h/t @pete
I thought the argument in this article was really interesting, although I don't completely understand it (gist: lockdowns change the relative selective advantage of more virulent/less virulent strains, but I'll let the article say more than that)
https://thecritic.co.uk/mutant-variations-and-the-danger-of-lockdowns/
@pamaca @waxwing Unfortunately the longer this goes on the easier it is for it to go on indefinitely: the people most affected by lockdown are being forced into bankruptcy. While those who benefit are very literally making trillions of dollars off of it. Masks alone have become a ~$200 billion/year or so industry, a ~100x increase.
@pete @pamaca @waxwing I don't know about y'all, but I see a lot of overlap here with wearing 3 masks over one another, and restricting increasingly more liberties, because the neighboring country is doing it too. Now that states in the US are re-opening, and with spring around the corner on the northern hemisphere, I still have hope we can get out of this without some sort of Global Spring.
@pete @pamaca @waxwing Perhaps it increases those odds, but I wouldn't use the words "decent chance" myself. One could argue the other way around as well, until time proves either of them right. The other end of the argument would be that we still haven't seen the self-cleaning oven feature kick in, as defined by the Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and Bill of Rights. I mean, the US isn't perfect, but it's not exactly the USSR either.
@pete @pamaca @waxwing And I'm saying that as a somewhat Euro-skeptic European from Potato Europe, that funds Tomato Europe for a good chunk. No hard feelsies though, I love them. But this pan-national federation has been around for only some 70 years, and our money for less than 20, compared to almost 250 of (perceived) years in the US. It's not an easy sell to tell Americans to break away from "the greatest country on earth", is all I'm saying.
@pete @pamaca @waxwing To clarify: The reason I compare Europe to the USA is because less than 30 years ago our national slogan was basically "we became great by staying small", and nowadays you'd find near-zero political support to leave the EU, in continental Europe. Perhaps this also shows how easy/fast it could swing in the direction of your argument, but it took a lot of work to get to where we are. In that regard it's like societal hashing power / PoW: 51% FTW.
@pete @pamaca @waxwing The following is more religion than science, but I believe we've gotten ourselves into this through group think/peer pressure, and that it's also the only way to get out of it. Like the Vietnam war. Kennedy knew they didn't stand a chance before the first troops- ahem, advisors, were sent, but once the green light was given every time the strategy proved to be failing they doubled down on it and sent more troops, instead of reversing their stance.