To what extent is it your fault if you die from COVID in the USA in 2022?

[numbered]

Following up on Tiangou's thread below about the continuing pandemic.....I thought the insight about why we are tolerating deaths was interesting.

Ed Yong wrote a piece in the Atlantic about why our body politic does not seem to care about the ongoing death toll. Yong interviews a guy from UW Madison with an interesting comment. He says that COVID has become viewed as a behavioral choice (given the vaccines) and that as with things like smoking or not wearing seatbelts, deaths from behavioral choices are no longer viewed with concern by most Americans.

(There is still a large group of Americans who are horrified at the deaths from behavioral choices, and who always propose solutions that the GOP routinely considers limitations on 'freedom.' Motorcycle helmets come to mind.)


Campos, in this piece, reflects on the article. His conclusion is essentially that ongoing politicization of the pandemic is directly responsible for most of the excess deaths since the vaccines were widely available. Campos main point is that Yong ignores the cynicism of the polarization.

Which is a thing. And which should shouted from the rooftops. But the Dems are in a defensive crouch.

[mattkime]

numbered wrote: Which is a thing. And which should shouted from the rooftops. But the Dems are in a defensive crouch.

Go ahead and do your shouting. Half the people will agree, and the other half will be annoyed to varying degrees.

[wurm]

Well, my not wearing a motorcycle helmet or not buckling up is not likely to kill someone else. But someone going around unvaccinated and unmasked and coughing and sneezing at me during at the height of this thing carries very different consequences.

[Acer]

Not buckling up can kill the passengers in your car as you bounce around like a 175lb meat pinball, so even that analogy fails.

[hal]

I was hit by an asshole on the freeway sending me out of control, but I was belted and remained in my seat and was able to control the car before hitting anything else. If I was not belted, I would have been thrown from my seat and the car would have spun and flipped until it came to a halt on its own. That aspect of belt safety never occurred to me before this event. Wear the damned belts!

[Rolando]

I regularly challenge anti-vaxxers to put their balls where their mouths are and sign a DNR. No takers so far.