Covid infection rates are near what they were in the initial outbreak. But go ahead and see your movie. Send your kids to school unmasked. No problems there

@BetaCuck4Lyfe So what im hearing is, despite almost bankrupting the economy and making suicides and other mental health issues skyrocket due to quarintines and mandates....it has had absolutely no effect of any kind.

Pretty good argument to make sure we dont make that mistake again I guess.

@freemo @BetaCuck4Lyfe
If that's what you heard, you should get your ears checked out.

@TheGreatLlama

The point is, he is wrong.. the vaccines and mandates DID help. If it werent for them COVID levels would be much higher, and no, they arent at the same levels as before the vaccine.

Claiming the COVID levels are uneffected by the mandates and vaccine and after years of it we are exactly at the same levels as before is 1) anti-vaxx covid misinformation and 2) extremely harmful nonsense.

@BetaCuck4Lyfe

@freemo @BetaCuck4Lyfe
Pretty sure you are completely misrepresenting the spirit of his initial post and you used it as an excuse to highlight all the unfortunate side effects of quarantine.

Maybe you really do need your ears checked out.

@TheGreatLlama

I am not saying the point of the post was to discourage people from vaccinating... I am sure he decided to make up that lie about the levels being uneffected by mandates cause he thought he was being clever.

But the truth is regardless of what he intended to say, the fact is he lied, and that lie is one that is extremely harmful to getting people vaccinated or addressing the issue of COVID.

People spouting nonsense about levels being uneffected by 2 years of vaccine and mandates is NOT what people need to hear right now regardless of how well intentioned such a lie may be.

@BetaCuck4Lyfe

@freemo @BetaCuck4Lyfe
Seems like it's pretty easy to make a statement that is imprecise and vulnerable to misunderstanding. Perhaps you should reread what he initially posted and what you initially posted. He never said that covid levels were *unaffected*. Nothing of the sort in fact.

Knowing that Beta well enough to know his intent, I read your post as antivax/antimask/anti-lockdown and I'm quite sure he did as well. If it's still unclear, his point was that current infection rates are spiking and it would be good to take the kind of precautions you were early on. If you want to argue more specifically than that, maybe go find someone who actually is doing covid denial to fight with.

@TheGreatLlama

So a lot to unroll here....

> Perhaps you should reread what he initially posted and what you initially posted. He never said that covid levels were *unaffected*. Nothing of the sort in fact.

Yes you are right, his wording was something more like, the levels are the same as before the mandate (since he blocked me I cant actually see the original wording).

> Knowing that Beta well enough to know his intent, I read your post as antivax/antimask/anti-lockdown

Why are you trying to divine someones intent rather than trying to figure out which facts are accurate and thus enable us to address problems? I dont know what his intent is, but it doesnt matter, he lied and that lie is harmful, he was called out for that lie.

If his intent was as you say, his response would be "oh my bad, let me correct this information so i dont hurt people"... I dont care if his intent is good, if it leads him to hurt people its not right.

As for reading my post as anti-* I can get that, my post was (obviously, as can see by the thread) sarcasm and mocking him for his very harmful "fact" and showing how and why that is harmful. Sadly sarcasm doesnt always translate well on the internet. But thankfully my responses make it quite clear im not anti-vax and just mocking him. So even if he or you made that mistake early on, not a big deal since I explicitly clarify it later anyway.

So whats the problem, as long as you are engaging people honestly with the facts on hand, and not trying to read their mind to gather intent, then that misunderstanding doesnt seem like a huge problem int he end.

> If it's still unclear, his point was that current infection rates are spiking and it would be good to take the kind of precautions you were early on.

If that is what he wanted to say, despite the fact that he said something different, then once the error in his original post was pointed out why didnt he correct his wording to me more clear rather than doubling downa nd attacking someone for being called out on claiming harmful information?

Saying rates are spiking is fair and worth mentioning... But trying to say its at the level it was before th4e mandates is a harmful lie, especially when the levels now are not even close to those levels (in some of the worst places its still 1/2 the rate, and in places like the usa its much smaller, at least 1/10th the rate or less depending on which data you go by).

Saying rates are going up is good, saying rates are exactly the same as pre-vaccine pre-mandate, that is no ok, regardless of intent it is a lie, it is harmful, full stop. Anyone who cared would have corrected their wording.

> If you want to argue more specifically than that, maybe go find someone who actually is doing covid denial to fight with.

I had no desire to "fight" with anyone. My original post didnt attack him, it addressed the content. He came back with personal insults and a fight rather than a discussion, or **any** willingness to listen to why they are causing harm or any willingness to do less harm.

The problem is exactly what you pointed out earlier.. his goal is not and never was to help the COVID community, thats just his mask. He is here to insult people and start shit and just is looking for a way to justify that as morally right.

This is obvious because both him and you were more concerned with "whose side is this guy really on" rather than "Are the things i am saying helpful and correct, are the things he is saying factually correct"? When people deal with the person rather than the substance of an argument, then you probably never had any intent to care about the substance of the topic to begin with, you came here just to white knight and let of some steam.

@BetaCuck4Lyfe