A reactionary post, I guess.

[DonFerrari]

JWeinCom said:

IcaroRibeiro said:

Omicron in USA is being fairly letal, about as strong as Delta bases on the sheer number of the infection, as the virus itself is much less letal 

Here in Brazil we are having about 3 times more daily cases than Delta, but death rate is about less than 30% of what used to be with Delta

I honestly don't understand why are people freaking out with restrictions. Wearing masks is ok, many people I know are considering using it for good, I personally really like wearing it, specially when I'm having allergic crisis 

Showing documentation to prove we got shots is also OK, what's the matter? Right now most of people here are vaccinated, about 80% I think, the ones who aren't are mainly kids, so almost everything is working as usual. Business are open, restaurants, gymns, cinemas, etc. Even closed events are allowed 

It's also very nice every place is offering alcohol gel so we can clean our hands and arms, and I also feel stores, cinemas and restaurants are far more cleaner now than they used to be 

I don't know if Brazilians are adaptable, but I don't know, I feel like things are different now, we no longer love in terror, people are slowly accepting how to live with the virus and I think that's a very good thing. The next variant will probably be even less letal, so I hope by then Covid will be treated like just another kind of flu 

I have asked several people what they want to do that they can't do, and have yet to receive any kind of intelligible response. Over the fast few months I've been to school, restaurants, gyms, movies, bars, concerts, trains, etc. The last couple of years have been tough, and people are just frustrated in general, and essentially throwing tantrums.

DonFerrari said:

The problem is letting the government take over your freedom. I use the mask and took the vaccine and think whoever doesn't use the mask is inconsiderate and who don't take the vaccine is dumb, but still I don't want the government using its power to obligate or anyone else of this type of thing.

The government's job is sometimes to govern your behavior. 

We have had clothes mandates for literally centuries. I can't walk around with my dick out and that's (probably) less likely to infect anyone with a virus. When I went to school I had to get vaccinated. I had to prove my vaccination status to work as a lifeguard (for a children's camp), a teacher, and for college. The US government at least can legally force you to go to war and kill people. It is bizarre that people act like this is somehow a bridge too far.

The purpose of government is to organize responses to problems that can not be solved individually. We cannot effectively respond to a security threat if everyone gets to decide what they'll do about it and how. Like, I am morally opposed to the draft and that's obviously one of the biggest violations of freedom imaginable, but if there was a real threat to the United States could we fight it off if everyone got to decide whether or not they would fight, and what specific actions they would take if they fought? 

Currently, Covid has proved deadlier than any war in American history. We can't fight it effectively if every single person gets to choose how they want to respond. It's impossible. This is precisely the type of situation that government is made for.

If the government can never tell an individual what to do... what's the point?

If you like the government extending its power and diminishing yours, well I don't.

Comparing people walking naked (which isn't a natural behaviour for humans for like dozen milleniums) to something new that is being forced uppon (and certainly masks can be more troubling to use than cloth, several people have hardness to breath with masks. Myself I can even do gym and cardio with mask). Also not every country or school demands that you present your vaccination status (in Brazil from what I know it is just some public schools). Obligating people to go to war certainly isn't something good but the premisse is to defend your own country from being destroyed and your deared ones killed, and sure government abuse on that, but does that make it somewhat better to abuse in other fields as well?

You can take your vaccine and use the mask, and that protects yourself, other people have the right to well expose themselves to higher risk and die out of their dumbness. In USA you can even refuse medical threatment based on your faith believes.

It isn't about the government never telling what individuals can do. But do you want to go from the extreme of lack of any government to a dictatorship that tell everything the people can do? Because your last phrase make it seem like if you don't accept government demanding mask and vaccination status they can't ask anything not even "don't go out in the street shooting others".