Comments by "dixon pinfold" (@dixonpinfold2582) on "Journeyman Pictures" channel.

I salute the people of Sweden for keeping their heads, unlike most of the West. Contemptible swines around the world are intent on using this pandemic as a cover for accomplishing loathsome goals people wouldn't stand for in ordinary circumstances.
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Très bon. Formidable.
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@peterw8532 "Sweden too a stupid gamble." Every nation took a gamble, you can't deny that. Considering that Sweden's has (1) so far resulted in lower death rates than in the worst-hit strict mandatory lockdown countries (UK, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium), (2) put it much closer to the end of its epidemic than its neighbours (with Stockholm, according to Swedish officials being mere weeks away from herd immunity, for instance), and (3) has meanwhile risked a lot less economic ruin and collateral health damage, I'd say it was more intelligent, not less. Calling someone lucky after they've outwitted you is not impressive.
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@Dog Faced Pony Soldier The mortality rate for people under 60 appears to be WAY under 0.2%. Based on serological evidence, mortality rate appears to be between 0.12% and 0.3% for the entire population INCLUDING the elderly, and they account for nearly 90% of deaths. It will take time to establish these rates with a high degree of certainty.
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I'm an irreligious Western liberal and I see nothing wrong with any country being more religious or less liberal than I would like my own country to be, if that's what they prefer. I can insist on separation of church and state at home without objecting if another country doesn't want it. If they retain open democracy it seems to me it's their perfect right. A little healthy patriotism is to be desired. It brings people together, makes them happier, and needn't be dangerous at all. Be careful of calling religiosity medieval or nationalism brainwashing. You begin to sound illiberal in those remarks. The important consideration is whether lines of extremism are crossed. That's what deserves close scrutiny and vigilance. What is moderate must be left alone. It's bad if movements demand everybody think just as they do, very bad indeed. But remember that goes for you, too. Tolerance isn't just for others, it must have a place of prominence in one's own mind and heart.
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@cubitusclaudius Very true. I have a new term for it: Herd stupidity.
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@a8s320 Among Nordic countries it's also by far the closest to being over its epidemic. The way it's going, the others will still be recordings deaths long after Sweden is finished doing so, despite their risking far greater economic ruin. Its death rate is also a lot lower than those of the worst-hit countries, all of which went with strict mandatory shutdowns: UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium.
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@wilburdesouza Sweden doesn't have a young population. At 20%, its fraction of the population over 65 is 11th highest among 35 European nations, and 2.9 points behind the oldest country, Italy. This compares with 16% in the US. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1105835/share-of-elderly-population-in-europe-by-country/ And I'd like to know why national population is supposed to matter. None of the Far East democracies imposed strict mandatory lockdowns, and they have both very low coronavirus death rates and mostly larger populations (Japan 127m, S. Korea 51m, Taiwan 24m). I'm skeptical about a positive relation between national population and a necessity for strict mandatory lockdowns. Which epidemiologists have made this claim?
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@binchen Yes, the rate is higher than in the US, but much lower than in the worst-hit neighbouring European countries, all of which went with strict mandatory shutdowns: UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium. Those countries are probably gazing on Sweden with a certain amount of admiration, the more so because it is also much closer to the actual end of its epidemic.
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@markp6621 Sweden is actually behind the UK in per capita hospital beds. But then, it is also famed for the healthiness of its people. Yet it ranks very high in doctors per capita, above Germany, with a slightly higher ratio than it had ten years ago. Nurses per capita are also high for Europe. Despite searching energetically, I was unable to find any corroboration of your assertion that thousands of doctors and nurses have been fired. A 2017 EC report makes Sweden's health care system look like one of best, most effective, and best funded in Europe. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/355998/Health-Profile-Sweden-Eng.pdf?ua=1 The only deterioration noted in this or any other report was in waiting times. Measures of health care effectiveness have steadily increased since 2000 at an impressive rate. Data from the last two years is hard to find, and comparisons are always tricky. But if your assessments are correct, I wonder why people who agree with you are essentially impossible to unearth. A couple of labour-union-associated sources lamented that Sweden is becoming a right-wing country and its health care system is a disgrace, but I find it difficult to take them seriously, as they seemed labour-activist and indeed histrionical in tone and offered little data to back up their claims. Thanks for your reply, though.
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@jdoedoenet That's a clever insight. Cheers.
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@On_The_Piss No, the numbers hardly make a clear-cut case against Sweden's approach. If anything, it's closer to the other way around. I've posted several replies in this thread which you can look at if you like.
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@odette8905 Laws? I haven't heard about that. It's all been by decree as far as I know, making it even worse. Thanks for your reply.
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@Dog Faced Pony Soldier Great comment.
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This seems out of place in Journeyman's stellar line-up of pandemic videos.
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I watched their original video, the one taken down. I found it riddled with rookie-mistake assertions about the pandemic. They might be good guys with intentions untainted by desires to boost their business, but they're not, in my view, knowledgeable enough to make a contribution to the debate. It's apparent to me that their toned-down message here and expression of willingness to 'talk about the validity of our data' with others (my paraphrase) indicate they've been chastened by some of the intense and valid criticisms. So I think there's little for a journalist here to root out, in contrast to the interviews with Drs. Ioannidis, Katz, and Wittkovski. Yet they're entitled to their opinions like anyone else, including non-medical people like me. So the story, if any, is YouTube's removal of their video. But although I don't have exhaustive knowledge about what happened with that, I doubt there's much there. YouTube is a private service and legitimately feels a responsibility to remove potentially harmful material. In my view, the doctors in their April video should have appeared in regular clothes and been up front about the limitations of their capacity to analyze pandemic data. YouTube might have left their video up if they had done so. Their responses in this interview I find much more circumspect. For that reason, I really doubt it'll be removed, and I hope it won't. They seem like nice people who really care about their patients' health and everybody's hardship and future. Journeyman hasn't made the greatest choice here, but their earlier videos I found outstanding so they certainly have my strong support.
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