New coronavirus variant: What do we know?

Re:New coronavirus variant: What do we know? by jtbayly on Monday December 21, 2020 @02:37PM (#25498544)

Your sugar example is no good. Sugar doesn’t take people’s freedoms away. It has no agency and doesn’t enforce anything. Like any action, eating sugar may have consequences good or bad for the individual, but that has nothing to do with freedoms unless the government starts telling people they may not eat more than x grams per day or something like that.

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Re:New coronavirus variant: What do we know? by jschwartzi on Monday December 21, 2020 @06:12PM (#25500854)

In the case of masks and lockdowns the "freedom" in question is more analogous to drunk driving. This is in the sense that exercising the freedom could cause the people around you some severe life-altering problems, and you're imposing that risk without their consent or knowledge.

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Re:New coronavirus variant: What do we know? by nradov on Monday December 21, 2020 @08:13PM (#25501775)

That's always been the case. Thousands of people die every year from influenza spread by asymptomatic carriers. COVID-19 is more deadly, but that's just a difference in degree. Where do we draw the line?

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Re:New coronavirus variant: What do we know? by jtbayly on Monday December 21, 2020 @07:26PM (#25501489)

Without their knowledge or consent? You can’t tell whether people are wearing masks and make a decision about whether to be around them? I suspect that even a blind person could do so the moment somebody started talking.

I’m sure there are still better comparisons than drunk driving. If you are under 55, the risk is about the same as dying from a car accident.

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