Surely it was their own selfishness, by wantonly venturing outside the walls of their home, that put them in that predicament?
A little consistency in your arguments, jimi.
Thatâs exactly what I said. Please refrain from exaggeration.Would you answer my question now?
How does one be âin the proximity of a carrierâ, except by foolishly swanning around in public spaces where you might inadvertently come into contact with literally anyone?
The world is awash with danger. Surely it is the duty of each and every one of us to barricade ourselves inside, interact with the outside world only via the internet, and daub sheepâs blood on the doorposts to protect ourselves and our loved ones? If one chooses to recklessly interact with other human beings, then one must surely bear the costs of quarantine as the price of selfishness.
Extreme positions, by their nature, are fragile positions that are easy to pick holes in.
What was your question? I scrolled back up and I canât see one.
My question pertained to people who had not done selfish things, yet were forced into quarantine, by circumstances beyond their control. Why must they fork out exorbitant prices for a hotel? Iâm not winding you up, mate.
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The definition of âselfishnessâ here - or the distinction between âselfishâ and ânon-selfishâ is the one you made up, and it lacks internal consistency.
You were earlier arguing that we all have to wear masks because COVID is everywhere. But if COVID is everywhere, then just the act of going around Ximen Ding for non-essential purposes (and Ximen Ding is pretty much the definition of non-essential) seems to meet your definition of selfishness, masked or otherwise.
In fact, since return procedures for quarantine are fairly well-implemented, and a day out in Ximen Ding will involve you in several close, long-term interactions with others, itâs probably more selfish than going abroad in order to e.g., see your elderly parents because you know that you will never see them again.
I know youâre not winding me up, and your views are far from unique. Thatâs the terrifying thing.
Youâre ranting, and still havenât answered my question.
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And youâre sticking your fingers in your ears and singing âlalalala I canât hear youâ. I answered your question, but you didnât like the answer: they should pay up, because theyâre as selfish as anybody else.
Excellent. I go to work in the mornings. Yâknow, to pay the rent and shit. Some cunt isnât wearing a mask and gives me the virus. So I must fork out for a quarantine hotel? Youâre steeped in logical fallacies.
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Of course. Who do you think you are, recklessly swanning off to work when thereâs a pandemic raging? In addition, you failed to wear adequate PPE, knowing that masks offer only very limited protection against transmission. The fault is entirely yours.
Finley will say if you think the virus is out there, enough to wear a mask all the time, why did you go to work.
Itâs getting annoying Finely.
People have to work.
We wear masks, wash hands, etc.
The reality is it could be out there, but we canât stop living.
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Bingo.
Iâm being annoying because this is all patently silly. There is a pandemic. Shit is going to happen, and itâs going to happen to people at random. We all need to suck it up.
My point is that accusing people of being âselfishâ achieves nothing, because there is no objective measurement of selfishness. Those people going abroad arenât doing it for the amusement value, and there is no such thing as ânon-essential activityâ. Life does go on, and I think the authorities in Taiwan have done a pretty good job of deciding via guidelines where the lines should be drawn.
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sure, but what about those who are financially unable to suck it up?
Does Taiwan offer affordable quarantine options?
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I have no problem with that. But why the continual defense of fuckheads who refuse to wear masks?
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Iâm not aware of any government that gives a ratâs ass about such things. Iâve seen people rummaging through trash for things to eat. Iâve had two businesses destroyed (I had to fire three people whose livelihoods depended on the salary) by âlockdownsâ and other foolishness. Whining about a quarantine hotel is a First World Problem. My main beef with the idea is that itâs used as an opportunity to skin people, eg., by charging them for meals and providing them with bargain-basement swill.
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The question is, which is more selfish, possibly spreading a virus with a small casualty rate or imposing your fears on others and restricting their freedoms? Itâs not something everyone will ever agree on. But itâs fun to watch. 
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Because based off his posts he is one of those fine specimens.
I wear my mask where it is required, which is most public places. I donât wear it on the street because (a) I canât see where Iâm going (b) there is no scientific evidence that it is useful and (c) nobody says I have to. Even in circumstances where a mask is useful, the effect is so small that you need quite high-powered studies to observe a statistically-significant effect, and even then the results are highly dependent on the type of mask and how it is worn.
I comply with mask-wearing rules because people are paranoid and it makes paranoid people feel better, but Iâm not going to pretend that it has anything to do with Taiwanâs COVID-free status. Taiwan had to get a lot of other things right (and get very lucky) to achieve that.
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Is it really that the government forced these people to move to quarantine hotels at their own expense because they were involuntarily exposed? Iâm surprised by that if so - it seems to me that something like that should be covered by the government, in addition to loss of income.
I saw that some of the people were students, so presumably the reason for the quarantine hotel is that they live in dorm rooms with shared facilities?
Iâm with you on that. I often donât bother in the street unless itâs super busy (which probably includes Ximen), although I do tend to avoid crowded areas and being too close to other people anyway, plus I donât go out all that much.
After seeing how many locals wear masks and considering the limited transmissability in open areas, I canât really be bothered with this part of the theater at the expense of the steamed-up glasses and my own minor discomfort.
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The college students are in their dorms on monitoring.
BTW I forgot to mention there were students on monitoring from a bunch of Taipei universities, not just the Tech one.
As to the school kids, them and their parents/families stay together.
People who test positive are sent to the hospital. That is the advantage of not having an overwhelmed medical system.
Those who are under quarantine but cannot afford the quarantine hotel are sent to a government facility. The drawback is the food is not that tasty nor your choice and getting stuff sent is difficult - is no UberEats/FoodPanda.
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