M.D. here and I feel like I should defend myself but all I can think of was this highly trained doc who fought the hospital administration about having to wear masks, in the hospital, during peak Covid. I mean he was actually one of many but what made him stand out was that his wife was in our ICU. With Covid. Yes he continued to fight masking even as his own wife was near death in the ICU.
So, yeah.
I totally hear you and respect your decision. That said I think very few of these decisions are as binary as it seems when presented by authorities:
I think this is an excellent question to put out loud. I’m sorry someone downvoted you but it really is worth asking and thinking about. To be clear I am not saying that I think the answer is “yes.” But this sort of thing isn’t without precedent.
Story time: I used to be a very avid cave explorer and I enjoyed it more than just about anything. Caving is a tough sport to do though because many caves are on private property and the landowners often refuse access. So a lot of caving is done on national forest/park land. Around 2006, an invasive species of fungus arrived in the USA from Europe. This fungus infected multiple species of bats with a high mortality rate but didn’t affect humans (White Nose Syndrome is the disease name). Over the next few years the spread of disease was well documented, predominantly along the known migratory routes of the affected species.
In reaction, the National Parks and National Forest managers started closing off access to caves on public land, as a ‘precaution.’ Caving as a sport essentially became nearly impossible for most people overnight. This isn’t a mainstream, popular activity like mountain biking so nobody outside of cavers gave a shit and there wasn’t much of an uproar and the policy stood. The national park where I spent most of my time still has all caves closed to recreational caving.
So the people who manage these public lands absolutely do ask the question of when animal lives outweigh human use and I think that publicly asking those questions is a good way to make sure we don’t have the decision made for us without having a chance to weigh in.
I really miss caving. /rant
When I was younger I read somewhere “If you give someone $20 and never see them again, it was probably worth it.” Accounting for inflation I think that perfectly fits your situation.
You are so absolutely correct about this. This gentleman I refer to is actually a very smart guy in many ways. But say it with me folks: You are not immune to propaganda.
This gentleman was drinking the Fox News tea big time and that’s where the anti-mask, anti-vaccine stuff was coming from. His training and years of knowledge just eventually got short circuited from the constant propaganda.