[tastyfreeze]

A pandemic is a natural disaster akin to a forest fire. Once a disease reaches pandemic level there is very little that can be done to control or extinguish it. There is no going back to before no matter how hard we try.

So, we learn how to live with a new disease without letting fear dictate our behavior.

[jaybrendansmith]

What does that statement even mean? So we walk into the path of the speeding train? We have at this point billions of data points showing that these vaccines save your life. Refusal to use them is both illogical and irrational. Their use should be globally enforced, just like MMR, Polio, and the other 30+ immunizations. Again, fuck your idiotic feelings.

[tastyfreeze]

It means we shouldn't fall for the promise of safety at the expense of freedom because we are afraid. Diseases are part of life like forest fires. Many totalitarian dictatorships of the past were welcomed in with thunderous applause because they promised to keep the population safe.

The promise of safety from infection is not something than any human can guarantee. The COVID vaccine does not prevent infection and does not stop the spread. The desire to force people to take a vaccine in the name of population safety is rooted in fear. Fear leads to the fearful cheering when the police beat someone for not wearing a mask. Fear leads to the fearful begging for a "leader" to keep them safe at all cost. Fear is used by megalomaniacs to expand their power and control. We should not be fearful.

[jaybrendansmith]

This is not a slippery slope. Enforcement of basic health standards does not lead logically to some kind of fascist state. If anything, we are currently all victims of the forces of anti-science and anti-civilization. I had Chicken Pox when I was young, and I survived, although my fever went to 105 degrees F. My sons both skipped that particular disease. Good for them! This is called progress, and it does not lead automatically to Brave New World. You need to read more Heinlein, and less Internet.