"78% of those hospitalized, ventilated, or dead from covid are overweight... Imagine how many lives could have been saved if there had been some national campaign a la Michelle Obama's Let's Move Program with the currency of the pandemic behind it"
The covid competent countries are also doing well economically. Better than any part of the US, whether red or blue.You're arguing against someone whose only yardstick is Covid. When has he even compared employment rates, business closures etc? If he looked at that he'd seem dramatic differences between states like California and Florida as opposed to the minor differences in Covid.
If we were really planning on being honest we’d also take into account years of life saved but no one is comfortable having THAT conversationActually slightly worse than CA. But better than the national average. (Because the national average includes NY/NJ)
Considerably worse than places which actually enforced their mask and distance rules.
You can say “we’re allowing half a million seniors to die because people need jobs and we want to keep the economy open”. That is honest.
You can say “we’re allowing a half million seniors to die because we don’t want to have a police presence capable of enforcing our public health laws”. That is also honest.
But “protect seniors while allowing an uncontrolled respiratory pandemic” is just bull shit. You don’t get to say you are “protecting seniors“ at the same time you are allowing them to die.
I'm down to 183 EOTL. I told you years ago to be truthful and honest and you didnt listen. The truth will set you free bro"78% of those hospitalized, ventilated, or dead from covid are overweight... Imagine how many lives could have been saved if there had been some national campaign a la Michelle Obama's Let's Move Program with the currency of the pandemic behind it"
That state and TX shows the rest you may as well have been open.Just as bad as rest of the country? So they did slightly better without torching the economy and kids like California? Better than ny that returned covid cases into nursing homes then tried to cover it up? Better right now than Michigan?
Except Dad4. He's heartless that way. Years of life lost is the valid measure.If we were really planning on being honest we’d also take into account years of life saved but no one is comfortable having THAT conversation
Anyone with the spine to criticize the faults on their own side deserves respect. Maher is spot on.
Watch the video. I think of Maher as leftist, but not dogmatically so.What side is Maher on?
He claims he is a libertarian because it sounds cooler than calling yourself a leftist. Too me he is just an arrogant prick. I do enjoy his show on occasion but he tends to suck up to the opinions of his guests. Some on the Right get all excited when he says something that fits their narrative, but I personally don't give his opinion any weight other than it's entertainment value.Watch the video. I think of Maher as leftist, but not dogmatically so.
He’s not. He’s a leftist with some libertarian leanings.He claims he is a libertarian
The disconnect between reality and theory is shocking. What is it about New Zealand and Australia that makes you think we could apply what they did here? Do they have the housing density you suggested is driving the CA cases? Do they have the ingrained idea of dissent and individualism that we have combined with our laissez-faire approach to limiting anything - including legal entry into our country? Do they have strong states' rights? Do they have more sheep than people? Are they an island? Does each have fewer visitors each year than the state of Hawaii? I'll give you credit for consistency, but I'd say your theory of what "could have been" here if we just "followed the rules" has as much basis in reality as Marxist dreams had versus the Soviet and Chinese reality.The covid competent countries are also doing well economically. Better than any part of the US, whether red or blue.
So, if your yardstick is unemployment rate, we should have enforced our borders and public health rules like Australia and New Zealand enforced theirs.
Economically, their policies worked and ours did not.
The item on that list that really drove it is the “ingrained idea of dissent and individualism.”The disconnect between reality and theory is shocking. What is it about New Zealand and Australia that makes you think we could apply what they did here? Do they have the housing density you suggested is driving the CA cases? Do they have the ingrained idea of dissent and individualism that we have combined with our laissez-faire approach to limiting anything - including legal entry into our country? Do they have strong states' rights? Do they have more sheep than people? Are they an island? Does each have fewer visitors each year than the state of Hawaii? I'll give you credit for consistency, but I'd say your theory of what "could have been" here if we just "followed the rules" has as much basis in reality as Marxist dreams had versus the Soviet and Chinese reality.
I'd say we don't do very well when we are told what to do and are quick to call BS on leaders who ask one thing and do another. That's enough for many to decide that they will figure out what they want to do on their own. I think it's also significant that, historically anyway, our culture rewards and cultivates risk-taking. A lot of people looked at this virus and decided the "cure" was worse than the risk. I believe the reaction would have been different if it had been this contagious and something like ebola.The item on that list that really drove it is the “ingrained idea of dissent and individualism.”
On that, we agree.
But it means we ought to take a long look in the mirror. We, as a people, did not do very well when we needed to change our behavior as individuals. We did a bad job writing the rules, and we did a bad job following them.
What happens the next time our country needs some kind of shared sacrifice? Do we all pitch in for 2 months and then give up? In many ways, it is what we did this time.
Europe seems to have waited somewhat longer before saying “screw it”. Otherwise, they were essentially the same.I'd say we don't do very well when we are told what to do and are quick to call BS on leaders who ask one thing and do another. That's enough for many to decide that they will figure out what they want to do on their own. I think it's also significant that, historically anyway, our culture rewards and cultivates risk-taking. A lot of people looked at this virus and decided the "cure" was worse than the risk. I believe the reaction would have been different if it had been this contagious and something like ebola.
Should Europe and Canada also be "looking in the mirror" based on how they have handled their vaccine policy? I think our culture of adaptation and problem-solving is helping with that part of the virus.
So thinking we could have/could still do better is somehow a communist ideal?The disconnect between reality and theory is shocking. What is it about New Zealand and Australia that makes you think we could apply what they did here? Do they have the housing density you suggested is driving the CA cases? Do they have the ingrained idea of dissent and individualism that we have combined with our laissez-faire approach to limiting anything - including legal entry into our country? Do they have strong states' rights? Do they have more sheep than people? Are they an island? Does each have fewer visitors each year than the state of Hawaii? I'll give you credit for consistency, but I'd say your theory of what "could have been" here if we just "followed the rules" has as much basis in reality as Marxist dreams had versus the Soviet and Chinese reality.