4 ms·

There will be a high price to pay for pandemic theater. In the immediate term because the theater does not work and effective actions are ignored and in the lo

by rdtwo 5y ago

There will be a high price to pay for pandemic theater. In the immediate term because the theater does not work and effective actions are ignored and in the long term because the ineffective actions are also harmful.

adamrezich 5y ago
will there be? there wasn't any price paid for security/counterterrorism theatre under Bush. and most of that stuff never really went away, we just got used to it. we're not going to flick a switch off and "just go back to normal" after this. every time cold (both temperature and illness) season comes around, some stores will make masks mandatory, kids will be sent home from school for remote learning now that they all have laptops, etc. etc.
- richiebful1 5y ago
  At least in the US, the debate around the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races was largely about school closures for COVID-19. And the Republicans did well on the premise of reopening in-person school. The price is already being paid. That said, most polls show a majority of Americans support mask mandates. [1] I don't think the future is necessarily an analogy of post-9/11 security theater. 1. Fox, Gallup, others generally agree: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fox-news-poll-mask-vaccine-mandates-pandemic-worries-increase https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fox-news-poll-mask-vacc...
- csense 5y ago
  > there wasn't any price paid for security/counterterrorism theatre under Bush Every time anyone wants to get on an airplane,they're forced to take a nude selfie. And if there's a blip, a government employee will...well, let's just say any private business would get sued six ways to Sunday for sexual harassment. Osama bin Laden's been dead for years, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over. Everybody just accepts it. A high price to pay, in both (1) the TSA's budget, and (2) the fact that Americans just don't care about this infringement on freedom and privacy. When was the last time you saw disbanding the TSA suggested in any political debate from a candidate of either party? So all the stuff about mask mandates, vaccine passports, and so on -- that stuff, once implemented, will never go away. The September 11 response has taught me that the government will take your freedom in a crisis, but they'll never give it back. It's when the compulsion to have government to fix the crisis seems most reasonable that we should be most unreasonably insistent on keeping our freedom.
  - adamrezich 5y ago
    I think you might've misunderstood me—we agree completely. when I said "there wasn't any price paid" I meant by anyone but the average joe
williamtwild 5y ago
what effective actions are being ignored?
- thoughtstheseus 5y ago
  A reduction of obesity. Living a healthy lifestyle has many benefits beyond Covid.
  - tracker1 5y ago
    Stop fat shaming! /s
- the_snooze 5y ago
  Getting vaccinated and moving on with life.
  - henriquez 5y ago
  - version_five 5y ago
    Did getting vaccinated mean other people let you move on with life? I've had three shots, restaurants are currently closed where I am, I have to wait in line to do groceries because there is some kind of capacity restriction, and old women cower when I walk by them on the street (maybe that always happened). I have moved on long ago but people around me, or at least those with a monopoly on violence, are still hysterical
    - edmundsauto 5y ago
      The problem is that we live in an interconnected graph (society), and while you have done your part by getting vaccinated, others haven’t. And the people evaluating the evidence (experts) make recommendations to keep things closed. Why are you not upset at the other group members who are not carrying their part of the workload? Unless we can remove them from society, the decisions have to be made including their behaviors and risk factors.
tracker1 5y ago
I seriously doubt that... GB just rolled it all back. No idea what Austria, Australia or New Zealand will do though. Or France, NYC, Washington State, etc. I don't think any of the theater politicians will pay. Pelosi got more flack for presumed insider trading recently than ever saw for the mask theater.

by rdtwo 5y ago

adamrezich 5y ago

will there be? there wasn't any price paid for security/counterterrorism theatre under Bush. and most of that stuff never really went away, we just got used to it. we're not going to flick a switch off and "just go back to normal" after this. every time cold (both temperature and illness) season comes around, some stores will make masks mandatory, kids will be sent home from school for remote learning now that they all have laptops, etc. etc.

richiebful1 5y ago
At least in the US, the debate around the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races was largely about school closures for COVID-19. And the Republicans did well on the premise of reopening in-person school. The price is already being paid. That said, most polls show a majority of Americans support mask mandates. [1] I don't think the future is necessarily an analogy of post-9/11 security theater. 1. Fox, Gallup, others generally agree: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fox-news-poll-mask-vaccine-mandates-pandemic-worries-increase https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/fox-news-poll-mask-vacc...
csense 5y ago
> there wasn't any price paid for security/counterterrorism theatre under Bush Every time anyone wants to get on an airplane,they're forced to take a nude selfie. And if there's a blip, a government employee will...well, let's just say any private business would get sued six ways to Sunday for sexual harassment. Osama bin Laden's been dead for years, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are over. Everybody just accepts it. A high price to pay, in both (1) the TSA's budget, and (2) the fact that Americans just don't care about this infringement on freedom and privacy. When was the last time you saw disbanding the TSA suggested in any political debate from a candidate of either party? So all the stuff about mask mandates, vaccine passports, and so on -- that stuff, once implemented, will never go away. The September 11 response has taught me that the government will take your freedom in a crisis, but they'll never give it back. It's when the compulsion to have government to fix the crisis seems most reasonable that we should be most unreasonably insistent on keeping our freedom.
- adamrezich 5y ago
  I think you might've misunderstood me—we agree completely. when I said "there wasn't any price paid" I meant by anyone but the average joe

williamtwild 5y ago

what effective actions are being ignored?

thoughtstheseus 5y ago
A reduction of obesity. Living a healthy lifestyle has many benefits beyond Covid.
- tracker1 5y ago
  Stop fat shaming! /s
the_snooze 5y ago
Getting vaccinated and moving on with life.
- henriquez 5y ago
- version_five 5y ago
  Did getting vaccinated mean other people let you move on with life? I've had three shots, restaurants are currently closed where I am, I have to wait in line to do groceries because there is some kind of capacity restriction, and old women cower when I walk by them on the street (maybe that always happened). I have moved on long ago but people around me, or at least those with a monopoly on violence, are still hysterical
  - edmundsauto 5y ago
    The problem is that we live in an interconnected graph (society), and while you have done your part by getting vaccinated, others haven’t. And the people evaluating the evidence (experts) make recommendations to keep things closed. Why are you not upset at the other group members who are not carrying their part of the workload? Unless we can remove them from society, the decisions have to be made including their behaviors and risk factors.

tracker1 5y ago

I seriously doubt that... GB just rolled it all back. No idea what Austria, Australia or New Zealand will do though. Or France, NYC, Washington State, etc. I don't think any of the theater politicians will pay. Pelosi got more flack for presumed insider trading recently than ever saw for the mask theater.