Loved this episode! One thing David didn't really account for in the vaccine mandates for kids is that those are generally for diseases that have major effects in children (like polio). The difference with COVID is that it has little to no effect on kids.
Very good discussion with someone I disagree with so sharply. We knew very early, well before the start of the 2020-2021 school year, that transmission in schools and among children was amazingly low. The idea that it would be a hard call on what to do about schools but for the existence of vaccines is astounding from the expert synthesizer.
I would also like to hear a more detailed discussion regarding your thought process for determining what impositions on others bodily integrity by the government are good and which are not. From my perspective, Massachusetts v. Jacobsen is an anachronism in the same vein as Buck v. Bell (forced sterilization of the feeble minded). I thought we were well past the idea that rational basis is the correct standard for allowing the government to interfere with our bodies (Roe v. Wade; Cruzan by Cruzan; Skinner v Oklahoma, etc). The fact that the government happens to be right about this vaccine (and most if not all other vaccines) is incidental. Allowing the government to stick a needle in your arm because they say it’s good puts way, way, way too much trust in the government. I certainly believe that there could be a vaccination mandate that passed a higher level of scrutiny (more deadly disease; substantial risk to the voluntarily vaccinated, etc), but COVID, especially at this point, isn’t it. As Mr Leonhardt aptly noted, the risks of being unvaccinated almost exclusively fall on the voluntarily unvaccinated.
It you were looking for a different perspective on the same topic, you might want to consider Matt Welch of Reason Magazine as a guest.
Great episode. This was probably my second favorite after the opinion pollsters.
I'm not sure that we know the pandemic had a causal impact on drug overdose deaths. The increase has been almost entirely due to fentanyl - a trend that began years before COVID as more fentanyl has entered the drug supply. It's lethality is just so much higher that it could drive the change all on its own without an underlying increase in opioid use. I haven't seen any evidence of an increase in opioid *use* that is commensurate with the increase in deaths.
Loved this episode! One thing David didn't really account for in the vaccine mandates for kids is that those are generally for diseases that have major effects in children (like polio). The difference with COVID is that it has little to no effect on kids.
Very good discussion with someone I disagree with so sharply. We knew very early, well before the start of the 2020-2021 school year, that transmission in schools and among children was amazingly low. The idea that it would be a hard call on what to do about schools but for the existence of vaccines is astounding from the expert synthesizer.
I would also like to hear a more detailed discussion regarding your thought process for determining what impositions on others bodily integrity by the government are good and which are not. From my perspective, Massachusetts v. Jacobsen is an anachronism in the same vein as Buck v. Bell (forced sterilization of the feeble minded). I thought we were well past the idea that rational basis is the correct standard for allowing the government to interfere with our bodies (Roe v. Wade; Cruzan by Cruzan; Skinner v Oklahoma, etc). The fact that the government happens to be right about this vaccine (and most if not all other vaccines) is incidental. Allowing the government to stick a needle in your arm because they say it’s good puts way, way, way too much trust in the government. I certainly believe that there could be a vaccination mandate that passed a higher level of scrutiny (more deadly disease; substantial risk to the voluntarily vaccinated, etc), but COVID, especially at this point, isn’t it. As Mr Leonhardt aptly noted, the risks of being unvaccinated almost exclusively fall on the voluntarily unvaccinated.
It you were looking for a different perspective on the same topic, you might want to consider Matt Welch of Reason Magazine as a guest.
Great episode. This was probably my second favorite after the opinion pollsters.
I'm not sure that we know the pandemic had a causal impact on drug overdose deaths. The increase has been almost entirely due to fentanyl - a trend that began years before COVID as more fentanyl has entered the drug supply. It's lethality is just so much higher that it could drive the change all on its own without an underlying increase in opioid use. I haven't seen any evidence of an increase in opioid *use* that is commensurate with the increase in deaths.