@MadeAliya The problem is that זכות doesn’t mean “right”, it best translates to “privilege”. The difference between the two is that a “right” is something that everyone can do and it cannot be taken away, barring extreme circumstances. A זכות is something that you are awarded. So what you’re saying is that we can only earn the זכות of walking around without face masks and social distancing.
At the end of the day while every life is precious, there is a cheshbon to be made as to what an individual’s responsibility is in saving lives. Like how we weigh driving against deaths by vehicle. Or mentally ill people owning firearms against firearm deaths by mentally ill people. Or wearing a mask against deaths by COVID. Or wearing a mask against deaths by the flu. Or opening schools against deaths by COVID. Everything is a calculated risk and we have to calculate if the risk is worth it. In some cases it is, in some it isn’t. We can’t equate every risk.
A part of me believes the flu comparison is a red herring, but I do believe your disregard for the developmental and emotional damage these restrictions have caused/are causing is criminal.
Eh. I only brought up the flu because @MadeAliyah keeps harping on it. I’m not disregarding the bad parts of the restrictions, I’m saying that you and others are exaggerated the damages caused by wearing masks and de-emphasizing the advantages. You’re viewing this as a binary choice, like the other guy. That either we lock everything down, or we just let everyone do what they want.
I mean, for example, closing schools is a very extreme restriction that has very bad effects. Even though schools being open leads to COVID hospitalizations and Chas v’Shalom even death, it’s simply not worth it to keep them closed. But simple things, like wearing masks, or splitting a minyan up so there will be less mispallelim in each, those should be done since the tradeoff is so minimal.