The political economy of mass hysteria & panic
I was always afraid of mobs. There is no arguing with them, there is no understanding or common sense. They create facts that cannot be changed after they had happened. When I was a peacekeeper in Syria we had specific driving instructions when driving through one of the small towns with lots of refugees in them. If we were to cause an accident where a human case to harm, we were instructed to not stop and get the hell out. One driver did not observe it once. We found him hung on a lamppost. For an accident that did not even cause death itself. I would rather argue with a hungry pit bull than with a mob.