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Random commentators and protestors don’t. Certain politicians do, and those politicians have done an outstanding job of convincing those random commentators and

Random commentators and protestors don’t. Certain politicians do, and those politicians have done an outstanding job of convincing those random commentators and protestors that this situation is political one, bringing all of the fervor and zealotry that politics brings. This situation went from being “we are staying inside to defeat the virus” to now “we refuse to stay inside (reopen) because that lets those evil democrats (Republicans) win, and I won’t ever allow that”.

BEEdwards 6y ago
I love how you politically both sides this, when the science is clearly on the stay at home side. Those damn democrats playing politics and listening to the doctors on health issues...
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  I'm not sure what you're referring to as "the science". People who disagree with stay at home orders largely acknowledge that staying at home makes it harder for infectious diseases to spread. If you're saying doctors and scientists have cooked up a master plan that will eliminate the coronavirus if we just stay home a bit longer and catastrophically fail if restrictions are loosened at all, I don't think that's true.
- clairity 6y ago
  the democrats and democratic media (npr, nytimes, etc., which tend to be my news sources) are absolutely playing up the fear and panic for their political ends (elections, legislation, fundraising, and everything else). if you don't see the politics of it, you're just not using your critical thinking skills. the science is not on the stay-at-home side. the science is on the don't-spit-in-other-people's-mouths side. how you effect that has been absolutely politicized.
- txcwpalpha 6y ago
  I fully agree with you, but I intentionally made it two-sided because AFAIK HN guidelines don't like it when a comment thread becomes clearly politically one-sided.
BFatts 6y ago
To be clear, no one is asking to stay inside - everyone wants the economy reopened again. But, there's the sensible way and there's the stupid way. The latter method involves just going to back to the way things were and pretend the virus doesn't exist. That is untenable, and the smarter folk who think that a phased opening is a better approach are the ones being shouted down.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  One of us is getting media bubbled here. I've seen a lot of people argue that they do not want the economy reopened and everyone should stay inside because it's not safe yet. Attempts to engage in a phased opening have produced headlines like "Georgia's Experiment in Human Sacrifice"[1], and major figures are still talking on Twitter about how "No life is worth losing to add one more point to the Dow."[2] [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-georgia-reopening-coronavirus-pandemic/610882/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-georg... [2] https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1258184774486642688 https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1258184774486642688
- pwinnski 6y ago
  I want to stay inside. Most people I know want to stay inside. The economy can limp along for the rest of this year just fine. The sensible way of re-opening involves not doing so now. Texas is still gaining new cases and deaths at a high rate. Our curve is not flattening. And yet with one eye on the unemployment coffers, Governor Abbott is overriding the same local decision-makers he deferred to just weeks ago, and forcing business to re-open. Hair salons open tomorrow, while four of the six days of May so far have set new records for new COVID-19 cases. Everyone I know who works retail jobs would rather be home. Some of them are being forced back, some have never been able to stop working. None of them are happy about it.
A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago
I agree. The beginning of this crisis really did hold promise of 'we are in this together'. And yet it quickly morphed into 'the other guys are out to get us'. I watching all this with genuine worry that things can easily spiral out of control.

BEEdwards 6y ago

I love how you politically both sides this, when the science is clearly on the stay at home side. Those damn democrats playing politics and listening to the doctors on health issues...

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
I'm not sure what you're referring to as "the science". People who disagree with stay at home orders largely acknowledge that staying at home makes it harder for infectious diseases to spread. If you're saying doctors and scientists have cooked up a master plan that will eliminate the coronavirus if we just stay home a bit longer and catastrophically fail if restrictions are loosened at all, I don't think that's true.
clairity 6y ago
the democrats and democratic media (npr, nytimes, etc., which tend to be my news sources) are absolutely playing up the fear and panic for their political ends (elections, legislation, fundraising, and everything else). if you don't see the politics of it, you're just not using your critical thinking skills. the science is not on the stay-at-home side. the science is on the don't-spit-in-other-people's-mouths side. how you effect that has been absolutely politicized.
txcwpalpha 6y ago
I fully agree with you, but I intentionally made it two-sided because AFAIK HN guidelines don't like it when a comment thread becomes clearly politically one-sided.

BFatts 6y ago

To be clear, no one is asking to stay inside - everyone wants the economy reopened again. But, there's the sensible way and there's the stupid way. The latter method involves just going to back to the way things were and pretend the virus doesn't exist. That is untenable, and the smarter folk who think that a phased opening is a better approach are the ones being shouted down.

SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
One of us is getting media bubbled here. I've seen a lot of people argue that they do not want the economy reopened and everyone should stay inside because it's not safe yet. Attempts to engage in a phased opening have produced headlines like "Georgia's Experiment in Human Sacrifice"[1], and major figures are still talking on Twitter about how "No life is worth losing to add one more point to the Dow."[2] [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-georgia-reopening-coronavirus-pandemic/610882/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/why-georg... [2] https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1258184774486642688 https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1258184774486642688
pwinnski 6y ago
I want to stay inside. Most people I know want to stay inside. The economy can limp along for the rest of this year just fine. The sensible way of re-opening involves not doing so now. Texas is still gaining new cases and deaths at a high rate. Our curve is not flattening. And yet with one eye on the unemployment coffers, Governor Abbott is overriding the same local decision-makers he deferred to just weeks ago, and forcing business to re-open. Hair salons open tomorrow, while four of the six days of May so far have set new records for new COVID-19 cases. Everyone I know who works retail jobs would rather be home. Some of them are being forced back, some have never been able to stop working. None of them are happy about it.

A4ET8a8uTh0 6y ago

I agree. The beginning of this crisis really did hold promise of 'we are in this together'. And yet it quickly morphed into 'the other guys are out to get us'. I watching all this with genuine worry that things can easily spiral out of control.