What's a proper response?

In response to a slippery slope argument against pandemic laws...

Ironically (or hypocritically), I'd argue that it's up to each person to voluntarily decide whether their actions risk harming others.  I'm all for guidance from respected medical/economic voices on precautions to take.  I disagree with coercion in the form of laws that curtail my Constitutional liberties.  I'll give Kemp some grudging respect for the way he's (mostly) tried to use persuasion rather than force, especially with church services.  I don't like to see even the current "rules" in place very long, lest we get used to them and forget we have a right to move about freely.

One problem with my approach of voluntary assumption of temporary limitations, though, is that it relies on having good information on which to base one's actions.  That is absolutely NOT the case today, mostly because our news media is so horribly incompetent.  If we all had more or less that same factual information, we could all more or less make good decisions for ourselves and for our immediate communities, friends, and families.  We'd probably come to similar conclusions and there wouldn't be any necessity for laws to coerce us into anything.

But we don't have good information at all.  We get offered opinions, guesses, models, poorly written, poorly researched and blatantly slanted stories designed to generate ad revenue while whipping us into a frenzy.  You and I know that the press has, for the last three years, been exposed as liars of the worst type, unable and unwilling to report factually about a president they viscerally hate.  Instead, they're willing to write absolute untruths because they believe they're right and we are wrong.  Do we think they've magically abandoned that to suddenly report THIS story the right way?  Not a chance.

So if we're in a situation where most of the information we have is suspect, what do we do?  I don't really know, other than to fall back on core principles of behavior and try to maintain a sense of humor (research says people with the ability to see the humor in otherwise serious situations like a pandemic tend to live longer).  I guess in my case, I am sitting zazen every day to maintain my sanity and my humor, and trying to remember that I took a vow that includes what's called the three pure precepts:

1 - Don't do harm (or don't be a jerk), 2 - Do good (whatever that may be), 3 - Help others do good (I'm not real good at that last one).

As one response I believe satire would be appropriate.  If you've seen my Instagram page, you've seen my public face and public response, which I hope pokes a little fun at things from time to time.  Maybe that's a poor or insufficient response to our current situation, but it's the best I can do today.  I reserve the right to be wrong and start tossing bombs tomorrow.