[ExI] Is the USA doing too much to prevent COVID-19?

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On Thu, Apr 30, 2020 at 11:21 AM SR Ballard <sen.otaku at gmail.com> wrote:

> As a note, without government intervention, us “cowerers” are not allowed
> to stay home. Due to government action, I was allowed to stay home without
> losing my job.
>
> AND in the South, we were not legally allowed to wear face masks, because
> KKK, before government intervention.
>

### Let's not conflate different issues.

I am against government-imposed lockdowns, orders forbidding hospitals to
admit patients, hairstylists to cut hair and scientists to do science.

I strongly *support* reasonable infection control measures including
wearing face masks. If there are laws that interfere with such measures,
the laws need to be eliminated - but you do not need to order mass house
arrests to achieve that.

The decision to withdraw from some activities must be made by the
individual citizens, organizations and businesses. Only individuals have
the particular knowledge needed to make correct trade-offs. If you believe
your life is in acute danger at work, you may decide not to go to work
(unless you specifically signed up for a dangerous job, like a soldier).
Contrary to what you say, staying at home is always an option. You were
allowed to stay home even before the lockdowns. As to the ability to keep
one's job, lockdowns caused the largest spike in unemployment in the US
ever, so no, none of us should count our chickens before they are hatched -
all of us could yet lose our jobs to layoffs and bankruptcies if this
madness of locked-down crowds continues.

Rafal
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