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Comment by asveikau | Hacker News Reader

Well, a lot of people feel, I think accurately, that the lockdowns are what are or were keeping the case load relatively low.

Regarding absolute numbers, in the early phase when we had a 2-3 day doubling rate, per capita numbers didn't matter very much because you only needed ~2 days for it to double, so any difference in per capita cases saw that gap closed pretty quickly. So for instance, I saw people downplaying the danger by saying "sure Italy has it bad, but the US has 5x the population". That missed the point a bit. It didn't take that long for the US to become the leader in absolute number of cases, then a bit more for it to exceed per capita rates of Italy. Probably both would have happened sooner had there not been any intervention.

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Sure, but certainly it's a complex enough scenario with enough variables that we should be able to at least have a conversation around what to do without resorting to name calling, yes?

Sure, and many are. Economists, Epidemiologist, and many in the science and political communities are having these conversations.

It's just that opening the economy has also become politicized and the armchair social media "experts" have begun chanting "OPEN UP!" without any sort of nuance repeatedly multiple times a day and overwhelming the conversations and suggestions of the reasonable folks with data. So, by default, the initial reaction is assume someone making that suggestion is they're more likely to be an emotional appeal than a rational discussion partner.

> without any sort of nuance

I think this accusation is equally applicable for politicians though. There has been precious little nuance in blanket lockdowns that don’t acknowledge how vastly different in risk different activities are (e.g. sunbathing in a park vs clubbing). Seems to me like the shouts of “OPEN UP!” are simply a response to the knee-jerk “SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING!” that everyone has had to live with for the last few months.

Except it's not "SHUT DOWN EVERYTHING". It's shut down all non-essential mass gatherings until we can get a handle on the situation. All of the governors who implemented strict shelter-in-place orders have also released detailed plans for re-opening safely.

Where I am (Scotland) it WAS pretty much everything. Only shops selling food, medicine, or maintenance products are allowed to open. All others have been shut for ~2 months now. Driving is strictly forbidden unless you’re travelling to one of these stores that have been ‘deemed essential’. We’re not allowed to meet anyone outside of our household, even in a socially-distanced outside context. I have friends unlucky enough to be living alone and single, and the lockdown is destroying them, to the point that they’re secretly meeting other single friends to stay sane. All of this is in spite of the fact that there are thousands of jobs and activities that can be EASILY done whilst also socially distancing. Of course, it requires vastly more thought and effort to come up with rational guidelines that take into consideration all of this nuance, and governments (mostly because of shortsightedness) haven’t had the time to create more humane lockdown solutions, hence the indiscriminate restrictions that have been brought in by countries the world over.

The President of the Unites States of America uses "name calling" on an almost daily basis. I'd say it's fair game.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Dona...

Just because "the other side" does it, doesn't make it right.

The lockdowns are eroding the legitimacy and respect for authority.

Instead of leading the people, the authorities are fighting with them.

Personally I'd contend that leaders who choose not to take action to protect public health (or even try to deceive their constituents) are eroding the legitimacy and respect for their authority.

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