The reasons people should oppose shutdowns are rarely the reasons given. Thread:

1. COVID is a real, highly contagious disease. If you’re young and healthy, you’re not at appreciable risk of harm, but most people have someone in their lives who is elderly or infirm.

It’s a good idea to wear a mask for their sakes and to be considerate of others.

2. It’s frustrating to see government officials force you to take actions that they don’t even take. I get it. But the inconvenience of not eating at a steakhouse or listening to live music isn’t

why lockdowns are evil. The impact on small business is tragic and concerning, but that’s not even why.

3. In an interdependent world, people in poor countries depend heavily on high levels of production in the rich countries to keep them fed and clothed. When rich countries

shut down production, people in poor countries become highly vulnerable to starvation, disease and other catastrophes. The UN warns that just the actions we took this spring could place more than 100 million people at risk of starvation. This is why lockdowns are so immoral.

Statistical analyses show they had essentially no effect on the rate of contagion, but even if they did, on balance the lockdown policy causes far more death than it could possibly hope to avert. Lockdown advocates either don’t account for the effect on people on the other side

of the planet, or somehow don’t count those lives as relevant. This is either colossally myopic, evil, or both.