Tyranny of the majority, baby. Most people decided they'd prefer not to be part of this little coronavirus experiment.

Trope-tastic, but: good science takes time. We don't understand covid well enough that anyone should be recommending something like "Yeah, should be OK if only young folks get it." OK, what protective orders are in place preventing the virus from getting into nursing homes? Not restrictions. A testing program? Rising positivity rate concerns aside, a robust testing program doesn't definitively prevent the virus from walking through the front door. A positive test for a nursing home worker is like a "Congratulations, it's pretty likely someone you tend to is about to die. Oh, and the nursing home is now a prison." I'm sure there're enough existing business incentives that almost every nursing home has some mask requirements, though, so that's good.

Edit: Of course, only wealthy families can afford to put up N̶a̶n̶ NaN somewhere she'll be safer than at home with the grandkids, who brought it back from school, or wherever. There are many, many ways in which covid is screaming out the depths of our societal wealth inequality. Obviously, wealth inequality also breaks down along racial lines, hence one major reason why the virus "targets" minorities.

Medical professionals are collectively saying: "Other than the fact that it's much more deadly without hospitalization, and the fact that we are running out of hospital space, we simply do not know enough about this virus to recommend anything but extreme measures."

Counter argument: "I'm not a doctor, but Scott Atlas and I are not concerned with the virus, it's not so bad, do NOT stop working, because that would destroy the economy."

Probably almost no doctor enjoys recommending a gov't-imposed lockdown. But neither do gov't researchers and doctors enjoy shit like being slandered and having their science politicized, which, hey, led to the lockdown recommendations. Ugh, I'm fortunate to study something that would be much more difficult to demonize.

We don't know that covid-19 won't mutate into an even worse strain, or become more transmissive, or able to more effectively harm children, whatever. The sooner herd immunity is reached, by whatever ratio of vaccinating and infections, the more unlikely or more prolonged an effective mutation would be. edit 2: no, actually, I think attempting to reach herd immunity via infections could also potentially facilitate a wicked mutation, as the cumulative "virus rolling dice for yahtzee" time is minimized with a vaccine. A vaccination developed by a company outside of the gov't, though incentivized by the federal government, is acceptable to me. I don't automatically hate the various business groups honing their anti-covid brews, so long as they are conducting sound science confirmable by peer review. The vaccine could prevent another million deaths-ish... We may have 10% or 15% nationwide exposure, tops, and so herd resistance is probably another 7x to 4x the existing covid death toll. Sorry, got sidetracked, but a mutation could always be a possibility, unless we eradicate it. Probably not this side of at least thirty years, if ever. Personally, I might try to go the vaxxin' route in maybe... March? April?

I think we should ship vaccine to elders who volunteer first. I'm sure the Trump administration has also spent plenty of time thinking about the best way to distribute the vaccine like that, or with another medically-informed rationale. LOL Dr. Atlas will be X-raying all of the vaccines on their way out the door to check for drugs, inadvertently destroying every dose.

The out-of-control transmission centered around Sturgis is a pathetic failing of Donald Trump and at least one comically stupid governor. I don't think it's equivalent to point to Cuomo, NY is probably the national epicenter of international mixing, and we had almost no idea what we were dealing with at the time, thanks, again, in some part to Trump ignoring the advice of experts (major theme, here). Truly, I pity Trump's base up in the heartland. They were lied to. They still haven't hit "critical mass" for that to sink in, I'm worried. Hopefully they're close.

All corrections and weigh-ins on my pro-establishment propaganda are welcome.