I'm curious, why did you post from a throwaway to express this sentiment?

I agree and don't like anon accounts. That being said, I will un-anonymously say I agree with that particular comment. "indefensible" and "Unprincipled" are very accurate adjectives for describing most of the media's coverage of COVID.

Are you referring to fox news? I'd like to see examples from somewhere more reputable, and not your one-off-editor-shoulda-caught-that issue.

I use only a throwaway account. I'd rather stay anonymous, especially when I cannot delete my posts.

If what you have to say isn't worth your reputation, then maybe you should think twice before spreading that same thought to real [and often vulnerable] people on the still-nascent internet.

Genuinely: Do you have any knowledge of the culture from the beginning of the world wide web?

Anonymity, and even pseudo anonymity, ensures free discourse.

Good ideas, no matter how unpopular, scary, or threatening to a power structure that could crush the commenter, rise to the top of most conversation formats with reliable regularity.

> Do you have any knowledge of the culture from the beginning of the world wide web?

Yeah, it consisted of people with mental faculties that far exceed the minimum requirements of today's internet.

>If what you have to say isn't worth your reputation

Because I believe the current trajectory of society will place more than just my reputation at risk for expressing my thoughts. Make of that what you will.

Also, unearned hit to one's reputation. Reputation is not infallible.

Though sadly, the truth seems to benefit most when it is backed by the real or proverbial blood of martyrs.

>Don't worry, people already know who you are, and you'll get what you deserve no matter how much you try to hide it.

That's going to be yikes from me, dog.

Thank you for driving home my point, though. I don't think you're aware of how dangerous your mentality is and where it leads. I'd suggest to you that I am not your enemy and we likely have a lot of common ground. I don't think the US handled COVID well and I don't like to see others suffer so needlessly. I also think that there are many things we can do to prevent further diseases such as reduce our dependency on factory farming and to invest more in improving the general health of our country. I don't suspect you'd disagree with those thoughts.

If you're going to incite/approve of malice/violence against somebody, at least have the balls to say it clearly.

That's not what I'm saying at all.

I'm saying that the people who, most likely, matter the the most to you, have already made their judgment of you, and that's based on what can't be hidden by an anonymous username.

He doesn’t want to get cancelled?

As stated in a sibling comment:

> If what you have to say isn't worth your reputation, then maybe you should think twice before spreading that same thought to real [and often vulnerable] people on the still-nascent internet.

And if you can't clearly explain your exception (ex. escaping local persecution), then the point stands.

That’s implying you’re conversing with rational person, but fear of cancel-culture is being canceled even for rational thinking, thus people false preferences and/or are dishonest.

The US did far too little to control the spread of the virus, which is why half a million Americans have died. The problem wasn't that people were too scared. It was that there wasn't coordinated, decisive action - specifically, a strict lockdown for several weeks in early 2020 to bring incidence to near zero, followed by rigorous contact-tracing and snuffing out of outbreaks as they occurred. China did this, and as a consequence, fewer than 5000 people have died there, and people have been able to go about their lives more normally for the last year.

Yes, you're right - in order to take more effective action we need to plaster a running death count to the TV screen 24/7 for every American media consumer to view. Time Warner/Comcast/Viacom/Fox know what's best for us and it has absolutely nothing to do with them manipulating emotions for profit.

It's just not been my impression at all that people are too worried in the US about the number of deaths. Quite the opposite, actually. The most stunning aspect of the pandemic, to me, has been how American society has accepted half a million deaths. I would have considered that unthinkable just a year ago.

I agree with you.

But COVID is not unique: people have been dying unnecessary deaths in this country for a long time, and have accelerated in recent years. Go read up on deaths of despair. Look at the rise in healthcare costs, or how unhealthy our food is. It's no wonder that a society of unhealthy, isolated, and stressed people are succumbing to a disease that kills those with suppressed immune systems.

The reason for the large number of deaths in the US is not that Americans have suppressed immune systems, are stressed, or are otherwise unhealthy. It's that the virus has been allowed to spread. The infection fatality rate in the US is not 500x higher than in China. The number of infections per capita is, however. The difference is that one country had a strict lockdown, followed by rigorous contact tracing, and the other did not.

I think other Western nations are better comparisons for a number of reasons. I don't think discussing China's approach is a productive conversation.

>The reason for the large number of deaths in the US is not that Americans have suppressed immune systems, are stressed, or are otherwise unhealthy.

I disagree. And even if we were to stop COVID from killing so many, it's reckless to consider this as not a significant contributor to any unnecessary deaths. New variants of existing diseases are inevitable.

If you don't want to discuss China, then you can look at Australia and New Zealand, both of which brought incidence down to near zero.

But there's no reason not to discuss China. It's the elephant in the room. A country of 1.4 billion people essentially ended community transmission and then opened up society again.

> I disagree.

There's nothing to disagree or agree about. The virus is not 500x more deadly in the US than in China. That's a fact, whether or not you agree. The overwhelming factor is simply the number of people who get infected in the first place.

It's [actually not] funny the same people that oppose this are the same ones that think they have the right to:

1. Consequence-less broadcasting of any speech (i.e., sympathizing with nazis and lying to vulnerable people about life-threatening illness).

2. Unfettered access to life-ending technology (guns)

3. Unwavering support for unborn lives.

Smh

Lots of assumtions. Maybe, they just want their kid to be able to return to school.

Also, this response is the reason for the anon account. People on the internet are quick to categorize and demonize.

While there may be some strong arguments for the China approach to COVID management, I’m not sure I find your enumerated list of ad-hominem strawmans and head shaking very convincing.