I think some people are afraid of good news because they think it inevitably leads to complacency. like any hint of good must mean there is no need for Better. but…endless bad news doesn’t lead to Better either. it leads to exhaustion.
I think that a large number of people have convinced themselves that the world is doomed or otherwise a fundamentally awful place, and good news creates a cognitive dissonance that must immediately be rectified by gloom.
there's a lot of toxic positivity out there from people who fully don't give a shit about the world's problems, and I think some people conflate *any* positivity with that. when someone says quietly "here's a good thing", what they *hear* is someone loudly screaming "YOUR CONCERNS DON'T MATTER"
Yeah, I think it's vibes all the way down, and the toughest ideas to dislodge are those where the vibes grow to the level of identity. Some people rode team "covid is bad, actually" so hard that seeing people move on as conditions change becomes further proof that the world is uncaring and awful.
I don’t understand the solution people want though. Do they want a constant lockdown until the disease is gone? The nature of how easily Covid spreads that just might not be possible….
I think some people genuinely want those extreme measures, yes. but I think many more people just want better reporting, mask mandates, longer return-to-work guidelines, better indoor air filtering, etc. I don't 100% agree with all the asks floating around, but I think they're reasonable enough
One thing I can come up with is more UV and HEPA filter machines everywhere. Like, in all public service spaces and medical facilities. It would help so much against infections that spread via air that I agree it’s a letdown that this hasn’t been made mandatory. Plus HEPA is good against pollution!
This is what most of us want in my experience and it would benefit everyone across the board and reduce spread of a ton of stuff other than covid. And would cost nothing compared to what we already spend on treating these ailments. Just mind boggling that it goes nowhere.
Yeah, saw a reminder for folks in wildfire areas to get them now before the prices hike in summer. Mine’s still fine but the fan is a little louder and wonky some days, so I’m contemplating having it looked into before the warranty runs out
I've been making Corsi-Rosenthal boxes, but I also finally splurged and got air purifiers for bedrooms. The air flow just doesn't get past all the doors and hallways.
It depends how you want to solve it, if you’re willing to use one per small and two machines per bigger room, you now have a wider array of standalone choices that require nothing but an outlet for power. I’ve seen some interesting DIY ideas for bigger houses all the way to classroom ventilation.
oh you mean like the personal sized ones, you might recall how difficult those were to get for a while because of global demand but i’m guessing production has scaled up and demand down (but way above pre pandemic)
I think some people have a combination of anxiety and a general need to feel superior that they actually enjoy being furious that some people eat out and use gyms and do things like only mask on flights and are fine. It’s a small number but I think they are extremely loud.
I think clean air regulations indoors at a minimum. Like I get that people don't want to wear masks, which I also find silly but whatever, but "mandate clean air in buildings" is completely inobtrusive to everyone but the building owners. How nice would it be to wipe out cold and flu season?
It would be incredible but we also live in a country where a shocking number of schools don’t have air conditioning… even in Florida. Would need to go a long way to get to HEPA filters everywhere. (I’m a believer, I installed a whole house HEPA filter)
Oh yeah I don't think it's likely lol, but that's the answer I would give to your question - people with very reasonable concerns about COVID (which is still bad but also a lot less bad than it was pre-vax) would I think mostly like clean air solutions.
So let's start! It's time for schools everywhere to have central air. And purifiers don't have to be central to start. Parents can raise money to install portable ones in active rooms. It's a short term, but meaningful solution.
Places like Florida and Texas are more difficult, but plenty of states and school districts should go for it. A bit of lobbying to state and US House reps goes a long way too. Bring up the weirdness at the CDC without mentioning capitalism. Just the bad science.
As a person who has been largely isolated since March 2020, and has several health conditions that make covid pretty terrifying, I want everything but lockdowns, except when lockdowns make sense. And I'm over the moon about the advances in vaccines!
I even feel like UV/HEPA filters, better hygiene routines at workplaces and more fresh air would’ve fixed a lot of superspreading without shutting down most things. Imagine a club of 500 people dancing closely. Now imagine the same thing with fresh UV filtered air circulating. Imperfect but better.
I installed a UV light in my house and it actually made my chest hurt. Not that most scientific study for sure but something about the ozone created by the process messed with me…
I want people to just fucking mask, at the very least, at places I can't fucking avoid, and even that's too much to ask for, apparently.
Having to debate of whether it's worth risking getting care when my specialists are in the hospital is such a draining prospect.
I don't want to fucking die because "B-But masks are-"
Just. At the very least, they can provide a quicker way for me to do it instead of the slow drain of health and sanity. At the very least they can be honest about shit.
"We won't comply with lockdowns!"
I've been fucking housebound since before 2020 because accessible ride services don't exist and no one gives a fuck about high risk peoples.
"Just stay home" doesn't work when the bits we can't avoid are hospitals and doctors offices. I've "just stayed home"-
I have a friend with CP. He's been to many medical appts lately. All unmasked of course. He now has scaring on his lungs, his breathing is really struggling, & a whole host of other things. He had covid last yr & has pneumonia now. Pisses me off.
There isn't a reason, but everyone wanted to make shit political. And as soon as they were told "It's OK Guize, you don't have to mask anymore to be a good person!" They let their own metaphorical masks drop.
That the bitch with ASPD has more compassion than they do says so much.
I try to mask every where I will be indoors around lots of ppl. I still mask in my business & had them as mandatory until a few months ago. Became too costly, literally, to keep supplying ppl w masks & I can't afford to turn away multiple appts a day..but I still mask.
medical and medical-adjacent spaces, at bare minimum, should at least have been a slam dunk for retaining masking (and KN95 or better) now that we've seen what we've seen about airborne transmission
they're already places where it's usual to take stronger hygiene measures than elsewhere! And yet...
I think different perspectives need to be taken i to account when the repercussions are potentially fatal, though.
I’m immunocompromised. I’m 46. And after catching Covid 3 times, i’m in a wheelchair that i will likely remain in for the rest of my life.
And i became immunocompromised after a virus
And i caught that virus at work, two decades ago. Then i lost my job and my career and my house and all my friends and damn near my marriage.
So what you and i would consider excessive prevention measures are probably very different.
This chair could be yours, too.
What we ask is that ppl *try*
I’m for a lot of things that only didn’t happen because of the politicization of the virus. Vaccines should be mandatory. Masks should be required in large events. There always needed to be an end point, but that end point was made far more dangerous by a loud, angry minority.
Oh i’m blocked by whoever said that 😄 Yay!
Are we in a better spot? I think in some ways yes, some no.
But the important part to me is that we’re all “high risk”
Because nobody can afford to get sick in this system. And nobody wants to be the unlucky person who doesn’t make it home.
