Jaicee said:
First of all, let me just say that I find it altogether appropriate that it's you, one of this forum's most ban-happy contributors, who has emerged as the thread's principal champion of indefinite Covid restrictions. There's a fitting consistency of logic to the fact that one of the most controlling people on this entire message board is also the most passionate and popular enthusiast for restricting other people's lives in other ways as well. I guess it just takes a more authoritarian mindset than I possess.
...You know, one could conclude that your response here didn't exactly epitomize calm, sobriety, or rationality itself. I mean why do I feel like you might slit the throat of the next maskless person you see in the name of saving lives? Look, when the science around masking was unclear, I was okay with lockdowns. Not happy, but okay, because I didn't know what else could be done to mitigate the virus' spread. As the science around masking became clear, I favored that as an alternative. Once vaccines became available, I favored those as an alternative to compulsory masking. That has been the evolution of my thought pattern on Covid measures over time. You make it sound as though I'm a mask-burning anti-vaxxer who believes in Dr. Joe Rogan science and doesn't care how many people die. You can treat me like I'm an intelligent human being with a soul for a change. Thanks. There has been a very real and serious human cost stemming not only from this goddamn virus, but also from the mitigation measures imposed to control it. I think getting a visual of that cost might help put matters more in perspective for you. Nevada lifted their indoor masking requirements the other day. Here's a glimpse of what the response looked like inside one school room in Las Vegas: 97% of American teachers report that their students have experienced learning loss. From May 2020 to April 2021, the U.S. recorded over 100,000 drug overdose deaths, a 28.5% increase from the 78,000 deaths that were recorded in the previous 12-month period, according to CDC data, which I believe is also an all-time record. Domestic violence jumped 8.1% during the lockdown period in 2020, which saw many women in particular effectively trapped at home with abusive partners. Also, we shut the economy down, displacing at least 15% of our workforce and exacerbating supply chain disruptions in the process, in turn partly yielding the current 40-year high price inflation rate! (Another part of that is corporate price gouging, but that is another issue for another time.) The most worrisome human cost though has been the emergence of a major mental health crisis resulting from both the pandemic itself but considerably exacerbated by related restrictions on life. (Also, I can't recommend that last article enough. The New York Times really is the best...when they want to be.) That, the mental health crisis, is the big one in my opinion, as its victims are far more numerous than those of the coronavirus itself and include me. People cannot live on high alert for years and remain unscathed. I think it would just be nice to see topics other than Covid in the news more often, frankly. That would help people's mental well-being. And no, it's not "just" a mask. It's a symbol, and a constant reminder, of a traumatizing era that I very much need to be in the past, speaking of which.
It would be entirely to easy to respond to this. I would just challenge you to find a place where broad-based bail reduction policies or policies eliminating bail have met with something other than a spike in crime rates, including violent crime, because it seems like I really could just name any major city in this country to make my case on that, as well as vis-a-vis so many newly-elected progressive district attorneys' penchant for systematically refusing to enforce many, many laws and more. |
The lockdowns did save millions of lives
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52968523
Lockdowns have saved more than three million lives from coronavirus in Europe, a study estimates.
They would have saved more if all people had actually bothered to do their part. Younger generations ignoring lockdowns is what cost many more lives. The science is simple, break the chain of infection, infection dies down. It can be reduced to near zero in 2 weeks. Yet many people felt like their little part didn't matter, and since you likely won't die from it if you're young and healthy...
But one thing you're right in, it's not about public health. It's about keeping society going. Governments aren't balancing to keep deaths to a minimum, they're balancing to keep the healthcare system from imploding. We're at 75K deaths a week and we're opening up cause it's pointless to get the numbers down in the current climate.
Why do you blame the increase in suicide rates, learning loss and other problems solely on lock downs and social distancing measures? As I said before, a two week break would bring cases down to zero. It's much more the people not complying with lock downs and social distancing rules that are responsible for the increase in suicide rates, abuse and learning loss, by unnecessarily drawing out lock downs, having to do those repeatedly, and giving the virus many many more chances to mutate into more contagious variants.
This is how the pandemic evolved from the start (top line daily avg cases, bottom lines daily avg deaths)
Does that look like it's over?
What's really sad is that only authoritarian countries managed to keep the pandemic under control. Why can't we do it. It's not the measures, it's the people.
