You’re not even acknowledging the third possibility: if it doesn’t turn out “that bad” and the extreme measures don’t make much of a difference.
This is the possibility I would be super pissed about, not the other two. Unfortunately, in either “not that bad” outcome it’s going to be very hard to prove which one it is, which of course won’t stop a bunch of folks from parading around and bragging about how they saved the world.
I’ve seen this pattern more than once in my short time alive. But assuming what we all hope, that one of the “not that bad” scenarios plays out, the difference this time will be that many millions of lives will have been directly ruined because of those extreme measures.
This is the possibility I would be super pissed about, not the other two. Unfortunately, in either “not that bad” outcome it’s going to be very hard to prove which one it is, which of course won’t stop a bunch of folks from parading around and bragging about how they saved the world.
I’ve seen this pattern more than once in my short time alive. But assuming what we all hope, that one of the “not that bad” scenarios plays out, the difference this time will be that many millions of lives will have been directly ruined because of those extreme measures.