joshuahughes

"stock up and stay home while the virus dies off"

Given the existence of animal reservoirs, short-lived immunity, asymptomatic carriers, continued transmission after vaccination, and the genetic instability of SARS-CoV-2, this seems like an incredibly naive view.

The only virus we've been able to eradicate — smallpox — was a VERY different beast because it had none of the issues listed above.

Incredibly disappointing to see foxhop's comments flagged and dead, while pickledhotdog's snark lives on.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html is worth a read.

"Don't be snarky."

"Please don't sneer, including at the rest of the community."

"Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive."

"When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names."

I'm a very similar anecdote. Yes, covid sucked, but it was a mild 48hr illness in my experience. (And in the experience of dozens of my friends.)

It's quite incredible that the GP can complain on the one hand about "the pure bullshit peddled by fear mongers" and then — without apparently recognising the irony — goes on to peddle fear themselves.

Absolutely. I wouldn't dream of expecting anyone to do anything "at our say so", be that in-person teaching, vaccine-taking, mask-wearing, close proximity in social situations...

But this thread started with the observation that many private Catholic schools ARE just getting on with the job, and as a result parents are voting with their feet and heading there in droves. These are not teachers being forced; it's just their ideology leads them to make a different risk/benefit calculation to others.

And yet this thread is full of comments arguing that the system of endless global restrictions "works for the vast majority of people". To me and many others, that just seems like wilfully ignoring the harm to our children rather than seeking a way out.

I'm sure I don't need to link to the many MANY studies that have shown how damaging lockdowns have been to our kids' outcomes, and these negative effects hit the poorest kids the hardest. We should be doing everything within our power to undo the damage, and yet so many are willing to stick with restrictions for the foreseeable future with no exit strategy. THIS is why parents are looking for a way out for their kids, and why private schools like those mentioned above are seeing enquiries sky-rocket.

Why the hate for those who seek a return to normality? I don't understand it.

"I lost my sense of smell and got it back way after my quarantine ended, like months after. Plus there’s a mental fog that lifted a long time later."

I've had exactly the same, and still haven't got my taste or smell back 100% yet. It sucks, but I still can't imagine being so selfish as to expect millions to endure endless global restrictions over some minor personal inconvenience.

Don't kid yourself. Children are suggestible and easily manipulated by adults on BOTH extremes of this polarising argument.

"Natural immunity is just as temporary as vaccine immunity, give or take a few months."

Citations needed for that claim. Based on the articles below, natural immunity seems to be vastly longer lasting...

Lasting immunity found after recovery from COVID-19 https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/lasting...

Had COVID? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01442-9

This reads like a lot of mental gymnastics attempting to excuse the inexcusable.

You argue that blocking debate is a righteous act because the theory's "very existence harms public health". I'd counter that the gagging of a concerned public breeds distrust that is vastly more harmful than allowing debate would have been.

Haven’t seen anything online about this. Do you have a source please?

How is this in any way related to the OP's post about lifespan?

Your earlier comment: "Part of the benefit of vaccination is that it prevents spread..."

This comment: "The fact it continues to spread..."

You can't have both. Which is it?

"it would just appear out of the blue and kill you"

I've had it and it didn't kill me. It also hasn't killed my wife, my kids, and the ~20 friends I know who have had it. If you want data rather than anecdotes... the current covid mortality rate (worldwide) is tiny.

Being killed by covid is NOT a typical outcome for the vast majority of those who get infected, and employing hyperbole like this is just ensuring that the world's overreaction continues. Let's make sure the language we use is proportionate.

"The question is will these negative behaviors persist"

If governments keep tightening the thumbscrews, they most certainly will.

People are being stretched to breaking point around the globe... https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/man-killed-family-then-...

“Everyone was out horsing around, shopping, dining out, ignoring the mandates, and there was zero enforcement. Everything was half assed and even the politicians were flouting the rules. All talk and no action.”

That’s because everyone can see now that there are no bodies piling up in the streets, and while hospitals are busy they’ve still not been truly overwhelmed - even though we’ve been repeatedly told that they would be for 20 months. Life is too precious to let it slip by without living.

As for the lack of enforcement, good! If politicians go the “do as I say, not as I do” route, there’d be civil unrest, and rightfully so.

“Covid is a scary, scary disease. Deadly, highly contagious even before symptoms…”

Getting really tired of hearing this. To a HEALTHY human, it’s like a bad cold. Me and my family have had it in the last month and confirmed with tests so I know what we had. It’s gone through a bunch of friends too and the worst they experienced was feeling miserable in bed for a couple of days.

I have no doubt that for some it IS scary, but let’s not chuck around emotive language that isn’t an accurate description in the majority of cases.

So... your solution is to force every child to suffer equally in the same disadvantaged position??

Understandable but disappointing that there's no sound. I filled the silence with a 'hurricane wind' track from Spotify, because I'm sad like that... https://open.spotify.com/episode/1p7ZN5APoqPzF2YSkH9vqP

14 comments in 14hrs. For comparison, a post about TikTokers trading stocks has 168 comments in the same time.

I find it incredible that this bombshell hasn't elicited more of a response. Too uncomfortable a subject to discuss perhaps?

"There is more to living than not dying."

When the alternative is invasive, Orwellian monitoring and inhumane enforcement by an authoritarian state, I'll take 40% compliance every time.

Remember... governments NEVER give up these powers readily.

"It’s a bit different. The State Governments are enacting health measures that only have any authority under temporary declared state of emergency, and immediately cease as soon as that expires (they have had to be extended a bit)."

Worldwide, I'm seeing a heck of a lot of extension and precious little expiry so far...

As mad as they might seem, this is precisely why those protesters have been on the streets - because the slippery slope is all too real. Allow your government a little taste of authoritarianism and they’ll want more.

I know it’s comforting to imagine that anyone who says something that you don’t like is just a troll, but I’m not here to lie, distort reality, or say things without proof. Both cases were clearly proven, but what does that matter when you obviously know the situation of my friends better than me…

"it's incredibly harmless"

The two healthy middle-aged people I know who have died within 24hrs of vaccination would beg to differ.

But how is this different from previously? Flu, common cold, various other viruses... all present a similar threat to that from covid and spread as easily. What has changed with covid to create so much additional fear and the subsequent authoritarian responses? Any decent person would just keep away from the office if they were ill. What's changed that now a particular course of action has to be mandated with the threat of job-loss as the alternative?

Seems to me that those who are concerned about unfairness for one group are simply transferring that unfairness to another group.

"just get vaccinated and not worry about getting fired"

The word 'just' must be one of the most heavily used words of the last 18 months. The problem is that 'just' is the start of a slippery slope. Governments and organisations rarely withdraw authoritarian diktats, once we've allowed them in.

> some unvaccinated idiot won himself a trip to the ICU

Don't know what it's like over in the US, but here in the UK 'the vaccinated' aren't some tiny percentage of hospitalisations. Actually, they're currently sitting around 40%, which means there's almost as much chance of your VACCINATED colleague "winning himself a trip to the ICU" as the unvaccinated. You might want to use the word 'idiot' more cautiously.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-vallance-corrects-mistak...

"In the UK, the lower middle class are (to generalise) materially well-off; they own their own homes, they have a couple of cars, they have large televisions, one partner does not have to work, etc."

I'm glad you added "(to generalise)" in there, because I'd class myself as 'lower middle' and most of my family/friends in a similar bracket absolutely cannot function without both partners working, and a majority are renting rather than buying their home. I'd argue that what you've described is only true of those OLDER lower middle class folks (like my parents) who struck it lucky before the housing market lost its mind.

The only reason I personally fit into your description (well, I only have one car) is that I was lucky to find my way into the software industry which pays a heck of a lot better than most...

Sounds uncomfortably like coercion...

Presumably no sugar being the primary factor. No carbs too?