SM001 i think cj covered most of my position, but i’ll add a couple of things. and we’re honestly mostly on the same side anyways, especially in terms of our personal approach and behaviour.
you said you’d feel safer if everyone adhered to the guidelines. i’ll point out that just because you feel safer, it doesn’t mean that you are safer. if you’re not in an at risk group and you’re exposed to a low viral load over a very short period of time, you’re extremely unlikely to get it and there’s even less chance you’ll pass it on.
does altering your lifestyle because of the way you perceive others’ behaviour and their impact on you seem fair? not exactly, but then most of life isn’t fair. that’s not a reasonable expectation. is it fair that i pay the same taxes as an obese person who does nothing to take care of themselves and has 6 kids, while i never go to a doctor and don’t have kids? no, but i do it happily because we live in a society with shared benefit. (and that’s a point about fairness, i realize it almost weakens the argument about the person in the store not wearing a mask)
the last part about restrictions allowing us to get back to normality is simply a fallacy. it’s a temporary measure to flatten the curve to keep the health care systems from being overwhelmed. nothing more, nothing less. that was always the intent, but somehow the goalposts have been shifted to zero cases. that’s just never going to happen, vaccine or not.
what’s your position if in 2, 3, or 5 years we’re in the same boat without an effective vaccine or heard immunity? should that lady who is 85 and (for the sake of the discussion) not at significant risk forego her remaining years, chasing some false idea that destroying the world as we know it is a good idea?
and to reiterate, i’m asking as an intellectual exercise. i’m not promoting anti-mask nonsense or anything like that, behaviourally, i’m taking many of the same precautions you are, even though i live in a place where this is much less of a problem.
