There is more to it than just the death rate. It can do serious damage to your lungs and the brain fog may never go away. I don't want anyone to suffer through Covid. I had Covid long haulers for seven months and I was miserable the whole time. I still have problems related to Covid. People who think it's like the cold or flu can be dead wrong.

Oh, I'm not suggesting that it can't be serious for some people. What I am saying is that based on the survival rate, an ominous and definitive statement such as "get your final affairs in order" is not warranted. For a lot of people having Covid will be no worse than having a cold and far less severe than the flu.

One can take it seriously and yet not pretend that having Covid is a near certain death sentence. I think part of the reason people are reluctant to take the virus is because there has not been an honest public discussion of this virus.

It seems pretty public to me. We have close friends that are in the hospitals dealing with this on a daily basis. They are doing their best to educate people on what is going on, but are being ignored, being called liars and such by those with some other agenda. That agenda most commonly appears to be "Don't Tread On Me" and be damned with those that don't agree.

It isn't the death rate that is staggering. It is the hospitalization rate that is reaching and exceeding pandemic highs. People that need immediate non-COVID related hospital care cannot find rooms because they are all filled by primarily unvaccinated COVID patients. Thankfully the death rate isn't higher as you pointed out, but the damage being done is still catastrophic to them, their families, and to others. They are confined to rooms for weeks at a time. And now it's the kids!

Yeah, it's been plenty public - the problem has been the dishonesty. And the hypocrisy. And the coerciveness.

We have the political elite shutting down people's businesses and then turning around and breaking the very rules they think they can impose on citizens.
You have Fauci pointing his fingers at bikers for having their annual event while not daring to breathe a word about Obama and his birthday bash. You have people like Stretchin Gretchen telling people that they can't travel within the state and then showing up on Florida with her family. Medical doctors sign on to a letter saying mass protests are okay if they are done in the name of George Floyd while people protesting lockdowns are considered an existential threat.

I may not agree on all issues with the "don't tread on me" people you look down on, but their instinct to protect individual liberties is certainly not something that should be looked down on.

Oh, and try to show a little gratitude for those liberties. They should not be taken for granted.

Nothing wrong with individual liberties, nor anyone truly looking to protect them. But using them as an excuse is demeaning.

Individual liberties are fine, as long as individuals don't use them in the manner that they see fit.

These people you are criticizing see the government telling its citizens they have to have vaccine passports, while at the same time they are allowing a flood of illegal immigrants come into our country with not only Covid but all kinds of infectious diseases.

They see the White House openly admit that the federal government is directing big tech to censor speech it disagrees with.

You can't blame people for being skeptical.

What government is mandating vaccine passports?

What government is mandating vaccine passports?