Conavirus......

Or, we could prevent measles outbreaks (and flu outbreaks and chicken pox...) through vaccination! Risk of death or side effects being much much lower with the shot! And we could make people opt OUT of organ donation instead of opting in (most people are lazy) and we could put breathalyzers in cars (for optional use to inform the driver) and then take away people’s drivers licenses the first time they drive drunk! And we could keep tobacco products away from young people to discourage expensive, health damaging addiction, and we could offer high quality prenatal care to every woman in America....

oh the things we could do because even one easily preventable death is too many!

I think public health issues will always be a tough call. We are told about “the science”, but the “noble lie” and lab-leak taboos make unquestioning faith hard to justify. That leaves us with old-fashioned politics and governance to generate policy. It doesn’t help that so many try to politicize this virus. What balance do we strike between liberty and safety?

I think there is some space between every man for himself and a federal registry of the clean and unclean. Somewhere between being lone wolves or veal calves.

CL, I like your solution much better than Yppej’s.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chicken lady

And we could keep tobacco products away from young people to discourage expensive, health damaging addiction,

---

How? They're already illegal. There are already sting operations to catch people selling to those underage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chicken lady

Or, we could prevent measles outbreaks (and flu outbreaks and chicken pox...) through vaccination! Risk of death or side effects being much much lower with the shot! And we could make people opt OUT of organ donation instead of opting in (most people are lazy) and we could put breathalyzers in cars (for optional use to inform the driver) and then take away people’s drivers licenses the first time they drive drunk! And we could keep tobacco products away from young people to discourage expensive, health damaging addiction, and we could offer high quality prenatal care to every woman in America....

oh the things we could do because even one easily preventable death is too many!

---

The devil is in the details of what “easily preventable” consists of.

I do not like the way you breezily say what “we” can do to others. “We” can so easily make them do X because “we” think “we” know better than they do what is best for all of us.

if you want to attach a breathalyzer to you car you are free to do that. You are free to stand on a street corner urging people you see to sign their driver’s license to give away organs.

But you want the heavy hand of government to do all of the dirty work for you, dirty work that would be ignored in my city anyway. All the laws, rules, and regulations in the world won’t cause people to drive carefully, stop at stop signs, register their cars,pay their taxes, keep their properties up to the Standards defined by city ordinances, keep their agressive dogs on a leash, etc etc.Not even talking about shooting guns on the regular for fun or business.

I haven’t forgotten your solution to have drug dogs harassing library patrons.I still find that suggestion preposterous and I see it as a jackbooted threat that horrifies even me, Law ‘N Order Iris.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yppej

How? They're already illegal. There are already sting operations to catch people selling to those underage.

---

Wait…you mean laws don’t prevent bad behaviour? I am shocked! shocked I tell you!

I will say that in my city where civil disobedience takes place on the daily and I see it, many or most? wear masks. Even outside which is too much for me. Even the guys who are caught on security cameras stealing packages, that we see nearly daily on our Nextdoor feed. Even those guys are wearing masks.


Oh… Wait…guess that serves them well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iris lilies

Wait…you mean laws don’t prevent bad behaviour? I am shocked! shocked I tell you!

---

There is a correlation between parental smoking and child smoking, just as there is between parental obesity and child obesity, as I posted earlier. The response was a rather fatalistic it's genetic with regards to obesity.

Is smoking perhaps genetic also? People can't have any agency, can they? Then they would have to bear responsibility.

If we want to stop children from smoking, I think the example set by the people they most admire is of much more import than any law. But I guess it's not politically correct to say that.

Same with alcohol consumption. Maybe it's not a breathalyzer in the car that will work, but a parent that doesn't chug down the alcohol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yppej

There is a correlation between parental smoking and child smoking, just as there is between parental obesity and child obesity, as I posted earlier. The response was a rather fatalistic it's genetic with regards to obesity.

Is smoking perhaps genetic also? People can't have any agency, can they? Then they would have to bear responsibility.

If we want to stop children from smoking, I think the example set by the people they most admire is of much more import than any law. But I guess it's not politically correct to say that.

Same with alcohol consumption. Maybe it's not a breathalyzer in the car that will work, but a parent that doesn't chug down the alcohol.

---

Hilariously, a moment after I wrote the sentence above about a breathalyzer, I went off to another forum I frequent where one of the posters talks about running her breathalyzer on herself last night. I guess it never occurred to me to buy a breathalyzer but maybe I should. I don’t do much drinking anymore starting with the never ending respiratory infection I had in the year 2019 which caused red wine to taste bad to me.

Actually the only two “laws” I suggested were taking the driver’s license (I guess combined with requiring the car manufacturer to include the breathalyzer - I had a cigaret lighter in my car for years and never used it...) and making organ donation opt out - again, you have to check a box when you get your first license, or later if you change your mind - hardly a draconian restriction.

the rest is literally stuff that requires community action and funding and could be completely voluntary and in some cases free if only we cared enough.

btw, I am a one woman anti tobacco and drug, do not drink or tail when driving crusade in my classroom. (I have a personal litmus test for my actions - 1) will I get fired? 2) will it be worth it? In this case 1) probably not and 2) yes.)

still love the drug dogs. Never met a drug dog I didn’t like. Semi related, Have you ever met a bloodhound? They’re adorable!