Coronavirus

The scary thing about the coronavirus is that you might be just minding your own business and end up getting it anyway. You could be peeping into your neighbor's window or rummaging through their trash. Maybe today's the day you take a few packages from people's porches. Here you are, just going about your daily activities and POOF you could end up with coronavirus. Think of the shoplifters at the grocery store who are just trying to provide for their families. Or the woman who spent thousands of dollars on veneers and just had her lips done only to be told she has to wear a mask everywhere she goes. Next thing you know and through no fault of their own, they might have coronavirus.

On top of it, your reaction may be serious enough that you have to go to the hospital and might end up in the ICU. Imagine the pain and suffering and months of recovery, not to mention the tens of thousands in out-of-pocket costs. And you did nothing wrong! You were just living life.

At least if you catch an STD, you got to have crazy hot sex for your trouble. You knew the risks going in, but the mind-blowing orgasms in the heat of the moment made it worth it. And afterward, you just pick up a cheap antibiotic, and in a few weeks, you're right back to normal.
I used to hold this opinion for a few months. During those few months I was minding my own business in a safer way -- aka social distancing rather than the examples you list above lol -- and it was easy to think people could just do what I'm doing. I mean everyone I was reading about on HackerNews and Twitter were doing what I was doing... so they could to.

It was only when I went back home and had to talk with people outside of my domain that I became convinced that not everyone can do what we can. Some people just have lives that put them in danger's way. And I don't know if you've ever seen the show 24 featuring Jack Bauer? 

There's a scenario where CTU -- a government agency office -- falls under a nerve gas attack. Some people escape into air-locked rooms, but most die in the main areas/corridors.

There are two groups within two separate air locked rooms, in which they are protected from the nerve gas... but they are running out of oxygen and the terrorists have cut off all their communication channels that go outside the building. The two seperate groups are able to communicate via inter-building comm, and one of the technicians discovers that one of the other group has access to a control panel that could re-initiate the oxygen ventilation system. Of course it's convenient that the technicians discovers that it's the other group that has access to this control panel so they must make the sacrifice. Because the caveat is that the group near the control panel will sign theyir death warrant the moment they open their air lock to access the control panel because the contaminated air would seep in.

But if they don't go then both groups will die. So the two people in this specific air lock agree to go. They hold their breaths and the agent who knows how to use the control panel dashes to the control panel to re-initiate the oxygen system. After that he returns to the previously airlocked room and there's a moment of jovial surprise when the two see each other and they're not showing any symptoms yet. They're both holding their breaths. But eventually they can't and they start breathing. And then they die.

Point here is that I know it's easy to ideally say people should live or act one eway. But I think people who are going to shoplift right now -- the new ones not the ones who've always done it -- are just taking a breath. 

From an idealogy and ethics point of view is shoplifting wrong? Yes.
But from a person's livelihood standpoint is it wrong? Not absolutely. 

I think when life gets tough is when ideals/philosophy stop aligning with practicality. 
2020-12-20 18:10:32
1) Sounds like a great episode. 2) Wow, you went down the serious path on fodder for the Brandonian Doctrine. 3) You're right, when life gets tough, people's choices have to be viewed in the context of the person making those choices.
2020-12-20 19:51:33