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In the case of mandatory vaccinations, the victims are few whereas the requirement is placed on many. In the case of acute mental illness, the victims are many

by throwaway22032 4y ago

In the case of mandatory vaccinations, the victims are few whereas the requirement is placed on many. In the case of acute mental illness, the victims are many whereas the requirement is placed on few. The situations are not comparable. I think a more reasonable analogue would be that I am making the case for mandatory isolation for sick individuals.

vkou 4y ago
> In the case of mandatory vaccinations, the victims are few whereas the requirement is placed on many. > In the case of acute mental illness, the victims are many whereas the requirement is placed on few. No. Mentally ill people harm far fewer people than preventable infectious diseases do. COVID killed over a million people in the US in three years, and seriously injured many, many more. How many deaths can you attribute to mentally ill people, that you'd like to forcibly treat in that time? A few dozen? A few hundred? And the 'requirement' is far more onerous and invasive in the latter case. If mental illness could be cured with two shots and a day of discomfort, you might have a leg to stand on. It can't be, which is why mandating treatment is rife with abuses, and obvious moral and medical problems. > The situations are not comparable. They aren't comparable because the ROI of mandating vaccinations is much better than the ROI of mandating mental health treatment.
- throwaway22032 4y ago
  There's about as much logic in what you're saying as "we lock up criminals, therefore we should require everyone to be vaccinated". Regardless of the merits of vaccination, it's nonsensical to make this sort of analogy, and I have better things to do than engage with this.
  - vkou 4y ago
    It's an entirely apples to apples logical comparison. The problem is that you don't like what the 'mandate unwanted medical treatment for the benefit of society' garden path leads down towards. You simply choose to not quantify the very real harm that unvaccinated people inflict on people around them. You assign it a value of zero, by calling it 'statistical'. It's illogical and irrational to do so, though. The harm is real, it's quantifiable, and people are suffering and dying from it.

vkou 4y ago

> In the case of mandatory vaccinations, the victims are few whereas the requirement is placed on many. > In the case of acute mental illness, the victims are many whereas the requirement is placed on few. No. Mentally ill people harm far fewer people than preventable infectious diseases do. COVID killed over a million people in the US in three years, and seriously injured many, many more. How many deaths can you attribute to mentally ill people, that you'd like to forcibly treat in that time? A few dozen? A few hundred? And the 'requirement' is far more onerous and invasive in the latter case. If mental illness could be cured with two shots and a day of discomfort, you might have a leg to stand on. It can't be, which is why mandating treatment is rife with abuses, and obvious moral and medical problems. > The situations are not comparable. They aren't comparable because the ROI of mandating vaccinations is much better than the ROI of mandating mental health treatment.

throwaway22032 4y ago
There's about as much logic in what you're saying as "we lock up criminals, therefore we should require everyone to be vaccinated". Regardless of the merits of vaccination, it's nonsensical to make this sort of analogy, and I have better things to do than engage with this.
- vkou 4y ago
  It's an entirely apples to apples logical comparison. The problem is that you don't like what the 'mandate unwanted medical treatment for the benefit of society' garden path leads down towards. You simply choose to not quantify the very real harm that unvaccinated people inflict on people around them. You assign it a value of zero, by calling it 'statistical'. It's illogical and irrational to do so, though. The harm is real, it's quantifiable, and people are suffering and dying from it.