4 ms·

I'm sorry, you're wrong - and I dont say that lightly. My roommate worked a service job during the pandemic, went to work every day. He couldn't go shopping a

by Aloha 3y ago

I'm sorry, you're wrong - and I dont say that lightly. My roommate worked a service job during the pandemic, went to work every day. He couldn't go shopping at a store for 6 months, he couldn't go out to eat for a similar length of time - there was social pressure on him to not do these things even once they reopened for fear of harming others. Social Media was acidic, and the mainstream media was.. upsetting, to put it politely. I'd also note that we are in Texas, which didn't keep its restrictions as long as NY or CA, and it was still traumatic. All but the most crazy anti-vax nut jobs believe the pandemic happened, I know folks who would otherwise lean very conservative take it quite seriously - do you know why? they saw the morgue trailers. I know others folks who didn't who behaved the same way after watching a loved one die. The folks who didn't believe are not a small number, I'll admit - around 15% of the country - but polling backs up people believing the illness was real, and that it was dangerous - the level of danger however did vary in intensity by partisan paring.

cjohnson318 3y ago
For the record, I took everything very seriously; I wore masks everywhere and I was fortunate enough to work at home, have groceries/alcohol delivered, etc. We have different sources of anecdotal evidence, sure, but from my anecdotal evidence, I think everyone was very spooked for 1-3 months, and then by the end of 2020 most people were back to "YOLO, whatever". Especially in Texas, I worked a lot there during that time. > The folks who didn't believe are not a small number, I'll admit - around 15% of the country I think this is a lot closer to 25%, or higher. I don't know how to explain it, but a stupid number of people just did not give a shit. I guess because at it's peak Covid-19 was 10x more fatal than flu, but still not fatal enough for everyone to care about? I took it seriously, but I learned that a lot of people would literally rather take a chance dying, than wear a mask for an extended period of time.
- packetlost 3y ago
  > I think this is a lot closer to 25% This is a completely idiotic number, I'm sorry. That's over half of people who claim to be conservative. Half. I live in Wisconsin and know of exactly zero people who deny the pandemic. I know one that still shoots up horse dewormer when he gets the sniffles, but that's one person out of many, and that's blatantly not denial.
  - Kirby64 3y ago
    Denial that it ever happened vs denial that it was as bad as it was (ie that reported Covid deaths match reality) are two different things. I know quite a few conservatives that think some combination of: it’s just a flu, not actually a problem, we’ve gotten Covid many times and we were fine, death numbers are all made up, doctors are getting paid to mark deaths as Covid caused, and many other hysterical conspiracy theory beliefs. I think you’re not in the same circles of folks that believe this stuff.
    - packetlost 3y ago
      >Denial that it ever happened vs denial that it was as bad as it was (ie that reported Covid deaths match reality) are two different things. Agreed. I interpreted GP as referring to the former. The latter is a much larger group. > I know quite a few conservatives that think some combination of: it’s just a flu, not actually a problem, we’ve gotten Covid many times and we were fine, death numbers are all made up, doctors are getting paid to mark deaths as Covid caused, and many other hysterical conspiracy theory beliefs. Same, but I know more that then got COVID and changed their tune. Many are close family. > I think you’re not in the same circles of folks that believe this stuff. Do not assume you know anything about the people I'm around, you do not.
      - Kirby64 3y ago
        > Same, but I know more that then got COVID and changed their tune. Many are close family. Likewise, although unfortunately the folks I know have not materially changed their attitude. I know someone who has gotten it 4 times, apparently, and still spouts conspiracy theories and just shrugs it off. I guess he's gotten lucky that it hasn't caused him a lot of problems.
- korse 3y ago
  I had a very similar experience, however it was Nebraska, not Texas. Pandemic happened and everyone went panic mode for about two weeks. Local government said they were going to base restrictions off one metric, hospital capacity, and then things sort of went back to normal as the city hospitals weren't overflowing for very long. People did die, but the it seemed like all the people who got screwed had obvious and major pre-existing conditions and the community was generally surprised they had made it as far as Covid in the first place. No one I knew thought it wasn't happening, but the media response versus the severity of the problem on the ground seemed at odds in the area.

by Aloha 3y ago

cjohnson318 3y ago

For the record, I took everything very seriously; I wore masks everywhere and I was fortunate enough to work at home, have groceries/alcohol delivered, etc. We have different sources of anecdotal evidence, sure, but from my anecdotal evidence, I think everyone was very spooked for 1-3 months, and then by the end of 2020 most people were back to "YOLO, whatever". Especially in Texas, I worked a lot there during that time. > The folks who didn't believe are not a small number, I'll admit - around 15% of the country I think this is a lot closer to 25%, or higher. I don't know how to explain it, but a stupid number of people just did not give a shit. I guess because at it's peak Covid-19 was 10x more fatal than flu, but still not fatal enough for everyone to care about? I took it seriously, but I learned that a lot of people would literally rather take a chance dying, than wear a mask for an extended period of time.

packetlost 3y ago
> I think this is a lot closer to 25% This is a completely idiotic number, I'm sorry. That's over half of people who claim to be conservative. Half. I live in Wisconsin and know of exactly zero people who deny the pandemic. I know one that still shoots up horse dewormer when he gets the sniffles, but that's one person out of many, and that's blatantly not denial.
- Kirby64 3y ago
  Denial that it ever happened vs denial that it was as bad as it was (ie that reported Covid deaths match reality) are two different things. I know quite a few conservatives that think some combination of: it’s just a flu, not actually a problem, we’ve gotten Covid many times and we were fine, death numbers are all made up, doctors are getting paid to mark deaths as Covid caused, and many other hysterical conspiracy theory beliefs. I think you’re not in the same circles of folks that believe this stuff.
  - packetlost 3y ago
    >Denial that it ever happened vs denial that it was as bad as it was (ie that reported Covid deaths match reality) are two different things. Agreed. I interpreted GP as referring to the former. The latter is a much larger group. > I know quite a few conservatives that think some combination of: it’s just a flu, not actually a problem, we’ve gotten Covid many times and we were fine, death numbers are all made up, doctors are getting paid to mark deaths as Covid caused, and many other hysterical conspiracy theory beliefs. Same, but I know more that then got COVID and changed their tune. Many are close family. > I think you’re not in the same circles of folks that believe this stuff. Do not assume you know anything about the people I'm around, you do not.
    - Kirby64 3y ago
      > Same, but I know more that then got COVID and changed their tune. Many are close family. Likewise, although unfortunately the folks I know have not materially changed their attitude. I know someone who has gotten it 4 times, apparently, and still spouts conspiracy theories and just shrugs it off. I guess he's gotten lucky that it hasn't caused him a lot of problems.
korse 3y ago
I had a very similar experience, however it was Nebraska, not Texas. Pandemic happened and everyone went panic mode for about two weeks. Local government said they were going to base restrictions off one metric, hospital capacity, and then things sort of went back to normal as the city hospitals weren't overflowing for very long. People did die, but the it seemed like all the people who got screwed had obvious and major pre-existing conditions and the community was generally surprised they had made it as far as Covid in the first place. No one I knew thought it wasn't happening, but the media response versus the severity of the problem on the ground seemed at odds in the area.