American madness: protests against stay at home and ridiculous statements

[IrisAtwood]

www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1127148407638080/

I just can’t believe the behaviour and stated beliefs of some of these protesters.

Some think Covid-19 is a media lie.

Some think that God will protect them.

Some just want a haircut!

What will happen as the bodies pile up?

America has more of a libertarian orientation than other nations. They are distrustful of government. While this is often a good thing it isn't at times like this.

I think it's the culture. Some Americans pride themselves on their freedom over everything. Even death.

I am waiting for the usual posters who proclaim “anti-American rhetoric” to come on this thread. This is the fucking difference isn’t it? They are basically fighting for the right to infect others.

I honestly think that until one of their loved ones contracts it and it burns through their family and friends they won’t believe it. That or they will blame Chanah or immigrants.

Their own president is inciting it all on twitter, so is it any wonder?

I have no doubt he'll get a second term because of this behavior too. Terrifying

Pic from his twitter, taken just now having scrolled down to april 17th

There was a good thread connected to this yesterday, something about the cultural differences and language connection. Posters from/with family in the US made some very thought-provoking comments. It's sad to see it happening, and as @lubey pointed out, Trump is constantly adding fuel to the fire.

America has more of a libertarian orientation than other nations

Yes and see any kind of collective social programme, like the NHS, as being too close to what they perceive as scary socialism. It's the same with the right to own a gun. As if only the individual right matters and they might someday have to put up the barricades and circle the wagons. It's related to paranoia about their history and constitution. Us against them

But not all Americans are like that by far, especially in the east and west coast areas. In New York I found the people to be much more open minded and having a more European political outlook on things. One of the things that surprised me was just how European it felt to be there

The funny thing is that those demonstrating have more of the vulnerable people in their communities than the national average. It's like watching Darwinism in action. I'm afraid I'm more amused by the spectacle than the slightest bit concerned for their elderly grandpas who didn't go to the demos.

Supposedly, Trump didn't shout LIBERATE to any states with Republican governors, even governors who have imposed equally tight lockdown rules as states Trump wanted liberated, but who had Democrat governors? It's so blatently partisan, it's breath-taking. But then we expect no better from Snowflake Donald, so...

@DailyMailcanfuckthefuckoff do you have a link to that thread?

Sure OP, it was this post - lots of really interesting comments about the difference in culture and mindsets that can explain some of this (not rationally, but shows how people have come to think this way!).

There were protestors with signs saying 'I need a haircut'...

What happens when this becomes a seasonal illness, as it inevitably will? Shut the world economy down twice a year? Put everyone's lives on hold while people hide in their big apartment box so they can hope to postpone the time when they'll be in the little box 6 feet under? As far as vaccines go, there is no guarantee a vaccine can be made for this. If genetically unstable enough, a vaccine will not be made for this virus for the same reasons that a vaccine has not been made for Ebola. There's a 98% chance you'll live if you get it, with the 2 percent mostly falling into vulnerable categories. This is real-life, folks; this is not a simulation. Nobody promised you a rose garden; the disease must at some point, regardless of current efforts to lock people in their houses, be let loose. It is not like the Spanish Flu that killed many more people, young and old, healthy and not healthy. This goes to show the soft underbelly of individuals in this day and age. Completely ridiculous.

Do you feel better, bravee having posted that?

Well done, you!

teucer The disease is being let loose, no one sensible is suggesting that lockdown can go on indefinitely and already some places are lifting it. Believe me (as Trump would say), you don't need to worry about this virus not being let loose. It's about the timing and the US has nothing in place to allow it to ease lockdown.

Many of the people asking that lockdown be continued for now are doctors on the front line. They see death every shift...are they in denial about mortality? Are they a soft underbelly?

They're a very "proud of their freedom" aka being arrogantly pompous to the point of idiocy - as we are now witnessing, if them voting Trump in wasn't evidence enough.

Thanks @DailyMailcanfuckthefuckoff

@teucer We are in lockdown primarily to help the NHS cope. As no one has immunity we can predict that the entire population would catch it. That’s 65 million people. 2% of that figure is 1.3 million 1.3 million people experiencing severe Covid-19, add to that the moderate cases who also often need hospital care and that is millions of people all sick in a relatively short period of time. The death rate of those in ITU is @50%, so if all the severe cases go into ITU that is 650,000 deaths

The infrastructure is not there to deal with your ‘let it burn through the population’ strategy.

The money is not there to shut the world economy down like this. When everyone goes smartly about their business again and you see a second surge, shall we just treat it as the Federal Reserve does with interest rates during boom and bust cycles? It is not sustainable. The figure of 2% mortality is a rough estimate but it is less than that, as not everyone who has had the virus has actually been tested for it. There was recently a 106 year old that contracted and recovered from the virus. We need to allow this to take its natural course.

1.25 million die globally from car accidents every year.

This is real life we are talking about here.

teucer you have missed the whole point of lockdown. Congratulations. It can't have been easy to get this far without hearing the real reasons. Did you keep your head in a bucket for a month?

The USA has a population of almost 350 million and there are cultural differences between states as wide as those between European countries. Talking about “American madness” completely misunderstands that the protesters are a tiny minority, and would be akin to suggesting that the Tommy Robinson supporters were representative of British values and culture. It’s not even about libertarianism or the rights of the Constitution: plenty of Americans are staunch defenders of both whilst being fully supportive of lockdown.

I know the reasons and I disagree with those stated reasons. They are bad reasons.

And your 'plan' isn't? Let them die, we'll get the economy back on track!

It isn't all that bad, look at that one centenarian who got it and lived.

You lily livered socialists!

Those in vulnerable categories can self-isolate if they want to. Indeed, 83 out of 10,000 who are over the age of 65 that contract this virus die. Between the ages of 50 and 64, 6 out of 10,000 infected die.

www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-compared-seasonal-flu-in-the-us-death-rates-2020-3

Quarantine is restricting the movement of the sick. Tyranny is restricting everyone’s movement.

Over 30,000 died last year of the flu. If you think COVID-19 numbers are under reported, you can guess how under-reported flu numbers are.

While you all may not be socialists, you are liky livered and you are not living in a world of economic reality.

They're a very "proud of their freedom" aka being arrogantly pompous to the point of idiocy - as we are now witnessing, if them voting Trump in wasn't evidence enough.

First, Hillary actually got more votes than Trump. It's the crazy Electoral College system that handed the presidency to Trump. Yes, they are proud of their freedom; there are historical reasons for this, going as far back as the motivations of the first pilgrims emigrated there.

It's a vast country, and the cultural, religious and political variations are immense. Some of the pomposity and idiocy is based on misinformation and not knowing any different. Many parts of the US are very closed off and parochial - and that includes the news media, which are VERY focused on local news. Historically, the various churches have been the foundation for social interactions. And the vast majority of Americans never travel outside the US, have no idea what socialized medicine is actually like, and assume that countries with monarchies are not democracies

However, when you encounter Americans in San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, et cetera, they'll often start apologising about Trump as soon as they realise you're European...