3 ms·

the collection of arguments being made by the protesters (as reported) mostly seem farcical and incoherent, but we should very much support their right to prote

the collection of arguments being made by the protesters (as reported) mostly seem farcical and incoherent, but we should very much support their right to protest and challenge the authoritarian-prone position that we must be locked down indefinitely to beat this pandemic. administrative directives need to convince a (super-)majority of the populace with evidence to gain trust and compliance. antagonistic pressure needs to remain so that the implied force behind those directives are removed as soon as possible (no sooner, no later).

lonelappde 7y ago
The US President, who governs by parroting the later bit of Fox News commentary, is instructing people to hoard and waste life-saving medication critically needed by lupus patients, based on fake research fake published by a fake researcher and cryptocurrency huckster. He did this after cancelling pandemic prepardness programs and blatantly lying about every basic fact about the pandemic for months. Tell me which administration is the one that needs to be held feet to the fire. The protests are fund by the Koch brothers, profiteers who inherited their wealth from their father who built oil refineries for Stalin and Hitler. A super-majority of the public support the lockdown and fear ending it too soon. Everyone living in population centers is seeing friends or family members die, and less dense areas are likely to follow.
Faark 7y ago
An interesting aspect: Protesting a law should be possible without disobeying it. But the usual mass gatherings are kind of a problem in this specific situation. Thus how to protest responsibly? Holding a "Its just a Flu" poster while wearing a face mask might not be that ridiculous after all.
- clairity 7y ago
  it's not clear that these protesters are being unlawful by disobeying rules implemented via emergency powers rather than legislation. while there's force of law behind emergency powers, it's not concrete who might be harmed by the protesters (other than themselves, and they're unlikely to sue each other given the nature of the protest). with that said, yes, it's prudent to wear a mask around random strangers in close proximity while shouting (spitting) a lot, to keep from infecting each other. note that the flu is deadly too (30-60K/yr in the US), we just don't shut down the economy for it.

lonelappde 7y ago

The US President, who governs by parroting the later bit of Fox News commentary, is instructing people to hoard and waste life-saving medication critically needed by lupus patients, based on fake research fake published by a fake researcher and cryptocurrency huckster. He did this after cancelling pandemic prepardness programs and blatantly lying about every basic fact about the pandemic for months. Tell me which administration is the one that needs to be held feet to the fire. The protests are fund by the Koch brothers, profiteers who inherited their wealth from their father who built oil refineries for Stalin and Hitler. A super-majority of the public support the lockdown and fear ending it too soon. Everyone living in population centers is seeing friends or family members die, and less dense areas are likely to follow.

Faark 7y ago

An interesting aspect: Protesting a law should be possible without disobeying it. But the usual mass gatherings are kind of a problem in this specific situation. Thus how to protest responsibly? Holding a "Its just a Flu" poster while wearing a face mask might not be that ridiculous after all.

clairity 7y ago
it's not clear that these protesters are being unlawful by disobeying rules implemented via emergency powers rather than legislation. while there's force of law behind emergency powers, it's not concrete who might be harmed by the protesters (other than themselves, and they're unlikely to sue each other given the nature of the protest). with that said, yes, it's prudent to wear a mask around random strangers in close proximity while shouting (spitting) a lot, to keep from infecting each other. note that the flu is deadly too (30-60K/yr in the US), we just don't shut down the economy for it.