not an expert of pandemics, and from what I understand it takes years to become an expert on pandemics. In the meantime, reasonable precautions to make sure my family minimizes ANY illness seem reasonable - flu shots, vaccinations, hand washing, teaching the kids to cover their mouths when they sneeze and get their tissues into the trash. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/32 "2014-10-04T20:54:41Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > This is a paranoid and unreasonable position to hold. “Science is subject to change” does not mean “any worst-case scenario I can come up just might come true.” > > I mean, think about it. HIV could become airborne. It’s not impossible that it isn’t spreading through the air _right now_! Why not semi-seriously run through emergency scenarios in case your city gets hit with flying AIDS? I don’t know enough about Ebola to make pronouncements on the internet about it. It’s fine if you feel confident enough to do so, but just because I don’t, doesn’t mean I’m “paranoid and unreasonable”. It means that I don’t “believe” in anything. Science _does_ change. Technology improves, someone discovers they transposed some numbers or didn’t perform an experiment the right way…and suddenly what we “know” shifts a little. All the uncertainty is why I am a fan of science but not faith. I love being able to say, “To date, this is what the science indicates…”. The moment I start going there with “This is absolute truth!!! YOU’RE AN IDIOT IF YOU DON’T AGREE!!!”, then I’ve become someone I don’t want to be. Being a little wary is not the same thing as being paranoid. It just means that if I ever have to be around someone who’s symptomatic Ebola, I’m not going to turn down a face mask. There are plenty of people catching the virus who have no idea how they caught it. This makes it markedly different from HIV. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/33 "2014-10-04T21:07:31Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Ebola is, still, a very tiny risk to Americans who aren’t visiting Sierra Leone. And it’s not a housing bubble, it’s a natural and permanent adjustment in the market. All the experts say so. Just a few cranks saying there’s a problem, y’know. Ignore them. Or “It’s nothing, folks, stay in your seats. Play, Mickey, play!” - Eddie Foy ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/34 "2014-10-04T21:12:09Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Dammit, **Tim R. Mortiss** was right. My head exploded while I tried to think of a way to explain that _Africa isn’t in Mexico._ You know it’s possible for non-Mexicans to cross the Mexican-American border, right? ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/35 "2014-10-04T21:14:37Z")
Well, for one thing there’s plenty of other deadly diseases (like measles which are quite lethal in small children, but easily spread by unvaccinated children) out there that people in the United States have a much, more likely chance of catching than Ebola. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/36 "2014-10-04T21:37:43Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > And its a fair question for public health officials and epidemiologists to ask. Its what they studied, what they are paid to think about. It’s a valid area of scientific inquiry. Members of the public who were up in arms about this 20 years ago wasted their time, and I suspect it’s the same with Ebola. > [@elfkin477](#): > > You know it’s possible for non-Mexicans to cross the Mexican-American border, right? Lots of stuff is _possible_. Africans with Ebola could cross the border from Mexico, yes. So could terrorists, as some people keep trying to remind us. Terrorists with suitcase nukes full of Ebola are possible, I guess. In the real world, the number of people immigrating to the U.S. illegally from outside the Americas is very small, and the history of people using fears of disease-ridden foreigners to discriminate against immigrants is long- and disgusting. For reasons that should be obvious, the vast majority of illegal immigrants to the U.S. come from the Americas and illegal emigrants from Africa are more likely to go to, say, Europe. So Ebola has jack shit to do with illegal immigration. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/37 "2014-10-04T21:40:25Z")
You seem to be forgetting that ISIS is going to bring Ebola through illegal immigration in order to abortion our gay marriages with Obamacare. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/38 "2014-10-04T22:33:34Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You know, I must have missed a memo or something, because I for one have absolutely no idea why everyone is practically wetting themselves in fear that Ebola will suddenly become airborne. As far as I know, no infectious disease known to man has ever just up and “become airborne”, and I don’t think evolution works that way. People also went nutty that HIV would go airborne, back in the day. And it still hasn’t. Anyway, I did read ([from a reasonably sane source](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/ebola-virus-has-mutated-during-course-of-outbreak/2014/08/28/98235aaa-2ecb-11e4-bb9b-997ae96fad33_story.html)) that the DNA within the Ebola virus has changed (“mutated”, if you want to be scary) 300 times since this oubreak began. I imagine people who read that in the newspaper go “o noes! It’s a short step to it growing legs and jumping into your laptop bag!” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/39 "2014-10-04T23:01:03Z")
Not sure if it is “liberals” per se but the danger is being dismissed because there is no danger to 99.999999999% of Americans \<— Science! Also there is a racist connotation to much of the coverage (strongly implied it is coming to America from brown people who either just don’t know any better or are maliciously spreading it). Ebola is a real problem in Africa because they lack infrastructure and a strong government. Come to think of it, maybe Texas should be a little worried because they also lack those things. That aside, unless you while away in the vomit, blood or feces of an Ebola victim, you don’t have to worry. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388/40 "2014-10-04T23:14:25Z")
I think that there are several things in play here. First, on a basic psychological level, liberals \*\*tend \*\*to be optimists (aspirational- “what can we gain”), where conservatives tend to be pessimists (conservative in-the-not-political sense- “what can we lose”). I recently heard this on the radio (NPR 🙂 ), so I don’t have a cite. I do believe that both impulses are valuable to society. Second, liberals tend to be more trusting of capability of government for achieving good things, where conservatives are not. This would apply to the health agencies. I also suspect that there is component of basic politics in play- the current administration is Democratic, and therefore “liberal”, and may ultimately bear the blame for any badness that comes out of this. I hope this component is small. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-liberal-pooh-poohing-of-the-ebola-danger/700388.md?page=3)