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Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

newsweek.com

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Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#61

Post by bumby »

keeganjw wrote: post #15

They make a good point in this article, I just wish Newsweek and other media outlets would get this pissed off about climate change. "Old and unafraid of the climate crisis? Good for you. Now stop killing future generations." If we're mobilizing to stop a pandemic, why the hell aren't we mobilizing to stop climate change? I know this is going to get downvoted into oblivion, I just wanted to say it.

There’s numerous cognitive biases in play that cause people to disproportionately weigh near-term risks/rewards (hyperbolic discounting). Not to mention one is a direct threat while one is more abstract

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#62

Post by uberduper »

gre wrote: post #26
nostoc wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not ageist nonsense. This is aimed directly at the rampant discourse of " only the elderly dies, why should I bother" ?

It's an ageist and offensive narrative to say that young people are saying that phrase and acting it out like they don't care about killing their elders.

I've witnessed online discussions about how this is a "boomer cull" and had to point out that we all have family or friends that are not likely to survive it.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#63

Post by datashow »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #27
keeganjw wrote: post #15

They make a good point in this article, I just wish Newsweek and other media outlets would get this pissed off about climate change. "Old and unafraid of the climate crisis? Good for you. Now stop killing future generations." If we're mobilizing to stop a pandemic, why the hell aren't we mobilizing to stop climate change? I know this is going to get downvoted into oblivion, I just wanted to say it.

I was making a related comment to my coworkers earlier this week: if the stock market is this freaked about covid19, just wait til investors realize climate change is real and it will be hard to make money while NYC is flooded and nobody wants to buy oil anymore.

Climate change is real doesn't mean NYC will be flooded.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#64

Post by antonzabirko »

JohnFen wrote: post #57
antonzabirko wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article should've shed light on what govts can do better, not what individuals can. That's where the blame lies.

Ideally, sure, but I don't think that that federal government is really going to do better in the near-to-medium term no matter how many such articles are written. Individual (and state government) action is mostly what we have, so that's more important than ever.

This may sound extreme, but it is scapegoating/systemic apolgia.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#65

Post by kick »

Modern Newsweek is just the print-equivalent of a radio station that only features shock jocks.

They weren't always this bad: they used to be quite good. At some point within the past twenty years, they got restructured pretty heavily. Now it's more or less the same as any old rag.

They're at least willing to air views on any side of the aisle; they'll take anyone, as long as they're as simple-minded and as vitriolic as the average Newsweek reader.

Actually, it is just like radio.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#66

Post by gbrown »

jshevek wrote: post #45
shakezula wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't agree with this enough. The media seems willing to be alarmist about everything _but_ the most important crisis my generation will ever face.

Part of the problem here is that extremists have subjected us to at least three decades of climate alarmism poisoned by bad science and failed predictions. People who lack the scientific background to properly understand specific claims and the basis for them rely on ignorant heuristics, such as "the boy who cried wolf". They wrongly conclude that the current round of climate concern is no different than the rounds t…

Is that true? I feel like the mainstream scientific picture has been alarming (correctly) for that whole period, and people (using ignorant heuristics) have incorrectly discounted the warnings since they don't feel the pain right now.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#67

Post by technofiend »

pengaru wrote: post #56

It does seem kind of karmic through the lens of NIMBY older folks have been making it impossible for younger generations to buy/build homes near them, and now they want the young whipper snappers to care about their welfare. Maybe the best way to become a home owner in SF in the near future is to run around infecting everyone there ASAP. (In case it's not obvious, I'm mostly kidding)

I know you're joking but there could easily be a great shift in voting patterns if this pandemic reaches deeply enough into older populations[1], presuming older voters generally vote conservative. But even for someone like Joe Biden it could mean a big change since apparently [2] his base is older voters as well.

[1] https://www.axios.com/2020-election-youth-vote-gen-z-895c7c4...

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/20/older-vot...

It would mean far more than just changes in real estate, although younger folks would still have to get out and vote.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#68

Post by swayvil »

We are telling a billion impoverished millennial-somethings that they can murder their wealthy elders with minimal risk and guilt.

Heck, there's a whole generation of food-service workers who couldn't take a sick-day even if they wanted to. Will they weep if that pizza kills a retired plutocrat?

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#69

Post by jshevek »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #27
keeganjw wrote: post #15

They make a good point in this article, I just wish Newsweek and other media outlets would get this pissed off about climate change. "Old and unafraid of the climate crisis? Good for you. Now stop killing future generations." If we're mobilizing to stop a pandemic, why the hell aren't we mobilizing to stop climate change? I know this is going to get downvoted into oblivion, I just wanted to say it.

I was making a related comment to my coworkers earlier this week: if the stock market is this freaked about covid19, just wait til investors realize climate change is real and it will be hard to make money while NYC is flooded and nobody wants to buy oil anymore.

Do you mean flooded from some specific storm, or from rising sea levels? When do you think NYC will become flooded? I've heard predictions of a sea level rise of 50 inches by 2100, but I don't know how much the levels need to rise to flood NYC.

Re: Young and unafraid of the pandemic? Good for you. Now stop killing people

#70

Post by Frost1x »

cadence- wrote: post #30

It would be worth mentioning in the article that in the US your sick off days usually are deducted from your vacation days. This makes many people reluctant to stay home if they cannot work remotely.

That's only the tip of the iceberg.

So many people don't even have sick leave and are working paycheck to paycheck drowning in debt.

People in the US are essentially doing what they're told to or permitted to under their current financial and employment situations from my anecdotal observations. Very few have the option to forgo their work activities (public transit commuting, wide exposure in service industries, etc.).

Don't point the finger at the US at large, point the finger at US leadership that's more concerned about next quarter's ROI and less on the health of the country. Most people I've talked to have been limiting their exposure and intentionally distancing themselves from the more elderly and or immunocompromised population when they can.

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