People get testy whenever anyone outside of a pre-approved expert issues an opinion or even a random thought on the 'rona. The concern being that if people don't listen to the experts, we're all going to die. This of course ignores all the ways that the experts (including media and politicians) have abused the public's trust on the pandemic. Had they erred more on the side of not confusing the hell out of people, maybe people wouldn't relate to random personalities who make the least bit of common sense, like Dave Portnoy or Mike Rowe.

In Rowe's case, Mike Graham from Caffeinated Thoughts took exception to a Facebook post where Mr. Dirty Job's gave his opinion after someone ASKED FOR HIS OPINION. You see, while Rowe is a media personality, an avid Facebook user, and an aficionado of ball caps, he is NOT epidemiologist. Therefore he should not be giving his opinion. That's the crux of Adam Graham's argument here. Also, I don't know what this straw man did to be burned alive like this, but jeez:

The problem according to Rowe is that millions of Americans haven't accepted that reality of death, disease, and infections and that we need to get on with it and just accept our eventual infection with COVID-19, hope for our survival, and live with the results of our spreading the virus to others.

Rowe said nothing of the sort, and that grossly misrepresents what he did say. So Rowe took Graham's column and took it apart piece by piece in this brutal take down. Some highlights that also double as foot for thought everyone needs to consider:

I also buckle up, look before changing lanes, obey the speed limits, keep my car well maintained, and drive sober. Then, in spite of six million accidents and 40,000 annual fatalities, I drive anyway. This is why most rational people are able to operate an automobile in spite of the obvious danger - they first assess the risk, then they adapt their behavior, and then, they proceed with caution. This is also how people will live their lives in the age of coronavirus. What choice do we have?

Seems to me that the first step is to accept the fact that COVID is here to stay. The second step is to accept the fact that COVID is going to infect a lot of people. The next step is to either proceed with caution, or abandon your former life.

I don't want this disease and I don't want to spread it. But if the virus is here to stay, I'm not inclined to spend the rest of my life hiding from a pestilence that has very little chance of killing me. That's why I decided to get back to work, cautiously. But you've twisted my position into a fatalistic interpretation that's leaves everything up to chance.

Mike Rowe isn't calling masks "government control muzzles." He's not encouraging people to only stand five feet away from strangers for an extended period of time just to be a jerk. Nor is he claiming that hydroxychloroquine is a miracle drug. All he's doing is not letting panic porn affect how he lives his life. But "stay in your house until we cure this thing we probably won't be able to cure" is the accepted talking point of the day, and anyone who disagrees needs to be othered and shamed. Because the last thing we need is for people to think for themselves.

You don't have to be an epidemiologist to know putting your life and everything else on hold as long as there is any risk of anything bad happening isn't any way to live. You just need a little common sense. Also, turn off cable news once in a while.

The COVID Death Count is Inflated | Change My Mind | Louder with Crowderyoutu.be

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