Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition

Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by BryanBigs on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @01:58PM (#24213628)

Well, when did "flatten the curve to avoid overwhelming the health system" become "lets close gyms, churches, salons, non-chain stores indefinately but keep open Home Depot, Walmart, liquor stores, pot shops?" Or allowing gatherings for one political viewpoint as ok, but gathering for another as 'selfish and dangerous'? There's plenty of inconsistency to go around. Add in different perceived risks and different risk tolerances, and what u see as necessary can be seen as narcacism by others.

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by labster on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:02PM (#24215546)

On the face of it the rules are very simple: stores selling essential goods are allowed to stay open, others must close. So taking each of those:

        Home Depot - construction industry is essential
        Walmart - groceries are essential
        Liquor stores -- groceries are essential
        Pot shops -- pharmacies are essential
        Gyms -- recreation is not essential
        Churches -- culture is not essential
        Salons -- culture is not essential
        Non-chain stores -- don't have groceries, therefore not essential
        Political gatherings -- opposed by the opposite side, nothing has changed

Now you can quibble with some of the categories, but the rules aren't inconsistent. They do just happen to benefit the powerful corporations, surprise surprise.

But specifically we went from "avoid overwhelming the health system" to "let's do the things that stops people from continuing to die". And those things involve avoiding human contact unless it is essential, mask wearing, and social distancing. It's not crazy that our government is asking us to do things that make us less likely to die. You know, unless you're a seatbelt truther.

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Re:Secret gyms and the economics of prohibition by seppin on Friday August 21, 2020 @06:20PM (#24239473)

> There's plenty of inconsistency to go around.

"The response wasn't perfect so shut down all current and future attempts to save lives."

Cool.

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