I will update the data and graphs when I get home… but, for the moment… I am out enjoying the sunshine.
On that note…I’m not a huge fan of seeing my words being twisted into something I didn’t say… so I guess I’ll take another brief moment on yet another gorgeous day to yet again clarify something I’ve been saying for the better part of a year. Here it is again:
First of all, something I’ve been saying and dealing with and venting about seems to be this unbelievably incredibly annoying way of trying to discuss things with people who refuse to see anything other than in terms of right/wrong, black/white, “with us or against us”. I’ve written endlessly about having to explain things to certain people over and over again, because the minute one little thing doesn’t agree with what they think, everything else must be wrong.
This is not how the world works.
Let’s break this down into tiny little digestible bits so that there’s zero confusion about what I’m trying to say.
I am certainly not advocating staying inside, locked up in a tiny room with no windows, watching your mental health and that of your family deteriorate into a puddle of despair. It’s beautiful and sunny. Blue skies and fresh air. Go outside and soak in the vitamin D. It’s what I’m doing right now. It’s good for you. Wear sunscreen if you’re going to be out there a long time.
It seems, however, and this is the part that a lot of people don’t seem to want to understand… that then going down to the beach and sitting without masks in close proximity with hundreds of other strangers singing and partying about freedom and kumbaya… is not even remotely close to finding a quiet spot, just you and your group of up to 10, far away from others, not risking propagating infection from your bubble to someone else’s.
Some people want to hear just enough to suit their narrative, and that’s it.
“So yes, go outside and…”
Weeee!!! PARTY!!!! WooHoo!!!!
“No, that’s not what anyone said.”
“You said we could go outside and so we do and now you’re saying we can’t and freedom and you’re a liar and freedom and who needs masks and vaccines are bullshit and freedom and Mark Donnelly and freedom and f!@# masks and vaccines don’t work anyway and what about that restaurant on Cornwall and freedom and masks prevent oxygen and that gym in Kelowna and freedom and it’s a hoax and freedom and big brother and social distancing is bullshit and it’s just a flu and freedom and…”
Yeah, you know what, I keep getting accused of propagating a narrative that’s trying to limit your freedoms. This comes mostly from a group of people who don’t have much clarity with respect to what freedom actually is because they’ve never faced a reality where actual freedom has been at stake.
Being told to act responsibly is not an infringement of your freedoms. It’s simply part of you being a cooperative part of society so that everyone, including you, can benefit from the effects of the greater good that all of us have the power to bestow.
Most people know what that means. Some are incapable of understanding. And some… simply don’t care.
Another piece that seems to confuse people, or they simply ignore, is in relation to hanging out with up to 10 people outside. It’s supposed to be the same group of 10 for everyone in the group, so it’s essentially a closed group. And if you’re sitting together you should still be distanced or masked.
Amen 👏
On the difference between negative and positive freedom: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberty-positive-negative/
sadly the pandemic has revealed that many people are selfish, many people are racist and many people aren’t that bright – not a great combination
Always the voice of reason. I appreciate and see you H. Enjoy this wonderful weekend with your family ⭐️🌸
Well-stated, Horatio. Thanks.
It’s really is only 4% of the population that are recalcitrant, and another 4% that are having a hard time understanding. Unfortunately they all seem to be in the same place sometimes. For the rest of us please continue following the PHO directions and gently nudge the changeble 4% while steering clear of the irreconcilably chronically misguided.
If we all pull together we should maintain our “freedoms”, if the 8% are allowed to run amok we will be in for a lot worse than we have experienced so far.
Drove thru Kelowna yesterday, a couple of hundred anti-maskers protesting the infringements on their ‘freedoms’. Wait until they are required to show their vaccination card to get into a pub or a movie theatre or a restaurant and then let’s see what they have to say about their freedom. I fear for their mental health, and that was before the pandemic hit.
What’s your thoughts on Hastings park racing and woodbine not? Curious because Vancouver COVID numbers seem to follow Toronto