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Why are the only deaths we seem to care about those that are Covid related? If we are worried about killing people worldwide, far more people die of hunger-rel

by Closi 5y ago

Why are the only deaths we seem to care about those that are Covid related? If we are worried about killing people worldwide, far more people die of hunger-related causes each day, but we aren't rebuilding our entire society to save those people. But I can't see a reason why deaths from Covid are more of a tragedy than those we left to starve. Or take smoking for instance - more people die each year from smoking than have died from Covid, but we seem more willing to ban human contact than to ban cigarettes? Seems backwards to me (especially considering c10% of smoking related deaths are from secondhand smoke in the USA!). I know these might seem like a silly point, but why are we so focused on one single cause of death right now? We lock down our entire society to 'protect unvaccinated people worldwide', but then have continually cut foreign aid? IMO - I think we have totally lost the plot and lost sight of what is important, but that's just my view.

sleepybrett 5y ago
Smoking, at least where I live is heavily taxed and regulated. You can't smoke in any building open to the public or place of employment, you can't smoke within 25ft of any entrance to any of those buildings either. Cigarettes are taxed to hell and back as well. I guess we could do that to the people unwilling to get vaxxinated. Tax them for their status and bar them from any building open to the public or place of employment.
- pcmoney 5y ago
  Why would we bar them? Getting vaccinated does not stop you from getting Covid and it does not stop the spread of Covid. I could see a tax break for being vaccinated as a viable incentive.
- pcmoney 5y ago
  So we bar them because they are making individual choices that don’t impact us and we want to control them because we are afraid/disagree with those choices?
  - sleepybrett 5y ago
    If they are spreading covid they are impacting us.
    - Closi 5y ago
      If they are smoking they are impacting us - 10% if smoking deaths are from second hand smoke. I’m not really seeing the difference.
- seanw444 5y ago
  It scares me to see this legitimately suggested on a site full of people whose opinions I normally respect.
- scarygliders 5y ago
  Sure thing. We could get them to wear a yellow badge as well. /s
a_shovel 5y ago
I do believe we should rebuild global society to prevent death from hunger. I don't know how to do that, but it's a thing we need to prioritize more. When I see people minimizing COVID, I wonder if they've somehow avoided seeing an excess death graph even once for the past year-and-a-half.
- pcmoney 5y ago
  Not minimizing just doubtful continued lockdowns and restrictions will do much to the death graph at this point. We have vaccines, we have better therapies. Lets move on. Communism killed 20M people and we still flirt with that ideology.
- Closi 5y ago
  > When I see people minimizing COVID, I wonder if they've somehow avoided seeing an excess death graph even once for the past year-and-a-half. In the UK where I am from, I’m not entirely sure you would come to that conclusion - you would probably find that the first two waves caused significant excess deaths but the impact of the last wave has been much lower (probably from a combination of multiple factors). Uk government data below, see “all persons” tab: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmUwNmFhMjYtNGZhYS00NDk2LWFlMTAtOTg0OGNhNmFiNGM0IiwidCI6ImVlNGUxNDk5LTRhMzUtNGIyZS1hZDQ3LTVmM2NmOWRlODY2NiIsImMiOjh9 https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmUwNmFhMjYtNGZhYS00N... Looking at the (fairly low) excess deaths only tells half the story though - you also have to look at quality of living, which is undoubtedly lower in my view.
tagoregrtst 5y ago
People are afraid to die, and some people will do anything to lower the risk (ironically, life is still 100% fatal). These people will get angry at you for something dangerous even if you don't endanger them! If you rode motorcycles you'd encounter this safety fascism attitude quite a bit. Ive had ppl flip out on me just for mentioning I disagree with helmet laws, even though I ride with 100% safety equipment 100% of the time.

by Closi 5y ago

sleepybrett 5y ago

Smoking, at least where I live is heavily taxed and regulated. You can't smoke in any building open to the public or place of employment, you can't smoke within 25ft of any entrance to any of those buildings either. Cigarettes are taxed to hell and back as well. I guess we could do that to the people unwilling to get vaxxinated. Tax them for their status and bar them from any building open to the public or place of employment.

pcmoney 5y ago
Why would we bar them? Getting vaccinated does not stop you from getting Covid and it does not stop the spread of Covid. I could see a tax break for being vaccinated as a viable incentive.
pcmoney 5y ago
So we bar them because they are making individual choices that don’t impact us and we want to control them because we are afraid/disagree with those choices?
- sleepybrett 5y ago
  If they are spreading covid they are impacting us.
  - Closi 5y ago
    If they are smoking they are impacting us - 10% if smoking deaths are from second hand smoke. I’m not really seeing the difference.
seanw444 5y ago
It scares me to see this legitimately suggested on a site full of people whose opinions I normally respect.
scarygliders 5y ago
Sure thing. We could get them to wear a yellow badge as well. /s

a_shovel 5y ago

I do believe we should rebuild global society to prevent death from hunger. I don't know how to do that, but it's a thing we need to prioritize more. When I see people minimizing COVID, I wonder if they've somehow avoided seeing an excess death graph even once for the past year-and-a-half.

pcmoney 5y ago
Not minimizing just doubtful continued lockdowns and restrictions will do much to the death graph at this point. We have vaccines, we have better therapies. Lets move on. Communism killed 20M people and we still flirt with that ideology.
Closi 5y ago
> When I see people minimizing COVID, I wonder if they've somehow avoided seeing an excess death graph even once for the past year-and-a-half. In the UK where I am from, I’m not entirely sure you would come to that conclusion - you would probably find that the first two waves caused significant excess deaths but the impact of the last wave has been much lower (probably from a combination of multiple factors). Uk government data below, see “all persons” tab: https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmUwNmFhMjYtNGZhYS00NDk2LWFlMTAtOTg0OGNhNmFiNGM0IiwidCI6ImVlNGUxNDk5LTRhMzUtNGIyZS1hZDQ3LTVmM2NmOWRlODY2NiIsImMiOjh9 https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmUwNmFhMjYtNGZhYS00N... Looking at the (fairly low) excess deaths only tells half the story though - you also have to look at quality of living, which is undoubtedly lower in my view.

tagoregrtst 5y ago

People are afraid to die, and some people will do anything to lower the risk (ironically, life is still 100% fatal). These people will get angry at you for something dangerous even if you don't endanger them! If you rode motorcycles you'd encounter this safety fascism attitude quite a bit. Ive had ppl flip out on me just for mentioning I disagree with helmet laws, even though I ride with 100% safety equipment 100% of the time.