Too many smokers continue to smoke after developing serious symptoms. People continue with poor diets and too little exercise despite their own doctor's advice. We stare at screens for many hours per day. I'd still rather big warnings and community health initiatives than forced exercise/diets/screen-time-limits. Human rights / self determination is important. But organised efforts to appropriately highlight bullshit in public forums isn't bad at all. In both approaches, the Q is how categorization happens, and can it be trusted.

Who was behind the anti-vax/mask psyops campaigns? To me, it seems to have been rolled up together with pro-trump, pro-russia/anti-ukraine, anti-LGBTQ, climate-change-denial streams. At least, these talking points are what a few older people (non-US-based) that I know started repeating. It looks like a giant pot of discontent, with a few usual suspects adding ingredients, no doubt with some profit opportunities along the way.

[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except we know that mostly doesn't work. It is weird to me that your preference is to waste resources and not help people.

It is a combination of antivaxx and general pro business types. If covid isn't real you don't need to stay home. You can go back to work and make your boss some money.

[–] jbloggs777@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Except we know that mostly doesn't work. It is weird to me that your preference is to waste resources and not help people.

I'm not against effective measures, but I've seen too many kind and well-meaning people make a lot of bad decisions over the years. I think this is often the case for politicians too, for which we expect high standards and judge harshly when they inevitably fail. I like to leave room for people to make mistakes, and the opportunity to admit & correct mistakes.

Maybe we need fewer politicians and petty dictators on soap boxes making claims and promises and more no-nonsense elbow grease bureaucracy, with more direct feedback loops, and KPIs that benefit the population.

[–] UnicodeHamSic@hexbear.net 1 points 1 year ago

I don't belive that. I belive you have seen people who say they have good intentions. I simply think they weren't telling the truth. Or they were wrong in obvious ways that that didn't care to hear about.

The problem with politicians is to be one you have to be good at capitalism. Which is amoral at best and immoral most of the time. So the same people that decide them making money is more important than children having food and medicine are the ones that get to make policy. Unsurprisingly all their policy ends up with them making more money and the needs of people unaddressed.

That last thing you said, that sounds nice. However in terms of how the world actually works it is meaningless. The assumption that makes is that politicians simply don't understand how to fix problems. They do, they just are the most highly bought into the capitalist system. The only problem they actually care is fix is how to make more money for them and theirs.