5 ms·
Never gonna happen. I could be a good sport for another month, since they’re asking nicely. Beyond that, the risk from creeping fascism quickly outpaces the ris
by guscost 7y ago
Never gonna happen. I could be a good sport for another month, since they’re asking nicely. Beyond that, the risk from creeping fascism quickly outpaces the risk from any disease that fits these observations, and I don’t care if you believe it or not. Probably half of the country won’t put up with a shutdown for even that long.
- lnreddy 7y agoI'm alarmed at the glee with which Americans are giving up their constitutional rights and calling for more restrictions. America is not Asia, or Europe. This is a frontier nation, and we must keep it that way. "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- guscost 7y agoSpot on. I’m happy that so many folks are using the First Amendment to demand liberty in (often) civil discussions online, but to quote the immortal Dave Chappelle, “The Second Amendment is just in case the First one doesn’t work out.”
- adrianN 7y agoWhich frontier would that be?
- lnreddy 7y agoForgive my slight exaggeration for dramatic effect. But the point still stands.
- howlin 7y agoThere are still frontier nations out there. Russia, Greenland, Outback Australia, the Canadian Territories. Perhaps Alaska. But the continental US is a developed land with dense cities. Your idea of what your liberties should be don't justify the drastic externalities you will inflict on your neighbors.
- guscost 7y ago> Your idea of what your liberties should be don't justify the drastic externalities you will inflict on your neighbors. With respect, that’s up to my neighbors, not the government.
- lnreddy 7y agoYou'd be surprised. There's vast land west of the Mississippi that is still rugged and relatively undeveloped. I speak more in terms of the frontier mindset, but I digress.
- DoreenMichele 7y agoThere's damn few places in the US with population density akin to Europe or Asia. The last big city I lived in, Fresno, is low density sprawl. The culture there is like half a million cowboys decided to move to the suburbs. They put on their cowboy crap to go to concerts at their major park. It's bizarre. We also generally have shit public transit. You cannot tell me that lock down is the only possible way to handle the pandemic in the incredibly low average population density of most of the US. Give me a break.
- yongjik 7y agoFresno, CA has population density of 1,761.69/km2. That's not too far from Daegu, South Korea (2,818/km2), where 6,807 were infected so far and 142 people died. They stopped it only through really aggressive testing and contact tracing. I'm so tired of this America-is-so-special argument. Freaking Mississippi has 2,260 patients now. Now what?
- DoreenMichele 7y agoMississippi is one of the poorest places in the US. It's got problems akin to a third world country. Now what? I'm sure you think that's a rhetorical question, but today is your unlucky day because I've spent the last 19 years getting healthier while the world says it cannot be done and generally acts like a butt to me. Now we actively create a world where public bathrooms aren't health hazards to use at all. I propose we get Walmart to write that handbook. Their bathrooms are generally pretty damn good and there are lots of establishments where I don't want to set foot in their restroom. Now we create a world where it's normal to call ahead or order online and pick-up instead of dining out or milling about waiting for our order because we all just showed up and then ordered. Now we create cultural norms where you don't blow your nose at the god-damned conference table or restaurant table, jebus. Now we create cultural norms like bowing instead of shaking hands. Now we create architectural standards like using copper for stair rails because it's antimicrobial. Making people a prisoner of their homes while our economy gets flushed down the toilet isn't our only option. That assumption is ignorant on the face of it. There's always more than one way to solve a problem.
- loftyal 7y agoDo you realise most of Europe has the same freedoms as America, including constitutional rights? America isn't the only place with freedom.
- DuskStar 7y agoMost of Europe has constitutional rights... Unless those rights are icky. For instance, freedom of speech - unless it disparages a religion, or denies the Holocaust, or...
- watwut 7y agoEurope still incarcerated significantly less people. And you won't get arrested for loitering which in practical terms is freedom of movement - current situation excepted.
- rubans 7y agoWhat rights do Americans have, which you don't think Europeans have exactly? You're implying America is more free than other parts of the world, but it just isn't.
- guscost 7y agoIt’s not so much that we enjoy more rights, it’s that the government is powerless to take away those rights which we prefer to keep. You can believe whatever you want, but that’s very true here, and not at all true in many other places.
- watwut 7y agoFunny thing it, the Benjamin Franklin quote in the context did not meant what you think it meant at all. It was said when a family was trying to one-time-payment their way out of taxation and was pro-goverment got to rule.
- seibelj 7y agoI still wish they would recommend old and immunocompromised to stay locked up and let the young and fit out. It’s the only way out of the situation.
- guscost 7y agoClosing schools before the summer break might end up actually leading to more deaths, because young folks would develop immunity (relatively) safely while among their peers. Although this probably applies more to colleges and boarding schools. And if anything the less healthy teachers could have been sent home.
- watwut 7y agoYoung folks in schools are in constant contact with old folks. Whatever is spreading in school does not stay contained there. The thing about schools is that thy are super effective at spreading everything.
- tim333 7y agoThe UK was going to that but the numbers of dead / ICU treated looked too high.
- ornornor 7y agoI don’t think we’d stay locked down for so long. Even with the world on lockdown, the virus still spreads. Eventually I’d think we’d reach the 60–70% infected figure which is said to be enough for herd immunity. At that point and even without a vaccine it’s probably be safe to lift most or all restrictions while we’re looking for a vaccine. As I understand it the lockdowns are to avoid an unmanageable peak in hospital use, not to avoid most people getting the virus. I wonder if China will strictly prohibit the hunting and eating of wild animals as a result from this outbreak and the considerable international pressure, or if it’ll keep going.
- guscost 7y agoYes, to be fair that seems to be the likely plan. It’s only crackpots like Bill Gates who are suggesting we go for the vaccine instead. Which, in his defense, might make sense to keep working on as a hedge.
- pasttense01 7y agoWell at 60%-70% infected you also reach the million dead figure.
- ornornor 7y agoOk, but gradually. If everyone gets it at the same time, people who would have normally made it would die because contention over the medical resources.
- kleton 7y ago马牛羊 鸡犬豕 此六畜 人所饲 Horse, ox, sheep, fowl, dog, pig These six animals are those which men keep
- loftyal 7y agoIsolation of the elderly and at-risk groups until either vaccine or herd immunity whilst increasing the stockpiles of PPE and ventilators seem like the only real strategy at the moment.
- rv-de 7y ago