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> I am not okay with unqualified politicians making inaccurate claims about the virus, and prioritizing economic health in the absence of good governance. This
by calpaterson 6y ago
> I am not okay with unqualified politicians making inaccurate claims about the virus, and prioritizing economic health in the absence of good governance.
This sounds a bit like you are raising the qualification barrier to participate in the debate, but only if that person disagrees with you.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- BobbyJo 6y agoI think 'inaccurate' was the key word. I think that's a reasonable barrier.
- young_unixer 6y agoPoliticians, journalists and the general population make inaccurate claims all the time in both pro-lockdown and anti-lockdown stances.
- adamsea 6y agoLuckily as educated adults we are blessed with being able to exercise our judgement to assess what is right, wrong, an honest mistake, a deliberate distortion, a kinda-bad inaccurate claim, or a dangerously-bad inaccurate claim.
- aegis4244 6y agoThe evidence shows that most adults are not all that sharp.
- headmelted 6y agoThis. If we’ve learned anything at all.
- lehi 6y agoBut who is anybody to say what is or isn't accurate.
- yladiz 6y agoFair point, we are in a post-truth society now.
- xienze 6y agoFacebook and Twitter, obviously.
- marshray 6y agoBefore COVID-19, I would have said that we pay for CDC, FDA, Surgeon General, epidemiologists, and virologists to be right about that stuff and they're generally trustworthy. But then they all tried to convince Americans not to wear masks.
- glasss 6y agoI didn't read their comment that way. The article isn't about doctors with years of experience advocating for lockdown, so this conversation is framed around people disagreeing with how deadly the virus is and the lockdown procedures. I'm sure that poster, like me, also doesn't want politicians making inaccurate claims the other way about how the virus is the deadliest thing imaginable, or to prioritize saving every single life possible by orders of house arrest.
- adamsea 6y agoLet's be real. The President of the United States said, several months ago, publicly, that people should try injecting bleach. There's an entire group of politicians in the U.S. irresponsibly discouraging basic use of masks. That is what the parent poster is talking about. What is difficult to understand about this?
- adamsea 6y agoDownvoters: "US President Donald Trump has been lambasted by the medical community after suggesting research into whether coronavirus might be treated by injecting disinfectant into the body." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52407177 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52407177
- sidibe 6y agoAs someone who disagrees with Trump almost always, I feel like this is not a good point to harp on because most people realize he wasn't really suggesting people inject disinfectants, just musing. When conservatives see this kind of mischaracterization it just solidifies their beliefs that his critics are always wrong about him. I am more upset about the fact he still doesn't seem to believe masks are very useful.
- adamsea 6y agoIt is incredibly irresponsible for the President of the United States (or of any country) to speculate about obviously questionable practices like injecting disinfectant in the midst of a global pandemic and a national emergency. And, the sad fact that we have to remind ourselves of this (you don't "muse" about injecting disinfectant!) is an indicator of just how irresponsible, destructive, and and constant the President's behavior, and it's enabling by politicians, the news media, or others in positions of influence (whose responsibility was to condemn such behavior) has been. This is not complicated. No one who cares about their own well-being would ever want to work under a boss like that, much less let someone like that babysit their kids.
- DuskStar 6y agoYeah, if you're fine with unqualified politicians making inaccurate claims about the virus in order to intensify lockdowns (which, frankly, has been most of the lockdown justifications) then that's pretty unfair. The burden of proof should be on the lockdown proponents, not people trying to return to the status quo.
- eecc 6y agoWe're not used to sharing space with hungry wolves or big felines, in fact humans tend to exterminate them when they move into a new environment. There's a new predator out there, invading our space and we're its lunch. there's precious little status quo to return to until we have the tools to exterminate it. We're not used to not being apex predators. That's fact.
- DuskStar 6y agoA new predator, to go along with all of the others. AIDS, the other things that get lumped into 'colds' or 'flus' (which are different from COVID-19 in degree, but not really in kind), Malaria, and so many more.
- eecc 6y agoExcept HIV isn't airborne, doesn't choke you to death within a couple weeks and the other 'cold' and 'flus' aren't nearly as deadly. Cov2 is both everywhere and lethal, that's quite a difference in kind. And WRT "Malaria, and so many more" we as humans and our collective organizations have been busy trying to exterminate or avoid them as much as possible. Since forever.
- unethical_ban 6y agoI am commenting on a combination of the motives and the qualifications of speaking as an authority - not on the position of the speaker.
- hn_throwaway_99 6y agoFWIW, I didn't read the the comment this way, and it doesn't seem like "the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says". From the HN guidelines: Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
- pessimizer 6y agoOnly if you intentionally ignore the very first sentence, which is obviously supportive.
- jtbayly 6y ago> in the absence of good governance. This is begging the question, though.