To all those who chose shame over science

Read the full article: For those who chose shame over science

reading time: 5 Minutes

from Canadian Health journalist Gabriel Bauer.

not tested

In the first 62 years of my life, I don’t remember anyone calling me a selfish idiot, let alone a sociopath or a Trump fanatic. Everything changed when Covid arrived and I very cautiously expressed my concerns about the blockages.

Here’s an example of what Keyboard Warriors threw at me:

• Take advantage of your social ills.
• Go lick a pole and get infected.
• Enjoy choking on your fluid in the ICU.
• Name three loved ones you would like to sacrifice for COVID. Do it now, you coward.

Since the early days of the pandemic, there has been something deep inside me, in my soul, that has moved away from the political and public response to the virus. None of this was true, strong, or real. This was not only an epidemiological crisis, but a social one as well, so why did we only listen to a select few epidemiologists? Where were the mental health experts? Child development specialists? Historians? Economists? Why did our political leaders unleash fear instead of calm?

The questions that bothered me the most were less about epidemiology and more about morals: Was it right to demand the greatest sacrifices from the young, who would suffer the most from restrictions? Should civil liberties simply vanish during a pandemic, or should we balance public safety and human rights?

Since there is no education in the methods of online fighters, I thought that the Internet would allow me to participate in “productive discussions” on these issues. So I jumped online and the rest was hysteria.

Village idiot, flat earth, relatives, scum, negative IQ… Let’s say my tender skin gets the test of my life.

And I wasn’t the only one: everyone who questioned dogma, whether expert or commoner, had similar skin burns. In the words of the community physician, who will remain anonymous for obvious reasons: “Many clinicians, including myself, have discussed with virologists, epidemiologists and other scientists a targeted approach and focus on the most vulnerable patient groups, only to be dismissed as anti-science., hat of tin paper mad MenConspiracy theories, antitivax and other equally colorful derogatory labels.

At the beginning of the game, I decided not to respond to such insults with other insults, not because I am particularly proud, but because throwing mud bothers me and it is not pleasant to be angry all day. Instead, I’ve taken sarcasm for granted (and still wandered about in anger).

brings shame

The desire to feel ashamed has been present since the beginning of the pandemic. I started on Twitter #covidiot will be trendy on the evening of March 22, 2020By the end of the night, 3,000 tweets had used the hashtag to expose poor public health practices.

When CBS News released a video of vacationers partying in Miami, Angry citizens shared the names of the students on their social networks, Accompanied by messages such as “Don’t give these selfish idiots beds and/or fans.”

At the beginning of the epidemic, when panic and turmoil prevailed, such discontent might have been overlooked. But the pill grew and mixed with the times. W: It didn’t work.

As noted by Harvard Medical School epidemiologist Julia Marcus“Blaming and mocking people is not the best way to get them to change their behavior and it can also be counterproductive because it encourages people to hide their behavior.” Jean Belkos, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington, Complaints and disputes It can be difficult for people to “recognize situations in which they may be at risk”.

If profiling the “covidiots” of their behavior doesn’t help, rest assured that preying on people for bad ideas won’t change your mind. Instead, let’s stop telling them what we think. We sleep and smile. We give them the match point and keep the discussion in our heads.

remove gloves

I’ve been that person for two years. I smile politely and avoid insults. To calm my interlocutor, I prefaced my unorthodox views with disclaimers such as “I hate Trump as much as you do” or “Reminder, I’ve also been vaccinated three times.”

Today I will allow myself to stop there and give it a name as I see it.

To everyone who has criticized me for questioning the end of civilization and mentioning the damage it has done to the young and the poor: You can pick up your mockery, your scientific vanity, and your unbearable morals, and pick up the trash and put it down…….the valves. Every day new research takes more air into your arrogant claims.

You told me that without prison, Covid would wipe out a third of the world, just like The Black Plague wiped out Europe in the fourteenth century. Instead, wrap up A meta-analysis by Johns Hopkins The lockdown in Europe and the United States has reduced deaths from Covid-19, on average, by 0.2%.

Additionally, long before this study, we had good evidence that anything short of a Chinese-style lock would do little. at 2006 document A WHO team asserted that “mandatory case reporting and patient isolation during the 1918 influenza pandemic did not halt transmission of the virus and were impractical”.

She told me that social interaction is a desire, not a need. Yeah. It is also good food. Indeed, social isolation is fatal. as stated in September 2020 review article Published in the journal Cell, loneliness “may be the most powerful threat to survival and longevity.” The article discusses how social isolation impairs cognitive development, weakens the immune system, and puts people at risk for developing substance use disorders.

And it’s not that we didn’t know that before Covid: In 2017, he suggested research Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor at Brigham Young University, has found that social isolation speeds up mortality as much as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. His discoveries are scattered on the pages of newspapers around the world.

She told me that there was no need to worry about the effects of Covid restrictions on children, because children are resilient – and what’s more, they have been through much worse in the big wars. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has experienced an increase of 77% in Pediatrics Standards for things like self-harm and suicidal ideation for 6 months in 2021, compared to a similar piece in 2019. And if that doesn’t bother you, A World Bank analysis In low-income countries, the economic downturn caused by lockdown policies is estimated to have resulted in 1.76 child deaths for every COVID-19 death.

I said that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, because Statement by CDC Director Rachel Walinsky in early 2021And we all know how it ended.

She told me not to ask what infectious disease specialists tell us. (I’m paraphrasing here. What I actually said was, “What if I just stood up and shut up?”) Dr. Stefanos Kalis, another Harvard Medical School, warned of the “risks of making government policies and public health recommendations for people who have focused their careers exclusively on infectious diseases” In a recent interview on CNBC. “Public health is a balance,” he said.

It really is. at 2001 book, Public Health Act: Power, Duty, and Self-control, Lawrence Justin called for a more systematic assessment of the risks and benefits of public health interventions and greater protection of civil liberties.

So yes. I am angry and your clever crusade has drawn me far enough to search for new tribes, and in this quest I have been very successful. I’ve found more kindred spirits than I could have ever imagined. In my city of Toronto and around the world: doctors, nurses, scientists, farmers, musicians, and housewives who share my disgust at your bragging. Epidemiologists, too. These brave people saved me from losing my mind.

So thank you. Now shave.

Gabriel Power

Support the work of our site with an occasional (small) donation. Then click here.