chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
From what I'm hearing, the plan is to organize this year's Chaos Communication Congress in an absolutely packed venue with *zero* COVID measures because the orga doesn't care about even *trying* to find workable solutions.
This would be grossly irresponsible and unacceptable. And as usual, vulnerable people are being thrown under the bus.
"Being inclusive is good, sure, buuuut maybe vulnerable people just shouldn't come for a few years."
This is not good enough. Fix this. There are *so many* possible solutions, see eg. the MCH2022 measures.
Encourage people to self-test, and provide free self-tests for those who cannot afford it. They're cheap in bulk now.
Tell people to wear a mask, even if you can't 100% rigidly enforce it. Public health measures are not all-or-nothing, it doesn't *have* to be perfect.
CCC folks speak loudly about inclusivity, but that requires actions, not just words. Pretending that COVID doesn't exist is ableist and needlessly harmful.
If the Congress orga go through with this, I will not go to #37c3, and neither should you.
I think we all know how widespread hacker pest is every Congress, so you're almost *guaranteed* to be exposed to COVID at #37c3, with all the consequences that that entails - including serious risk of chronic disability and, y'know, *your brain* not working right anymore.
And yes, this is information from the grapevine, but this needs to be talked about *now*, before things are set in stone and the only response we'll get is "sorry, it's already decided". I'm sure that the orga will be able to issue a clarification if the policy changes.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
Update: it's just been announced that (centralized) Congress will be cancelled this year: https://ccc.de/en/updates/2022/no-congress-2022
Mixed feelings; I would have liked to see it continue with safety measures, but this is certainly better than continuing it with *no* measures.
The alternative suggested in the post (smaller local events) is probably a good one; the overall risk should be much lower there. I'm also more optimistic about Camp; with it being outdoors (= lots of natural ventilation), it would be much easier to limit the spread.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
It's also extremely telling how many people seem to be much angrier about me causing a stink, than about the prospect of vulnerable/disabled folks being excluded.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
@joepie91 ever thought about that this is due to the fact, that no one likes stinks based on rumors? everyone in "the orga" is a volunteer, they all do that in their spare time. having to argue against people who take their information from rumors and spread dystopys is no fun.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
@psy Yeah, you're pretty much proving my point here. And as I've already told you, I'm done with this topic. I've exhaustively explained my reasons and given concrete criticisms. If you keep going, then the next step is a block.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
@joepie91 well, if this is what you think an argument should be like .. go and block me.
chaos communication congress, covid, ableism
Also, something I want to clarify: my criticism isn't and never was towards those in orga who were trying to keep the event safe for everybody. I recognize that some of those involved in the orga will have tried their best. My criticisms were specifically about those who didn't.