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Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

You currently do not have a government that will be swayed by evidence.

It isn't only the government, it's a significant minority of the population nationally; and at a local level it can approach significant majority.

A Marion County Florida Sheriff ordered that staff and visitors to his office cannot wear masks. That order is uncivilized behavior. The state governor should have removed him from power. People speeding on roads get sanctioned more, for being less of a menace to society.

At least the kooks who wear masks to have Zoom conference calls aren't subjecting anyone to risk their health or life.

You've touched on exactly what worries me most about the Trump era. Somehow, unnecessary combativeness and flamboyant disagreement has come to be valued in and of itself. As if somehow anyone wins by acting childishly.

> As if somehow anyone wins by acting childishly.

Certain people apparently do.

Some appreciate it. Some find it too tedious to bother pushing back on it. Meltdown on aisle 5! Toddler requires, and has gone, Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!

It's conservative virtue signalling.

This is missing context. Marion County, specifically Ocala, has a very high crime rate, one of the worst in US. The sheriff is not allowing masked people to enter because of safety concerns due to the current hate/distrust people are showing towards police. He doesn't want to guess if the next masked person who enters the station is a visitor or assailant.

Yes, we’d be much better off with the currently sidelined government that has suggested the evidence should be ignored as long as you’re protesting civil rights.

People were pretty worried about this, but so far there isn't any evidence that protests caused spikes in case numbers. Obviously there's a lot about the virus we don't know or can't fully explain, but the prevailing explanation is that the combination of widespread mask usage by protesters, quarantining by would-be protesters who know they've been exposed, and being primarily outdoors prevented transmission.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

PolitiFact tried to examine claims from the LA mayor and health director that: "it’s highly likely given the increased numbers that we’re seeing that some of this is in fact people who may have been in a crowded situation at one of the protests where there was spread."

They concluded:

> there’s not enough data to draw any definitive conclusions ...

> Medical experts say the protests likely contributed somewhat, but so did family gatherings [and] the reopening of businesses

https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/jul/21/how-much-did-...

Actually, the handful of half-competent governments who have handled the pandemic the best disagree: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-13/forced-is...

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