hilzoy (@hilzoy): 1) Some of us care about people other than ourselves.
The more transmission, the more chances for a variant to emerge that will make all of us vulnerable.
Honestly: if I ever hear a conservative lecture me about moral values again, I will scream. https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/1424767882567770114
Seriously: I, an ethicist, spent DECADES being lectured by conservatives about how people like me had no morals. Bill Bennett made tons of money writing books on the subject. Our shocking abandonment of honor, character and decency was every conservative's favorite subject.
And then, suddenly, things changed. Torture was suddenly OK, because apparently conservatives had never before considered the possibility that we might face real dangers, and the minute 9/11 happened, principles flew out the window and ticking time bombs flew in.
Lying our way into a pointless war that destabilized a huge swathe of the world for no reason was fine, because America, f*ck yeah!, and if we didn't like it, that just showed we didn't think people in the Arab world could handle democracy, or something.
I could go on, but I'll just fast forward through a lot and say: DONALD TRUMP, PARAGON OF MANLY VIRTUE, and dissolve on the floor, laughing and crying at once.
Liberals hate America, say the people who are willing to play footsie with someone who actually tried to overturn an election.
And now comes @NoahCRothman , wondering why we should care about whether people fake vaccine ID cards if we ourselves are vaccinated. Besides showing that he knows NOTHING about public health, has apparently not considered the needs of children, and ... does not seem to have updated his information about COVID to account for the delta variant, he is asking why we should care about anyone other than ourselves. Like kids under 12, the immunosuppressed, those negligible people.
That's a question you'd only ask if you were either a sociopath or more concerned with clever takes than actually getting things right.
The second, preferable alternative is something I spend time trying to get first year students to see is shameful. But they're kids. There's no excuse for it in an alleged adult, let alone one who has a platform and is paid to express his views.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone who wonders why he should care about anyone else has not given a lot of thought to the responsibilities that having a platform entails. But there we are.
If I thought that people like @NoahCRothman had enough insight and integrity that they'd stop hectoring us about morality in future, there would be a silver lining to this. But if their treatment of the deficit (or, for that matter, ANYTHING) is any guide, they won't.