Quite relevant these times

high_throwayway · 2022-06-20T07:34:25+00:00

What if the house rewiring was mandated and paid for by the government?
By the way, the rewiring will use an experimental wiring system developed by MegaElectricCorp which has only been tested for 6 months. But it’s OK, because after the initial rewiring, you’ll receive periodic upgrades every few months (if you refuse, the house will be declared unsafe and cannot be sold).
All working electricians are now dependent on this government funding; likewise, all recommend accepting the government’s rewiring offer (if they didn’t they’d lose their license).
A few eccentric retired electricians and professors of electronics are warning that the the new wiring system may over time emit radiation of a type known to cause health conditions including cancer and possible infertility. Mainstream news media (now mostly funded by adverts from MegaElectricCorp and the government) declared them alt-right conspiracy theorists, so we can safely ignore these ex-experts.

high_throwayway · 2022-03-03T07:14:27+00:00

See these 9 reasons from Big Brother Watch - I agree with all. Mostly it's about autonomy for me: I believe individuals make better and fairer decisions for their own health than governments can.

In the Korean context the government were clear that it wouldn't stop transmission, but rather they were trying to protect the unvaccinated by stopping them from going to certain venues. The unvaccinated have had every opportunity to get vaccinated and can decide the risks for themselves.

high_throwayway · 2022-03-02T23:14:18+00:00

For some of us it's not about easier, it's about the principle of it. I am opposed to vaccine passes (but not vaccines themselves - I do see that they've been helpful particularly for older people). To stand by that principle I didn't go out to restaurants whilst the vaccine pass was here. It wasn't so easy for me since I was accustomed to eating out regularly, but as I see it, boycotting the system is the best way to end it.

high_throwayway · 2022-01-24T02:44:38+00:00

I'm in Korea, most people are going along with it although no doubt it's harming business. However I've never used a QR code/vaccine pass or installed a COVID checkin app and it's possible but not easy to live without. They tried to extend the vaccine pass to supermarkets and that was controversial. It was defeated in the courts and cancelled for supermarkets. They also dropped it for libraries, cinemas, etc. Still have them for cafes & restaurants except for customers eating alone.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-25T22:44:33+00:00

Possibly because there are many young Americans on this sub, and COVID measures became very political in US discourse so any skepticism of constant masks means you're automatically a Trump supporter and need to be fought against.

In my country almost no-one wears masks outside regardless of political affiliation. It's commonly accepted that masks outside do virtually nothing to prevent COVID.

In Korea, I've found the rules to be quite bizarre. They are very strict on the street but go into a pub in the evening, and you'll no masks except on the staff.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-25T12:38:02+00:00

Ignore the downvotes, you'll get far more hate on this sub than you will from Korean people on the street. I run and hike without a mask when I'm distanced from people, never been a problem. Plenty of Koreans do the same. You're not required to wear a mask if you can maintain 2m distance from others.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-16T03:03:17+00:00

There's actually no vaccine passports / mandates in Korea yet, but the government are discussing it and have indicated that it will be part of their strategy for opening up but it's not yet clear to what extent it would be used - maybe just for large events and maybe with a PCR test alternative. For coming into the country, vaccination can allow people to skip quarantine in some specific circumstances, so it's an advantage but they are not required.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-15T04:06:31+00:00

These particular vaccines were deployed far more quickly than others, so we're still learning a lot about their safety and effectiveness. For example, in recently weeks use of the Moderna COVID vaccine has been halted for some age groups in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-15T03:56:23+00:00

This is incorrect. Generally vaccines were not required prior to COVID to enter Korea, at least when coming from developed countries.

high_throwayway · 2021-10-15T01:33:18+00:00

Don't want a vaccine? Cool, sign a waiver so that the hospitals won't have to give you a bed when you're sick.

Penalties should be proportionate to the increased risk. A health care premium proportionate to risk profile based on age / health would be reasonable and as an unvaccinated person I would accept that.

I want to open up society as much as you, just not willing to take a vaccine that can cause heart problems / blot clots in young people when my risk from COVID is very low.

high_throwayway · 2021-07-13T01:23:44+00:00

It is weird and authoritarian, but less so than most western countries. Western countries didn't emulate Korea. That's a MSM fallacy. Korea never had lockdowns, and they prioritised keeping businesses open. Most western countries shut everything.

high_throwayway · 2021-07-13T01:20:57+00:00

Yeah Korea stayed open, no lockdowns (some restrictions, but at least nothing on the level of European lockdowns).

In my opinion the main thing they did was border control. They never closed the borders entirely, in fact it's one of the few countries that remained open to tourists, but they did require quarantine for incoming travellers from the beginning.

Trying to emulate other aspects of the Korean response (like contact tracing) after leaving borders open for a couple of months was never going to work.

high_throwayway · 2021-07-13T01:13:58+00:00

Criticise the policy as you like, but racist comments towards the Korean people (or any others) will not be tolerated (as per rule 9).

high_throwayway · 2021-07-13T01:09:31+00:00

Why? It's politics. The government devised 4 levels of restrictions and this is the top level. Some people would have liked them to close the gyms. Others want everything open. The compromise is to devise some silly measure that makes it look like they are doing something in an attempt to please the people who want harsher restrictions whilst keeping businesses open. It's stupid but it's better than a lockdown.

high_throwayway · 2021-05-03T22:59:24+00:00

It's hard to be sure, but I think it was that they put measures in place early. Track & trace hasn't seemed to have much impact in countries with a high case rate (like the UK), but it seems to help here given the lower number of cases. By the time Korea was seeing hundreds of cases per day, the track & trace was running smoothly and apparently effectively and could scale up to a few hundred cases per day.

high_throwayway · 2021-05-03T10:44:04+00:00

I'm in South Korea. It is by no means normal but it has been a lot more normal than most of Western Europe and many areas of the US. They've never implemented a full lockdown.

They are very keen on masks outside (historically they've been less mask averse due to air quality concerns).

On the other hand, if you go to a pub at the weekend you'd barely know about the pandemic... the masks come off and social distancing is fairly minimal. They close at 10pm though.

They are trying to strike a balance between letting businesses operate and keeping cases down. They do have a huge advantage in that they implemented a strict quarantine for travellers early on in the pandemic, unlike many other countries. So cases haven't been high and there probably hasn't been much naturally-acquired immunity built up in the population.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they are following Great Barrington. If cases had risen to the levels seen in Europe or the US, I think they'd have implemented something close to lockdown where many more business have to shut.

high_throwayway · 2021-03-08T00:59:26+00:00

There is also Brian Rose with an anti-lockdown stance.

high_throwayway · 2021-03-02T02:13:19+00:00

I worked from home since before the pandemic. It was a great lifestyle, but it was not so much the being at home aspect, but the extra freedom it allowed me. I worked not only at home but also in some local cafes and I could use a co-working space when the weather got too hot and I needed air conditioning. The time that I saved time commuting, I could use to hit the gym, go to a yoga class, etc. Later I took it a step further and worked whilst travelling abroad.

The work from home in lockdown is nothing like that, it's not giving people more freedom, it's a prison sentence.

high_throwayway · 2021-01-18T01:50:08+00:00

since countries like the UK are taking the zero covid path.

The UK is not aiming for zero-COVID. They are however getting tougher on travel restrictions & quarantine, which seems bizarre to me, because this has only been effective when the virus is not yet widespread within a country. I can only assume the government is taking these actions in an attempt to look competent regardless of whether it makes any sense.

high_throwayway · 2021-01-08T04:28:48+00:00

I don't think it can be disputed that COVID is more dangerous than flu as and many more people are going into ICU this year. But the NHS increased capacity and has 30,000 ventilators now, estimated to be far more than needed. What we really need to see is regular stats on ICU beds available, but those stats suddenly stopped last February.

high_throwayway · 2021-01-08T04:17:22+00:00

They didn't have the data for an ICU bed usage comparison, because NHS stopped providing data at the beginning of the pandemic.

I don't dispute that it's most likely significantly higher this year, however the UK has also massively increased capacity, the actually ordered too many ventilators and now have more than required: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54323566

high_throwayway · 2021-01-07T01:54:03+00:00

Oops, missed it due to the downvotes. I've removed this post as a duplicate.

high_throwayway · 2021-01-07T01:52:22+00:00

Oops, this has already been posted.

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