Firstly - the long-term effects of Covid aren't fully known. What is known is... bad. There are plenty of people - young people - who have permanently lost lung function, or struggling with CFS now. It can really mess you up and make your quality of life worse, forever. I don't think it's irrational to be scared of that, and I think your off-the-cuff assertion that the ravages of lockdown are more dangerous is questionable.
Secondly - as long as the virus circulates, we have a serious problem. Going out and doing whatever because you're not worried about yourself is a supremely selfish act, even if you're correct in your assessment. Not only because you might give the virus to someone else who might fare poorly, but because this kind of transmission is why we have a problem. We could end this virus in weeks if we all somehow mustered the collective will to stay home and isolate properly, all at the same time. But we don't. Don't blame people for trying to do their part.
First - Yes. Valid enough. Any infection can kill you or leave lasting damage if you're unlucky. It's best to avoid them altogether. Still, the vast majority of young people will clear this one without problems.
Second - I did not say it explicitly, but maybe in these crazy times it has to be said? It is, obviously, profoundly wrong to selfishly risk the lives of others like that.
But are you suggesting that even going for a jog is supremely selfish? Stuff like that is actually recommended by the health authorities where I live, as it is very low risk and people need exercise. That's sort of my point.
Fear, in disproportion to the risk, can cause people to take "doing their part" too far. Some people are refusing to go outside to exercise. There are stories of people not getting injuries like broken limbs treated at the hospital, over fear of COVID-19. Stuff like that is fear driving people to irrational calculations on risk-benefit.
No, of course going for a jog outdoors is fine, especially in a sparsely populated area. The point was simply that the more socially minded you are, your less relevant is your own personal risk. You'd know your friends better than I, but all I'm saying is that what could easily be taken for "fear" might, in fact, be "duty".
Speaking for myself - I have been more careful than anyone in my social group, to an extent that many would call excessive, and I've been viewed as fearful for that. But my motivation runs much deeper - this is the first time in my entire life that society has had a singular, overarching goal that every person can contribute towards with their own behavior. It's the closest thing to a war footing since WW2. And my job, as a citizen, is very simple: Do Not Transmit Covid. You bet your ass I'm going to throw everything I've got into that.
Not going to the hospital for a broken bone is stupid though.
> Going out and doing whatever because you're not worried about yourself is a supremely selfish act
and that’s OK because expecting someone else to change their life because of your own fears is far more selfish and what many people seem to be overlooking here in all of this is the further societal disintegration of privacy, what we do with our own time, where we decide to go, what our health status is, all of these things are private matters, that’s a big part of what it means to have freedom, personal responsibility, free agency, and privacy all go hand in hand
> as long as the virus circulates, we have a serious problem
Sorry this is ridiculous. The coronaviruses that surfaced in the 20th and 19th c. are not as dangerous as they once were. And if they are, they're part of the array of viruses that we were able to handle before even though they're dangerous to the immunoincompetent (senescence, etc).
Firstly - the long-term effects of Covid aren't fully known. What is known is... bad. There are plenty of people - young people - who have permanently lost lung function, or struggling with CFS now. It can really mess you up and make your quality of life worse, forever. I don't think it's irrational to be scared of that, and I think your off-the-cuff assertion that the ravages of lockdown are more dangerous is questionable.
Secondly - as long as the virus circulates, we have a serious problem. Going out and doing whatever because you're not worried about yourself is a supremely selfish act, even if you're correct in your assessment. Not only because you might give the virus to someone else who might fare poorly, but because this kind of transmission is why we have a problem. We could end this virus in weeks if we all somehow mustered the collective will to stay home and isolate properly, all at the same time. But we don't. Don't blame people for trying to do their part.