The amount of people who believe freedom and liberty comes with a contingncy where they halve to be placed on hold "during exceptional circumstances" baffles me.
Your fundamental rights aren't protected so long as they're easy to recognize. Moments like these are precisely when they matter the most.
I admit that I lapsed in my integrity when this all kicked off. I'd been keeping up to date on Wuhan, told family and friends that we're in for a Hell of a ride, and I was made fun of for stocking up on the food I knew would be panic-purchased once people realized what was happening.
I was in favor of lockdowns at first because I shook when I was scared. It was like this massive cloud of the unknown coming at us. I don't believe the fear was unjustified and I do believe the virus had more bite to it at first (which seemed to mutate into a significantly more benign strain early on), but even though the fear may have been justified, I'm still kicking myself over giving into the desire for security.
What blows my mind is that with our enhanced understanding of how it works, who it affects, how to treat it, etc., people still treat it how I was in the first week or so of shit getting real.
Apologies for the rant. I think I'm especially frustrated with people since I see my first-few-weeks-self in their attitudes today.
I think the first few moments were the various states who immediately jumped on the opportunity to play tyrant in a way that can't be justified as "we did what we thought was best in a moment of fear," i.e. churches being shut down, encouraging reporting neighbors for violating distancing guidelines, restricting which goods you could/could not purchase, etc. that snapped me out of it for the most part. That in addition to the first protests (the anti-lockdown folks) made me realize "wait a fucking second, theyre right, wtf are we doing to ourselves?).
At that point I was back to a good baseline, but the riots and protests are what did me in for good. I'd known at this point that the virus is only contracted if you're in an enclosed space with a certain viral load for a certain amount of time. Outside was perfectly safe to not wear a mask so long as people continued to not spit directly into strangers' mouths.
But the fucking riots.. i couldn't believe how fucking blatant the media went from calling a handful of people protesting the shut downs were terrorists using intimidation, while my city was literally burning to the ground and being called a peaceful protest.
I think all in all, it was maybe the 2nd week of fear mongering by the time I broke out of the hysteria. I took it seriously in the sense that I have family who are vulnerable, but I just behaved how I do during a flu season (wash my hands more often, keep active, pay attention to symptoms, etc.), just with the added piece of "get in and get out" when shopping (since enclosed spaces with certain viral loads are where most of the risk lies).
That being said, I don't really care how others go about it. Family members with vulnerabilities are my problem - not theirs. Its up to my family members to decide what they're comfortable with, up to me to agree, my responsibility to be calculated with my outings, my responsibility to get tested before a flight to see 'em, etc. The idea that others' lives must revolve around my family and my problems is absurd.
Again, sorry for the long rant. My mind's all over the place atm.
The amount of people who believe freedom and liberty comes with a contingncy where they halve to be placed on hold "during exceptional circumstances" baffles me.
Your fundamental rights aren't protected so long as they're easy to recognize. Moments like these are precisely when they matter the most.
I admit that I lapsed in my integrity when this all kicked off. I'd been keeping up to date on Wuhan, told family and friends that we're in for a Hell of a ride, and I was made fun of for stocking up on the food I knew would be panic-purchased once people realized what was happening.
I was in favor of lockdowns at first because I shook when I was scared. It was like this massive cloud of the unknown coming at us. I don't believe the fear was unjustified and I do believe the virus had more bite to it at first (which seemed to mutate into a significantly more benign strain early on), but even though the fear may have been justified, I'm still kicking myself over giving into the desire for security.
What blows my mind is that with our enhanced understanding of how it works, who it affects, how to treat it, etc., people still treat it how I was in the first week or so of shit getting real.
Apologies for the rant. I think I'm especially frustrated with people since I see my first-few-weeks-self in their attitudes today.
I think the first few moments were the various states who immediately jumped on the opportunity to play tyrant in a way that can't be justified as "we did what we thought was best in a moment of fear," i.e. churches being shut down, encouraging reporting neighbors for violating distancing guidelines, restricting which goods you could/could not purchase, etc. that snapped me out of it for the most part. That in addition to the first protests (the anti-lockdown folks) made me realize "wait a fucking second, theyre right, wtf are we doing to ourselves?).
At that point I was back to a good baseline, but the riots and protests are what did me in for good. I'd known at this point that the virus is only contracted if you're in an enclosed space with a certain viral load for a certain amount of time. Outside was perfectly safe to not wear a mask so long as people continued to not spit directly into strangers' mouths.
But the fucking riots.. i couldn't believe how fucking blatant the media went from calling a handful of people protesting the shut downs were terrorists using intimidation, while my city was literally burning to the ground and being called a peaceful protest.
I think all in all, it was maybe the 2nd week of fear mongering by the time I broke out of the hysteria. I took it seriously in the sense that I have family who are vulnerable, but I just behaved how I do during a flu season (wash my hands more often, keep active, pay attention to symptoms, etc.), just with the added piece of "get in and get out" when shopping (since enclosed spaces with certain viral loads are where most of the risk lies).
That being said, I don't really care how others go about it. Family members with vulnerabilities are my problem - not theirs. Its up to my family members to decide what they're comfortable with, up to me to agree, my responsibility to be calculated with my outings, my responsibility to get tested before a flight to see 'em, etc. The idea that others' lives must revolve around my family and my problems is absurd.
Again, sorry for the long rant. My mind's all over the place atm.