Anyway, Moreta's Ride bothers me because the disease in the story only keeps spreading because selfish people keep thinking that the rules of the quarantine do not apply to them. Whether for profit, out of boredom, or just because they feel they are better than others, these characters keep spreading the disease to the point that no one is safe. Meanwhile, there aren't enough healthy dragonriders to keep Pern protected during the horrifying Threadfall (an alien parasite that attacks Pern at regular intervals but can be burned out of the sky by dragons). This leads to further devastation all due to the stupidity of a few. I was bothered by how unbelievable the story seemed to be as I could not believe that anyone could be that selfish, greedy, or just stupid.
I'm sure there's a reason this story came to mind while I was reading news stories today.