4 ms·

You can't "muh freedom" your way out of a pandemic.

by malermeister 5y ago

theandrewbailey 5y ago
At this rate, we can't anything out of this pandemic.
TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
Especially if you're dead.
- elzbardico 5y ago
  Unless you're old, obese or diabetic, your chance of dying is pretty low. For someone in their 30's, probably less than the flu. And even if you're 80 years old, it is not a death sentence. Stop acting like this is Ebola. It is not.
  - maxerickson 5y ago
    That's roughly half the population there. And a less lethal but highly transmissible virus is clearly worse than Ebola in some ways. We routinely contain Ebola outbreaks, they don't kill millions of people. The largest outbreak infected less than 30,000 people.
muhvax 5y ago
Can't "muh vax" it either apparently. Enjoy your boosters forever :) If we're lucky this little war will be as costly and effective as Afghanistan. We've got to give up just a little freedom, spend a little more money, but its only short term right?
dang 5y ago
Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait to HN? You've been doing a ton of this, unfortunately. We ban such accounts, regardless of which ideology they're battling for. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that maybe you weren't aware of the site guidelines, but if you'd please review them (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) and stick to the intended spirit from now on, we'd appreciate it. The basic idea is: if you have a substantive point, make it thoughtfully; if not, please don't comment until you do. And please use the site primarily for curiosity, not ideological battle; we ban accounts that do the latter.
- malermeister 5y ago
  Now while the phrasing might've been a bit provocative, I do believe I made a substantive point. The parent was making a comparison between health measures and dictatorship. I made a counterpoint that freedom is worthless if we're all dead from disease. The dysphemism was merely a rhetorical device to add a little color to the argument, but the argument per se was just that, a substantive argument.
  - dang 5y ago
    "Freedom is worthless if we're all dead from disease" doesn't seem particularly substantive to me. In any case, please make your arguments without swipes and without breaking the site guidelines in the future. You've been doing that repeatedly, not just in this one case. That's not cool. Commenters tend to underestimate how provocative their own provocations are (by at least 10x), and overestimate it in the other person. Objects in the mirror are much closer than they appear. That's why we all need to err on the opposite side - otherwise we just get a downward spiral. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
    - malermeister 5y ago
      Point taken on the subjective judgement on provocation - I'll try to do better there! I do still think liberty vs life and the right balance between the two should they be in conflict is an interesting philosophical discussion to be had, fwiw.

You can't "muh freedom" your way out of a pandemic.

theandrewbailey 5y ago

At this rate, we can't anything out of this pandemic.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago

Especially if you're dead.

elzbardico 5y ago
Unless you're old, obese or diabetic, your chance of dying is pretty low. For someone in their 30's, probably less than the flu. And even if you're 80 years old, it is not a death sentence. Stop acting like this is Ebola. It is not.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  That's roughly half the population there. And a less lethal but highly transmissible virus is clearly worse than Ebola in some ways. We routinely contain Ebola outbreaks, they don't kill millions of people. The largest outbreak infected less than 30,000 people.

muhvax 5y ago

Can't "muh vax" it either apparently. Enjoy your boosters forever :) If we're lucky this little war will be as costly and effective as Afghanistan. We've got to give up just a little freedom, spend a little more money, but its only short term right?

dang 5y ago

Would you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait to HN? You've been doing a ton of this, unfortunately. We ban such accounts, regardless of which ideology they're battling for. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that maybe you weren't aware of the site guidelines, but if you'd please review them (https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) and stick to the intended spirit from now on, we'd appreciate it. The basic idea is: if you have a substantive point, make it thoughtfully; if not, please don't comment until you do. And please use the site primarily for curiosity, not ideological battle; we ban accounts that do the latter.

malermeister 5y ago
Now while the phrasing might've been a bit provocative, I do believe I made a substantive point. The parent was making a comparison between health measures and dictatorship. I made a counterpoint that freedom is worthless if we're all dead from disease. The dysphemism was merely a rhetorical device to add a little color to the argument, but the argument per se was just that, a substantive argument.
- dang 5y ago
  "Freedom is worthless if we're all dead from disease" doesn't seem particularly substantive to me. In any case, please make your arguments without swipes and without breaking the site guidelines in the future. You've been doing that repeatedly, not just in this one case. That's not cool. Commenters tend to underestimate how provocative their own provocations are (by at least 10x), and overestimate it in the other person. Objects in the mirror are much closer than they appear. That's why we all need to err on the opposite side - otherwise we just get a downward spiral. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - malermeister 5y ago
    Point taken on the subjective judgement on provocation - I'll try to do better there! I do still think liberty vs life and the right balance between the two should they be in conflict is an interesting philosophical discussion to be had, fwiw.