I Haven't Been Lazy, I've Been Arguing With People :)

I've been lazy, I haven't posted in the last few days. I shouldn't really have any excuses being under house arrest, but still the time has escaped me. The main reason is that I've spent so much time on Twitter, both arguing with people and just following the general goings-on, that I've exhausted my ability to stare at a screen.

I don't really enjoy the arguing, but I feel like I need to keep popping the little bubbles of hysteria that are out there in the country.

It generally goes like this; I see someone demanding more lock down. I then reply with a tweet along these lines..

(click to enlarge)

I feel like a bit of a prick doing it, but I really feel it's important to point out to people that they are, in effect, dictating to other people. They're not really thinking about the rights of others - and of themselves by extension. It's a worrying trend.

My general argument is that you have the choice (and responsibility) to protect yourself, so you have no need to be demanding that others do the same. You can choose not to leave the house. If you do leave the house you can choose to avoid people and crowded places. You can likewise choose to wear a face mask or other PPE. You can even choose to wear a full hazmat suit and carry around a little bottle of spray disinfectant to wipe down every surface you touch if you so wish.

All free choices. You can quite literally never leave the house for the next 18 months and have everything you need delivered to your doorstep by Amazon or some other online delivery service. You can have zero human contact - zero opportunity to catch something. So it's simply not fair or right that you demand, under force of law, that others stay home ..so that you can leave the house yourself.

Of course, people may say "..but I have to leave the house to go to work." Which is a fair argument, but again, you can choose to quit your job. Or take leave. Certainly not a nice thing to have to do, and I wouldn't count on the government helping out adequately. However, it is a choice, and many people have had that choice completely removed, losing their jobs or businesses because of this shut down.

So again, it's a hypocritical argument to say. "The risk to human life is so great that we need to lock down. Even if it means losing millions of jobs ..except my job that is. I need to go to work. I have bills to pay."

Instantly, all of a sudden, the economy matters and people need to go to work because they have bills to pay.

Likewise if the government isn't giving you the financial support needed to stay home then you should be complaining to them and demanding that they sort it out. You shouldn't be demanding that they strip the rights of other people.

Anyhow, like I said, I don't really enjoy the arguing with people. Plus the back and forth often goes on for hours. However, it seems like the only practical thing I can do to help dampen the madness and get this situation over with sooner rather than later.