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Great post; can't rep you again. It HAS been most disturbing to see this descent into violence. I guess it was always simmering under the surface, who knew. Always cynical, I am still stunned and dismayed at the level of violence and unrest over masks and a few inconveniences to help mitigate the spread.
wait, what? There are protests and even some riots going on in the U.S. right now, but they ain’t because of the mask mandates.
wait, what? There are protests and even some riots going on in the U.S. right now, but they ain’t because of the mask mandates.
What I was referring to and he responded to was not just direct violence, but passive violence and callous disregard.
I've been shocked at how many people are willing to just accept untold thousands of casualties because they are tired of inconvenience.
They know full well that unchecked spread of the virus WILL kill a percentage of the population. A random 1% of those who catch the disease, weighed more heavily towards the elderly.
Yet many Americans seem not to care. To them the economy, or rather, their conception of what the economy should be, is more important.
I used to be a soldier who took an oath to defend the U.S. and I knew that came with risks. But even in the Army we did not just accept casualties. We changed our procedures if they caused people to die unnecessarily, An officer who wasted his troops lives or got civilians carelessly killed through disregard would get court-martialed for negligence.
I am not a soldier anymore, and I'll be damned if my paycheck job is worth laying my life down for. I didn't take any oath to that effect. I imagine many teachers feel similarly.
Ironically enough, serving in a warzone was safer. The chance of death from serving in Vietnam was .018%. In the Iraq War, .0016%
From Covid it's about .2% for my age. I'm about to cross into the 40s which is .4%, higher for people in their 50s and 60s. A bunch of kids and teenagers indoors is the easiest place to spread it.
[cut]
As a human race we lived without public school for thousands of years. We can survive taking off for 1 year.
Last edited by Rachel NewYork; 08-24-2020 at 02:07 AM..
In order to avoid a second COVID-19 lockdown, it seems we should try a behavioral lockdown, such as:
1) Absolutely strict mask wearing, and willingness to enforce it
2) Social eating with people outside your household is now *disgusting*. Eating should be done privately, like urinating and defecating. Or at the very least not near other people, like passing gas. If you want to socialize, do it over something that can be done while wearing a mask.
3) If you smell someone’s BO, that is not their fault for not showering, that is your fault for being too close without a high quality mask.
4) Exceptions granted when absolutely necessary, much as smelling other people’s releases is accepted when going to a restroom at a highway rest stop .
Etc.
This is radical admittedly, but compared to totally confining us in our homes it seems at least slightly more freeing and marginally more livable but yet could keep the virus under control.
So why not try this to avoid locking down again in winter?
1) Absolutely strict mask wearing, and willingness to enforce it...
On busy city streets among busy pedestrians all busily going in & out of buildings? Of course.
My observation is that this sort of practical qualifying statement gets lost in the 'absolutely' talk.
The result is people using masks while driving alone in closed cars and while alone outside walking their dog (and so forth).
I'm left to conclude that these people must already have an active infection ... and want to thank them for protecting us.
But mostly I just s****** because mask use in these very common and benign circumstances is medically pointless.
HAVING a mask available at all times we're out and among others? Sure. No exceptions.
Putting it on when entering buildings and/or congested areas? Of course.
My mask, now on the 4th I've needed to use since April, hangs off the rear view mirror.
On busy city streets among busy pedestrians all busily going in & out of buildings? Of course.
My observation is that this sort of practical qualifying statement gets lost in the 'absolutely' talk.
The result is people using masks while driving alone in closed cars and while alone outside walking their dog (and so forth).
I'm left to conclude that these people must already have an active infection ... and want to thank them for protecting us.
But mostly I just s****** because mask use in these very common and benign circumstances is medically pointless.
HAVING a mask available at all times we're out and among others? Sure. No exceptions.
Putting it on when entering buildings and/or congested areas? Of course.
My mask, now on the 4th I've needed to use since April, hangs off the rear view mirror.
Let me clarify. By "absolutely", I mean simply that there shouldn't be an exception just because you are unwilling to get away from others to eat, and also that nose-exposure needs to be addressed as unacceptable. But of course if you are outdoors and there's almost no one around, then it doesn't matter.
And that's why being absolutist or simplistic rarely works well with anything -
especially so for instructing people/idiots who aren't already on board with the base idea.
So... when we don't actually mean absolute some other term/phrase needs to be used.
In order to avoid a second COVID-19 lockdown, it seems we should try a behavioral lockdown, such as:
1) Absolutely strict mask wearing, and willingness to enforce it
2) Social eating with people outside your household is now *disgusting*. Eating should be done privately, like urinating and defecating. Or at the very least not near other people, like passing gas. If you want to socialize, do it over something that can be done while wearing a mask.
3) If you smell someone’s BO, that is not their fault for not showering, that is your fault for being too close without a high quality mask.
4) Exceptions granted when absolutely necessary, much as smelling other people’s releases is accepted when going to a restroom at a highway rest stop .
Etc.
This is radical admittedly, but compared to totally confining us in our homes it seems at least slightly more freeing and marginally more livable but yet could keep the virus under control.
So why not try this to avoid locking down again in winter?
So if someone is taking a long flight that requires 2-3 hours are airport before the flight and possible layovers that can also last 2-4 hours, are they expected to go without eating for the entire day?
In order to avoid a second COVID-19 lockdown, it seems we should try a behavioral lockdown, such as:
1) Absolutely strict mask wearing, and willingness to enforce it
2) Social eating with people outside your household is now *disgusting*. Eating should be done privately, like urinating and defecating. Or at the very least not near other people, like passing gas. If you want to socialize, do it over something that can be done while wearing a mask.
3) If you smell someone’s BO, that is not their fault for not showering, that is your fault for being too close without a high quality mask.
4) Exceptions granted when absolutely necessary, much as smelling other people’s releases is accepted when going to a restroom at a highway rest stop .
Etc.
This is radical admittedly, but compared to totally confining us in our homes it seems at least slightly more freeing and marginally more livable but yet could keep the virus under control.
So why not try this to avoid locking down again in winter?
I just left a medical building where we discussed this at length.
And the conclusion was, Covid is waaaaaay overblown; time to ditch the masks and go herd immunity.
We have the US Navy, who specialize in building hospitals at a moments notice.
These masks clog mine, and everyone else's pores; causing breakouts.
And I guarantee, any more "stay at home" orders will be ignored by most; and are unenforceable.
Time to go the Swedish route.
Most of us can presumably agree, that another shutdown would be devastating. Thus we're willing to accept anything that's less devastating... remote-work, remote-school, closed gyms, masks everywhere, restaurants closed, social distancing and so forth. These are all preferable over the greater evil, the latter being another shutdown.
But does it not follow, that colloquially speaking, our genitals are in a vise? Should we just... accept that? Are our only options, those of post #263, and another shutdown? Isn't there another way?
When people talk about Sweden, the leave out that Sweden did ban all gatherings of 50+ and engaged in a massive informational campaign about how covid is spread, and how to flatten the curve through social distancing, etc... And they complied.
Sweden's population has taken social distancing quite seriously. To the extent that they practically had a slef-imposed lockdown for a couple months.
Swedish bloggers have posted pictures of their deserted streets in April. Pictures of Swedish schools show the kids respecting distance, nothing like the crowded halls of American schools.
That's how they've avoided a disastrous breakout without official lockdowns. Their population does not engage in same foolishness ours does, with our frat parties and motorcycle rallies that we consider it our God-given right to engage in, no matter the cost.
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Etiquette lockdown?
