My in-laws have all had COVID two or three times each at this point. For most of them it's been mild enough that they can dismiss it--though one of them probably has brain damage from their last bout of it and is in no position to think clearly on the topic and another has lost 25 pounds they didn't have because everything tastes like tuna to them now--and it's people like them that are responsible for this whole mess. They perpetuate ignorance; they assume that anyone taking basic, common sense, self-defense, or common courtesy, measures is a slave to government or mass media or some other nonsense that never even factored into any decision of any rational person (odd how that works...it's like ridiculing someone for not eating plastic bags or not shining a laser pointer in your own eyes); they are probably breeding new variants by trying to ignore things and go about life as usual; they are blaming everyone else for inconveniences they are actively perpetuating. Restrictions exist for, because of, and mostly bother, these kind of idiots (who, not so coincidentally, aren't smart enough to get away with flouting them). And they are still trying to invite me over!
The rules of man have never defined my life; at best they are quaint guidelines, at worst barely enforceable legalisms that exist to entrap people so stupid they are a threat to themselves and everyone around them. Not that they aren't offensive in principle (I'm a 'less is more' kinda person when it comes to governance), or occasionally annoying (it's a lot to keep track of, and those who would flout the law are well served by knowing the law), but laws imposed by legislatures are for those that need them, easily ignored by those that don't.
The rules of biology are another matter. These I have to heed.
The existence of another problem does nothing to diminish this one and is not an argument. Even if it was, few of those things are contagious and almost all of them are made worse by a poorly managed pandemic.
Get hit by a drunk driver, wind up with cancer, or find one's self in a position of scarcity...then one's health may be seriously compromised and one may be forced into close proximity with a whole lot of sick people, or worse, not be able to be treated because others (who mostly shouldn't need to be there) are taking up resources that could otherwise be allocated to them.
Healthy people will die from omicron and many more will be maimed. Not at the rate of the more lethal variants, but in total numbers, it may well be worse. Nor is health something anyone should take for granted, no matter how many vitamins they take, or the other lifestyle choices they make.
Regardless, the direct risk omicron, or any variant, was never the main issue.
Yes. So, why do so many seem so intent on exacerbating the underlying cause?
Limiting that aftermath was always a major concern and reason to get the the pandemic under control. Most of the harm was never going to come from direct COVID cases. And no matter how you measure costs--money, freedom, whatever--treating this pandemic as just another flu or something else that could be dismissed without changing people's behavior was always going to be one of the most expensive options.
People who won't get vaccinated, can't or won't socially distance, and won't take other basic precautions when they can are costing us all a lot. They shouldn't need to be required to, but with so many people believing absolute nonsense and refusing to act sensibly, pushback that we'll all feel for generations is inevitable. Freedom isn't something that should be threatened by exercising it, but when it's exercised at the expense of the freedoms of others, it's utterly unreasonable to not expect a reaction.
That's what nearly all of us are trying to do, but those who don't take this pandemic seriously are making this far more difficult than it should, or would otherwise, be.
The rules of man have never defined my life; at best they are quaint guidelines, at worst barely enforceable legalisms that exist to entrap people so stupid they are a threat to themselves and everyone around them. Not that they aren't offensive in principle (I'm a 'less is more' kinda person when it comes to governance), or occasionally annoying (it's a lot to keep track of, and those who would flout the law are well served by knowing the law), but laws imposed by legislatures are for those that need them, easily ignored by those that don't.
The rules of biology are another matter. These I have to heed.
The existence of another problem does nothing to diminish this one and is not an argument. Even if it was, few of those things are contagious and almost all of them are made worse by a poorly managed pandemic.
Get hit by a drunk driver, wind up with cancer, or find one's self in a position of scarcity...then one's health may be seriously compromised and one may be forced into close proximity with a whole lot of sick people, or worse, not be able to be treated because others (who mostly shouldn't need to be there) are taking up resources that could otherwise be allocated to them.
Healthy people will die from omicron and many more will be maimed. Not at the rate of the more lethal variants, but in total numbers, it may well be worse. Nor is health something anyone should take for granted, no matter how many vitamins they take, or the other lifestyle choices they make.
Regardless, the direct risk omicron, or any variant, was never the main issue.
Yes. So, why do so many seem so intent on exacerbating the underlying cause?
Limiting that aftermath was always a major concern and reason to get the the pandemic under control. Most of the harm was never going to come from direct COVID cases. And no matter how you measure costs--money, freedom, whatever--treating this pandemic as just another flu or something else that could be dismissed without changing people's behavior was always going to be one of the most expensive options.
People who won't get vaccinated, can't or won't socially distance, and won't take other basic precautions when they can are costing us all a lot. They shouldn't need to be required to, but with so many people believing absolute nonsense and refusing to act sensibly, pushback that we'll all feel for generations is inevitable. Freedom isn't something that should be threatened by exercising it, but when it's exercised at the expense of the freedoms of others, it's utterly unreasonable to not expect a reaction.
That's what nearly all of us are trying to do, but those who don't take this pandemic seriously are making this far more difficult than it should, or would otherwise, be.
