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There’s this quote:
Amateurs talk tactics.
Professionals study logistics.
And here we are in the middle of the biggest demonstration of what happens when the fucknuts in charge stopped learning tactics at Tic-Tac-Toe, and think logistics is nothing but truck drivers.
Amateurs talk tactics.
Professionals study logistics.
And here we are in the middle of the biggest demonstration of what happens when the fucknuts in charge stopped learning tactics at Tic-Tac-Toe, and think logistics is nothing but truck drivers.
You know how we’ve spent like 3 decades talking about “trimming the fat” and “making the company run lean” and praising efficiency?
A lean, optimized system runs GREAT! At low cost!
... until something breaks.
And something will break, because lean is like a Formula One car.
A lean, optimized system runs GREAT! At low cost!
... until something breaks.
And something will break, because lean is like a Formula One car.
It’s so perfectly tuned for precise running conditions that sometimes they die at the starting line because the oxygen mix is too low when surrounded by other cars. Or they overheat because they can’t sit in a traffic jam and race day was just a little warmer than build spec.
Oops.
Part of what drove the last 30 years of productivity was using our systems redundancy without having to spend much capital. Redundancy in gov & biz was a gift from the past.
And we’ve used almost all of it up.
Almost everything runs lean, because that’s been profitable.
Part of what drove the last 30 years of productivity was using our systems redundancy without having to spend much capital. Redundancy in gov & biz was a gift from the past.
And we’ve used almost all of it up.
Almost everything runs lean, because that’s been profitable.
But redundancy was our safety. We built bridges in the 1960s for 10X the expected traffic; that bridge now carries 12X of that expectation.
Everything we built with excess capacity has been more than filled, but we also got used to not paying for anything because we had the gift.
Everything we built with excess capacity has been more than filled, but we also got used to not paying for anything because we had the gift.
Everyone likes to profit take; nobody likes paying for maintenance or future.
Basic flaw in human behavior — we’re short term thinkers. We can think long term, but it’s costly & feels like we’re being punished (even if our punishment is saving cash instead of eating eclairs.)
Basic flaw in human behavior — we’re short term thinkers. We can think long term, but it’s costly & feels like we’re being punished (even if our punishment is saving cash instead of eating eclairs.)
And logistics is a VERY easy place to cut costs.
It’s not very customer focused, especially if you can outsource your shipping to say, ‘zon. Getting your materials to you and your product back out is a cost that doesn’t have many places to be profitable.
Transport & storage cost.
It’s not very customer focused, especially if you can outsource your shipping to say, ‘zon. Getting your materials to you and your product back out is a cost that doesn’t have many places to be profitable.
Transport & storage cost.
Last mile logistics are especially important, and invisible. WidgetWorld uses FedEx SmartPost, FedEx hands off a SmartPost package to the USPS, and FedEx stops caring. Everyone can point at a tracking number and yell “Not My Problem!!” when a package is lost or broken.
Which is what we’re seeing with the decimation of public health departments & vaccine distribution.
The Public Health Service vaccinated millions of people every year when smallpox & diphtheria were the major vaccination protocols. Was it perfect? No, but it was effective.
The Public Health Service vaccinated millions of people every year when smallpox & diphtheria were the major vaccination protocols. Was it perfect? No, but it was effective.
We pulled back on mass public health actions for many reasons — but mostly, money.
It was cheaper to just assume everyone had a family doctor who would handle vaccinations. It was cheaper to pretend the only people who needed vaccination were children.
That insurers would do it.
It was cheaper to just assume everyone had a family doctor who would handle vaccinations. It was cheaper to pretend the only people who needed vaccination were children.
That insurers would do it.
Oops.
The logistics on this are enormous... and barely managed.
The best people for this would be the Defense Logistics Agency... but that assumes a DoD not being destroyed from within by a bunch of glorified interns eager to prove their love to Dear Leader.
The logistics on this are enormous... and barely managed.
The best people for this would be the Defense Logistics Agency... but that assumes a DoD not being destroyed from within by a bunch of glorified interns eager to prove their love to Dear Leader.
The allocation is going badly.
The distro is going badly because there’s no leadership.
Getting it to the states is 1/10 the battle.
Letting state governors prioritize allocations means we’re putting people who dependent for their jobs on donors in charge of distribution.
The distro is going badly because there’s no leadership.
Getting it to the states is 1/10 the battle.
Letting state governors prioritize allocations means we’re putting people who dependent for their jobs on donors in charge of distribution.
Even when the governors are hands off and relying on their public health technocrats for state level allocation, which hospital gets priority?
FR’ex:
Is the state supposed to include the VA hospital? The state & county are responsible for health inspections, but...?
FR’ex:
Is the state supposed to include the VA hospital? The state & county are responsible for health inspections, but...?
We had 10 months to figure this out.
Not just at the federal level, but at the state level. And the county level. And how to get doses down to the retail, CVS level.
We didn’t.
Oops.
Not just at the federal level, but at the state level. And the county level. And how to get doses down to the retail, CVS level.
We didn’t.
Oops.
And it IS a logistics problem & will remain one.
We will see smaller, more compact countries with more dense populations lap us because our conditions as a widely dispersed population spread into micro-organizations across a continent is going to hurt us.
But it didn’t have to.
We will see smaller, more compact countries with more dense populations lap us because our conditions as a widely dispersed population spread into micro-organizations across a continent is going to hurt us.
But it didn’t have to.
Seriously: practice long-term thinking (Cathedral Thinking — lasting, sustainable decisions). Demand it of your elected leaders. If they can’t say “this is the plan” then your plan for them needs to be send them looking for a new job.
Try this:
https://longnow.org/seminars/02020/oct/28/becoming-better-ancestor/
Try this:
https://longnow.org/seminars/02020/oct/28/becoming-better-ancestor/
That’s the only way we fix this in the long-term.
In the short term, it’s
Wash your hands
Avoid being indoors with people not in your household
Avoid unnecessary travel
Drive cautiously
Mask up
Wear eye protection
Stay Home
Shun those who refuse to be prosocial.
In the short term, it’s
Wash your hands
Avoid being indoors with people not in your household
Avoid unnecessary travel
Drive cautiously
Mask up
Wear eye protection
Stay Home
Shun those who refuse to be prosocial.
And ventilate.
If mostly century-old public health measures are somehow impossible... it’s really time to think deeply about why this is impossible for you. If you’re not a first responder or essential worker, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 are mild inconveniences.)
(Thank you, Peggy)
If mostly century-old public health measures are somehow impossible... it’s really time to think deeply about why this is impossible for you. If you’re not a first responder or essential worker, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 are mild inconveniences.)
(Thank you, Peggy)
And maybe a PPS:
When you think of logistics, think about Napoleon trying to invade Moscow. In the winter. On the resources of France.
It didn’t go well.
Then Hitler tried it.
Also did not go well.
Then also think of the convoys crossing the North Atlantic.
That’s logistics.
When you think of logistics, think about Napoleon trying to invade Moscow. In the winter. On the resources of France.
It didn’t go well.
Then Hitler tried it.
Also did not go well.
Then also think of the convoys crossing the North Atlantic.
That’s logistics.
Logistics is the intersection of resources, manufacturing, transport, technology, communications and planning.
Take out any one of them? You’re probably Napoleon learning that typhus is real crap you don’t want in your army.
All the tactics & strategy in his head were useless.
Take out any one of them? You’re probably Napoleon learning that typhus is real crap you don’t want in your army.
All the tactics & strategy in his head were useless.
Adding a commercial: I write fiction!
Most of the stuff I have stuffed in my head was, at some point, research.
Rien’s a lawyer who brought a civil war against authoritarians.
Kingdom is always free at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/891406
Most of the stuff I have stuffed in my head was, at some point, research.
Rien’s a lawyer who brought a civil war against authoritarians.
Kingdom is always free at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/891406
If you prefer the ‘zon, they will charge you $1. I’m sorry, I don’t set that rule.
Kingdom: http://amazon.com/dp/B07GTSXB4P
Kingdom: http://amazon.com/dp/B07GTSXB4P
Or I accept coffee: https://ko-fi.com/czedwards
And these commercials exist not because I want to profit off other people’s misery, but because look: I wrote war logistics.
One of fiction’s purposes is to edit out the extraneous bits so we can see how something complicated works, and how it will affect our all too real lives.
One of fiction’s purposes is to edit out the extraneous bits so we can see how something complicated works, and how it will affect our all too real lives.
