If safety is really everyone's primary concern then how about we come out with a nationwide 20 MPH speed limit? That would save millions of lives, lower the burden on hospitals, reduce insurance premiums etc. Of course if I proposed that I would get laughed off of the stage. Why? Because of the loss of time to all of our lives. We would spend a lot more time on the road instead of working or being at home with our families. The wheels of commerce would grind to a halt. As a society we have decided that the added risk of driving 30, 40 or 50 MPH is worth it for the added quality of our lives.tomfoolery wrote: ↑Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:19 pmThis is a good question, asked retrospectively -- for those who aren't getting COVID vaccines, do you get the flu shot each year, the previous decade?Cortopassi wrote: ↑Thu Sep 09, 2021 1:00 pm
Year is 2031. You are 10 years older. Covid is an endemic disease, like flu. Variants every year. Covide shot is like a flu shot, most people just get it, maybe feel bad for 24 hours, and move on. All covid vaccines have long ago moved from experimental stage to general use.
So in 2031: Are you getting a Covid shot? Are you getting a flu shot? Are you getting your kids their standard vaccinations? Are you getting the shingles shots if applicable to your age?
Here's some possibilities:
People who have gotten the flu shot each year, but did not get the COVID shot because it's too new of a technology and they dont trust it, but the flu shot is old tech, and they aren't anti-vaccine in general.
People who do not get the flu shot each year, and also do not get the COVID shot, because they'd rather their immune system deal with the flu naturally, they are low risk for hospitalization from the flu, they dont believe the flu shot that was developed a year in advance actually will stop the flu strain that will wind up occuring in nature that year, or maybe simply dont want the hassle of getting it.
Personally, I never got the flu shot, and I never got the flu. I didn't want the hassle of going to a pharmacy, showing my ID, have my personal information entered into their system, paying $30, or dealing with my high deductible health insurance which probably covers it for free, having my arm potentially be sore for a few hours or a day, all for dubious benefit because the flu shot makers can only speculate on what the strand of flu is likely to look like that year. How good are they at speculating? I'm not sure, and I'd be curious to know.
Lots of minor downsides to getting the flu shot, mostly inconveniences, and since I've never gotten the flu once, it seems like I bet my chips correctly.
I've never been in a car accident but do not feel like wearing a seatbelt all of these years is wasted. Because if I was in a car accident, the seatbelt could protect against a lifetime of sideeffects from the excessive trauma. This is a risk mitigation tool that differs from the flu shot, in that if I get the flu, it's gone in a week one way or another (if I die). If I get into a car crash and smash my head into the windshield, I'm dealing with a lifetime of disabilities.
For similar reasons, I would like to get the shingles vaccine. I dont mind if I get the flu for a week. I very much want to avoid a virus embedding themselves on my nerve cells for the rest of my life with sporadic massively painful outbreaks forever. And yeah, I might die from the flu.
What if I told you that if you took 20 minutes out of your day today to do some ritual, you'd be protected from dying of lightning strike. Do you spend the 20 minutes? Dying of being hit by lightning sounds horrific. And for only 20 minutes of hassle you can get a lifetime of protection. Is it worth the 20 minutes? Maybe. But what if for another 20 minutes you can have a lifetime of protection against being eaten by a gizzly bear? And another 20 minutes to do a ritual that will deter shark attacks?
At some point your entire life is wasted trying to mitigate miniscule risks. When you could have been eating healthy and going to the gym during that time. And then during your leisure time, actually enjoying life. Buying a mini cooper to drive around the country eating expertly-prepared steaks and drinking fine spirits.
Why is this not valid with Covid? Why is the goal on this one particular item to be safety at all costs? If that was the bar at which we set society then we would have a very different world than the one we have lived in for years. No more swimming, skiing, mountain climbing. Leaving your house in general would be frowned upon. Is this where we are headed? I think about that every time I hear Biden or one of his mouthpieces say something to the effect of "My goal is to save lives. Period."
