Our institutional structures (perhaps unwittingly) seem to condone reactive
short-term measures instead of pro-active long-term solutions. Short-term measures
correlate with the loudest buzz in popular media. I suspect this observation may
be consistent across all aspects of society - healthcare, security, privacy, politics,
economics and so on. In decreasing order of preference:
Responding to a collapse: Waaow!
e.g. COVID-19 response in New York by Gov. Andrew Cuomo received with much fanfare despite delayed measures
Preventing a collapse: Good!
e.g. COVID-19 response in California by Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken a backseat in pop media despite among the earliest measures in the US (which shows up in the graphs)
Preparedness for collapse: Who cares!
e.g. Pandemic alarms by Bill Gates. I am fairly certain there were little pockets of academics and experts worried as well.