"Anti-government types are revealing themselves really fast as primacy of consciousness mystics...[Pic from Liberty, Free Markets, and Peace. Hat tip Terry V.]
"Do I support government edicts [in an emergency]? Do I do things personally so I can avoid getting exposed to a virus that is a potential lab Frankenstein? Do I think these people are idiots? ... Do I think people who congregate during this time to bob and weave at the Wailing Wall, lick shrines in Qom, pack churches at Easter, or congregate in anti-government protests, are idiots who deserve to be mocked? Yes. Yes, I do."
"You want to do some meaningful civil disobedience?
"Grab the seeds at Home Depot, leave the cash on the countertop.
"Take your fishing rod and go fishing.
"Go boating.
"Do what you want and stop whining about it on social media. Live your fucking lives, and deal with the consequences. Because otherwise, you are just a Karen in reverse who needs the sanction and the approval and the control of others...
"At this time, I'm maneuvering away from people who would call the cops on me but I'm also maneuvering away from people who have no apparent regard for their own safety, let alone mine."
~ Monica DeParentis, from her FB post
UPDATE: Amy Peikoff on "Where things stand with Coronavirus/COVID-19: My Newbie Scuba Diver Analogy." (Clip is just under 6 minutes.)"
5 comments:
At least some of the protesters want to go back to work to save their jobs or their businesses, not to go fishing. Some of us do not agree that this particular epidemic justifies such extraordinary “defensive“ measures any more than yearly seasonal flu pandemicsdo. Though we have no objection to others hunkering down at home if they disagree or have weakened immune systems.
The primary criticism being made of those protestors is not them protesting. It's their congregating together to do it. Idiotically.
Which leads to the second criticism above: their denial that this virus is a real thing. Especially since much of that denial is inspired by their mysticism. Which is total idiocy. If you want to get back to work, promote the publication of objective criteria by which everyone can stay safe, *not* the notion that your god has sent you a president who's going to keep you safe. (FFS!)
Which leads to a third point: this is not a seasonal fly pandemic. Even with all the mitigation measures already taken, this is *already* far worse than a yearly seasonal flu pandemic: "At least 25,000 more people have died during the coronavirus pandemic over the last month than the official Covid-19 death counts report, a review of mortality data in 11 countries shows — providing a clearer, if still incomplete, picture of the toll of the crisis... In many European countries, recent data show 20 to 30 percent more people have been dying than normal. That translates to *tens of thousands of more deaths*."
Which leads to my fourth point: That from this really bad place, it's more likely to get far worse before it's going to get better.
I had similar views in the early days, but I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming now that we can't treat it just like the flu. Going about your daily business could be killing people, without you or anyone else knowing about it.
Of course this limitation on our movement must be temporary - life can't exist long term under these restrictions. But until we know more, and have worked out how to apply the principles of freedom to this new and unprecedented context, the state is justified in temporarily limiting our movement.
It's fundamentally different from the flu not so much in terms of the death rate (which as Peter points out is higher anyway), but the combined fact that it's both highly contagious, and you can be a carrier whilst asymptomatic.
With other harmful viruses you get sick, and you and others know you're sick. But with this you could be acting as a silent assassin with out you, or anybody else knowing about it. That's why it's different, and why the normal applications of the principle of individual freedom can't apply. The principles still apply, but the proper application needs a re-work (and more information) to fit this new context.
"I'm also maneuvering away from people who have no apparent regard for their own safety, let alone mine."
Yeah, that's something some people don't get. I go out for an evening walk with my flatmate. Most people are good and when we get to 15-20 metres they step off the foot path to their left in response to or in mirroring what I do. Some people don't so I go further off the path.
My housemate stays on the path and looks at his phone - essentially abdicating responsibility. He thinks his stubbornness will overcome their stupidity. I've had to explain that this is real and that you have to take responsibility for your own safety if others are so stupid, lazy and inconsiderate that they might infect you.
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