The real question is whether or not people should be allowed to make their own
risk assessment about their own lives. The whole "haircut" arguments and protests boil down to the conflict between who knows what's best for you? You or the government? One side says if you want to risk catching covid in the process of going about your life, that's your choice. The other side says we must all do as we're told on any particular day by the
current experts, in order to preserve even just one life.
So we're talking about whether or not we should have live performances. Granted, businesses are worried about the potential onslaught of lawsuits if someone gets sick at their
venue, so take that into account. Anyone who buys a ticket to a show assumes the risks of attending that show. Mass shootings have not stopped live performance. Some venues put up metal detectors, some do pat downs, some just do bag searches, some implement keycard access for backstage areas, some develop emergency response plans, some do nothing. Where are the cries that these measures aren't 100% effective and therefore we should suspend all live performance until we are assured that no one can get their hands on a black gun anymore? I haven't heard anyone talk like that, and before covid, tickets kept selling. We put up signs that warn patrons of
strobe lights and gunshot sound effects, why can we not also post our covid procedures and allow the patron to decide whether its good enough or not?
We do what we can to take reasonable measures to ensure
safety. If an audience member is uncomfortable with the environment or protocols in place, they can choose not to attend or buy the ticket in the first place. Nothing in this world is without risk, why are we not able to choose for ourselves how much risk we're willing to tolerate?