Specifics will help me to reply here. I'm not sure this sort of general sentiment, which I agree with, doesn't cut both ways. Do only
my posts start with a conclusion and then try to find things that support that conclusion? Do only
others' posts? I would not make such an accusation, myself, comfortably about others' ideas without reference to specific propositions.
Specifics will help me to reply here. Which rhetorical devices? How are they unrelated?
I think it's definitely helpful to focus on events that have already happened regarding SARS2 because they are the most verifiable. This is preferable to speculation. As I've tried to express, some of those attempts at control were necessary and some weren't. If you haven't followed along on that opinion, I guess I need to try harder.
The problem is that people continue to invent new reasons to extend the lockdown. Of course no one proposes "permanent shutdown."
Most would not buy that. But--if at first you say we need to shut things down to flatten the curve so hospitals aren't overwhelmed...and then you propose the specter of a second wave...and then when there's an outbreak somewhere you say "see! we need to extend the quarantine"... and then there's another reason... the effect is just that: permanent shutdown. Will there be a vaccine? Maybe? How long do we wait?
Are you saying someone like John Ioannidis isn't a reasonable expert in epidemiology?
Well, to be fanciful, should quarantine have been imposed on Pitcairn Island? Are ubiquitous, boundless quarantines the right protocol
everywhere? Should measures be tailored to specific situations? Was there any over-reaction, anywhere? I will confidently say, I think the measures put into place locally have been ridiculous.
Yeah, I'm not opposed to control measures, not opposed to testing or contact tracing, not opposed to isolation and retesting, not opposed to restrictions, not opposed to controlling subsequent outbreaks....
I'm opposed to horizontal interdiction, or whatever you want to call it, dumb lockdown or broad quarantine.
(Emphasis mine)
Can you be specific about what you propose we do in this
3-4 year period?
Continued closure of schools, parks, businesses, transportation, etc?
Thank you so much for outright stating this time period. It's important for others to see what I'm talking about when I continually cite concerns of endless lockdown.
Probably?

Are you kidding? "Probably?"
We are at the beginning of a global social catastrophe that hasn't been seen in decades.
I hate that phrase. There's nothing "normal" about living like this. I see no reason to tolerate and embrace the illness and all the problems I keep going on about as "normal." We need to recognize the situation for what it is: not normal.
The unresolved question I have is whether those countries that imposed ubiquitous and boundless lockdowns will, at the end of the day, have dramatically saved years of life lost at the end of all this.