Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander
“Five years later, we can’t stop talking about COVID. Remember lockdowns? The conflicting guidelines about masks — don’t wear them! Wear them! Maybe wear them! School closures, remote learning, learning loss, something about teachers’ unions. … Those jerks who tried to pressure you into getting vaccines, or those other jerks who wouldn’t get vaccines …. The only thing about COVID nobody talks about anymore is the 1.2 million deaths. That’s 1.2 million American deaths. Globally it’s officially 7 million, unofficially 20-30 million. But 1.2 million American deaths is still a lot. It’s more than Vietnam plus 9/11 plus every mass shooting combined — in fact, more than ten times all those things combined. It was the single deadliest event in American history, beating the previous record-holder — the US Civil War — by over 50%. All these lives seem to have fallen into oblivion too quietly to be heard over the noise of Lab Leak Debate #35960381.” (05/21/25)