Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "The EU's €500 Billion COVID Stimulus: France u0026 Germany's Plan to Save the EU - TLDR News" video.

That isn't really a fair comparison, Italy and Spain was always going to get hit much harder because they get a lot more tourist and that matters a lot if you look around the world at the regions that got hit hard, they are tourist hot spots and in the case of Italy, they were one of the first western countries to get hit hard by this so I think they deserve some leeway on that. But with all that said, a lot of western countries have done poor compared to Asian countries and some tough questions need to be asked why that is.
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@augustagleton3715 The problem for Italy is that they were the first western country to get hit hard, this was at a time when most western countries thought the virus wouldn't have much of an impact in western countries because of past viruses like SARS, it was a big miscalculation and western countries fell like domino with a few exceptions like Germany and some small countries that did better on this. On the surface, what Sweden is doing has already failed, the infection and death toll is a lot higher on a per million bases compared to Norway and Sweden, both of which are in the same region but did lock downs, it does beg the question how much worse the death toll could be in places like Italy if they followed what Sweden did but for Sweden, it's a bit too early to tell, maybe more of the population will get herd immunity but in any case, it seems like a reckless policy for the government to take that route because it could easierlly backfire and I wouldn't want to live in a country that was willing to do that.
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@buddy1155 The problem is, we don't know how long this virus has been lurking in the background, it might have been for months, especially because China wasn't exactly open about it in the first place. We should also remember that Paris and London are top destinations for tourist and it's easy to see how it can spread being as we have open boarders, but this isn't about blame but if we are going to put any real blame then it might as well be on more or less all the west because even Germany that did much better still should have done a lot better than it did when we look at Asian countries. In any case, tough questions will be asked on why the west didn't take this virus serious enough until it was too late and what we can do to prevent that from happening again.
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@buddy1155 Not quite, the problem is that Sweden is likely to be hit hard on the economy simply because the rest of the world is being hit hard, the damage will be less for Sweden but it will still be big and this is all assuming a second wave doesn't hit in Sweden because of not closing down on it. Too many assume that if enough get infected, that's it they are alright but that doesn't always work when the virus mutates and it really depends on how it mutates, in any case, I'm glad I don't live in Sweden with the kind of gamble they are doing on peoples lives, it might work but it could just as easierlly backfire, either way, why take the chance, it's reckless and looking at the numbers, Sweden is doing far worse than Norway and Finland are doing.
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@buddy1155 The countries are not the deciding factor, the people are, if we look at many western countries, what we saw is the public went into self-isolation before the government did a lock down, the public are the ones that will dictate that depending on how safe they feel out and about and the same could happen on a second wave. There is no way any country will follow what Sweden is doing if you look at the infection and death rates in Sweden on a per 1 million basis, they are way higher than Norway and Finland that did a lock down and now they are paying the price because the other countries don't want to open its boarders with them because they see Sweden as a high risk and honestly I can't blame them. Herd immunity might help in the long run but it might not do anything as the virus is mutating. Anyway, I hope we don't get a second wave but going on history, second and third waves seem quite likely and worse is that they tend to be a lot worse than the first wave, so it won't matter what governments do, if the public feels it's not safe, most won't go out and back to work, so lets just hope a second wave doesn't happen or if it does, it's not as bad as the past but I think part of that will depend on how successful the lock down was and how careful we are to open up, hence the reason Sweden might have to have it's boarders closed with other countries much longer than the rest, the US could be in the same boat because the lock down they did is poor and most countries won't want to open the boarders with them too early on with the high risk and lack of trust going on.
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It depends, I think this will get the go ahead but I also think it will be a one off because I suspect many of the northern European countries suspect that if there is easy money going to the southern European countries with no strings attached, there is little real incentive for them to change so the ones paying out have to be very clear that this is a one off grant and any more will have a lot of strings attached, reforms in other words. It does also suggest that more integration in the Euro Zone countries is very likely to happen once the dust settles on this virus and that was needed for some time now, so maybe some good can come out of something bad.
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@buddy1155 It's hard to say but the virus was likely around in late summer last year as it would have taken time before they detected it and even when they did detect it, they wasn't willing to tell the world and maybe that had something to do with Trump as he's just itching for any excuse to start a fight with China, China likely knew if they went public with it, the US would try to punish them, especially Trump, so as much as China is in the wrong and should have told the world about the virus early on, I can understand from a political view why they would want to keep it quiet with how things are heated with the US and China. In any case, we are not going to get much of normal this year, at least not in Europe, maybe next year if a second wave doesn't start but we'll have to wait and see.
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@buddy1155 Maybe but honestly with all the hostilities going on with the US and China, I can't really blame China for wanting to keep quiet on this virus because most of us know that the US with Trump would have taken advantage of it to try and punish China, in any case, mistakes are being made on both side and both countries don't look that good from the outside world. Maybe in the long run what they are doing in Sweden might pay off but I wouldn't want to be in a system that is willing to be so careless with peoples healths, a lot more people have died in Sweden than likely had to do going on what we are seeing in Norway and Finland, Sweden is also likely going to be hit hard on the economy because of the impact this is having on everyone else and we are already seeing early signs that countries don't want to open up it's borders with Sweden and I can understand that, a lot of countries likely see Sweden as a high risk and won't want to open up any time soon, that will do more economic harm to Sweden. In any case, it's going to be interesting to see how things turn out over the coming months and years because a lot of the actions taken could have a positive or negative impact, countries that open up sooner rather than later could be hit with a second wave around the end of the year, some might avoid that, what Sweden has likely done by going for the herd immunity option is allowed the virus to spread and mutate much easier, that will likely allows a second wave to happen and this could be the reason why the boarders with Sweden might not open up any time soon and we are seeing signs of that with the US and UK, a lot of countries don't trust the actions they've taken on the people and could keep the borders closed on them a lot longer than they do with others.
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@buddy1155 Riots in the US could happen and maybe that is needed on a much bigger scale to send a message to the governments to stop screwing the people over, but war with China and India, that is not likely to happen because of nukes and because both can't really afford it with the economic hardship ahead. As you say, the EU countries should stay out of it, if the US, China or even India wants to knock seven bells out of each other, the EU countries should stay out of it, let those others weaken each other if that's what they want. I'm not convinced we'll find a vaccine in time, they can take years at the best of time and by then it will be too late, the virus will have run it's course so the best we can do is more or less what we are doing, buy time and protect as many people as we can as we learn about the virus and other options that can minimize the damage of the virus. Herd immunity seems like the option many are going for but don't want to admit that, I say that because sooner or later we are going to have to go out and about and a vaccine won't be done in time but the key of the lock down was to buy time, not overload the health system and then open up the economy step by step which is more or less what most countries are doing. Where Sweden went wrong is that they didn't do the lock down at all or not much of one and looking at the infection and death rates per million in Sweden compared to Norway and Finland, it doesn't look good and likely part of the reason why the other countries don't want to open it's boarders with Sweden because they see them as a high risk. Basically, Sweden tried to be smart in protecting the economy before the well-being of the people but now they are likely going to get hit harder on the economy because other countries won't open up to them as easy because they are seen as high risk and as we are seeing, many countries are starting to open up with each other in Europe but Sweden is being left out. Mutation and a second wave is the real worry now and because of the size of the population and how interconnected the world is now, I suspect it's very likely to happen where a second or more wave will happen, if history is any indicator, they tend to be a lot worse than the first wave. I think a lot of countries are going to be judged with what actions they did early on with this virus, what they did during the pandemic and what policies they put into place in opening up, if it's too soon or later, with all that, we'll get an idea on which countries got it right but early signs don't look good for the US, UK and Sweden among a few other countries but lets just hope a second wave doesn't kick in near the end of the year or early next year because that's the likely time it could start all over and maybe be a lot worse being as it's winter.
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@buddy1155 I doubt it but you never know, desperate times and all that, but I do know one thing, I wouldn't want to try any of them out early on because I suspect many will be rushed to get to market with less safety concerns, especially as the economy keeps biting. I suspect we won't find a cure as such but many ways to manage the virus so our own bodies deal with it better which might be the better solution. As for war between China and India, it's unlikely, both have too much to lose being they are both nuclear powers, no nuclear is likely to go up against another with the damage they both can do to each other, hence why all the wars after world war two have been with countries without nukes. But if a war did brake out, it would likely drag a lot of the world into it and think of what that could mean, the death toll would make world war two look tame in comparison, so the real question is, are we stupid enough to go down that route considering the damage it can do, I wouldn't rule it out with the shape the world is but I still doubt it because there is no real winners in that kind of war. A Cold War might happen but highly unlikely a hot war will happen, the US alone is trying to start a Cold War with China because the US fear China rising as a power.
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@tedybear9186 We'll have to see but the EU seems to do it's best when in crisis and you can't get much bigger than what is going on, it will likely in the longer run once the bickering calms down, Europeans are likely going to integrate more after this because flaws in the system have been shown thanks to this virus and the biggest of those flaws is the national response to this crisis where the EU had limited powers in how it could help which doesn't bold well for the euroseptics in Europe.
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@tedybear9186 We very likely will, a lot of the issue with the EU and it's members isn't so much about doing that but how to do it the best way that works for the countries and it's people, this virus is very likely going to speed that process up. Change will be needed at the EU and members levels, I suspect richer countries are willing to help poorer ones out but there are limits to that because it feels like it's a bottomless pit where the likes of Italy and Greece wants money with no strings attached and then 10 or so years later, they want more because they didn't do the reforms needed to get back on their feet, that's not going to work if they keep demanding bail-outs because sooner or later, the richer members will give them the boot if they don't get their act together, solidarity only goes so far, the ones getting the help need to want to help themselves otherwise it would just be a transfer union. As for the problems in the union, there will always be problems but what solves them is political and economic realities of the world, in other words, we need the EU to protect our interest both politically and economically as well as social standards, without it, the likes of the US will water down our social system as they are trying to do to a Brexit Britain and that is what is keeping the EU and it's members together, the US and other powers rising because the alternative doesn't look good for European countries.
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