Itâs crazy.
Thereâs a big issue now globally in my view of unquestioned agreement with âexpertsâ. There has been a reaction to âsick of expertsâ Brexiteers, Trump and conspiratorial Internet crazies to back experts no matter what. Those views must also be on the spectrum of PC culture.
The amount of people you now see with a unicorn icon, an EU flag, âanti racistâ and âwear a maskâ is crazy. The default line is that is what the experts are saying so they are right. The same people would have been slagging those going ape about the lack of mandatory masks 6 months ago but then changed their tune once Trumpâs fans rejected them and it became the âmainstream scienceâ. In the U.K. they will be the same people now championing harder lockdowns as their public health officials want, when it was those same PH officials dangling herd immunity at the start. If you were to really get into an EU discussion with them, I doubt theyâd hang around for longer than a couple of banal statements on it. It really is just another football team thing to support, these people are nearly on the level of hardcore Brexiteers in stupidity terms.
I think most people are really just straight down the middle on this and want to go with the experts. This is such a multi layered issue though that we require different voices, as there is simply no consensus international approach with different nations doing different things everyday. I think we all got carried away with the nationalistic element of this as a joint national effort but that is where the media come in.
Unfortunately the media have been highly influenced by type of people I mention above and they have weaponised debates. Terms like âherd immunityâ, âmedian death ageâ and even âSwedenâ have been twisted to some form of evil on this. Itâs absolutely nuts that the Great Barrington statement was removed from Google searches and there was a concerted effort to discredit the people behind it. Scientists from Harvard, Oxford and Stanford are not some kind of Gemma supervaxxers.
I do think the middle ground can be influenced through better debate and in fairness I think the Irish Times have improved a lot on this. They were dreadful at points but RTĂ have been a flat out disgrace.
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Yeah the data seems to be showing in recent months that between 8 or 9 out of 10 people infected are asymptotic.
A revelation. Heâs perhaps the only bone fide intellectual on here bar myself and yourself
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Tim has covid?
He has it by the balls
The only bit of smarts I have is knowing when to say nothing.
I have got those sweet antibodies
The positivity rate seems to have stabilised somewhat this week. Itâs been hovering around 7% since the weekend.
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The schools are absolutely essential, nothing happens if the schools are closed,
are we really comparing schools with pubs again?
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The most important one of all
The authors of the Great Barrington Declaration have been saying the same thing since early on in this pandemic and have proven to be correct, just as Sweden has. The only defense the lockdown brigade and the hysterical media have is pointing to the rise in cases, as if this is some kind of surprise. The likes of CNN are a disgrace, pundits essentially calling the authors (who are actually leading epidemiologists) criminal while expecting people to believe their âexpertâ Dr Gupka, a fucking neurosurgeon. What is it about neurosurgeons and neuroscientists that they are suddenly infectious disease experts?
The authors are not saying go balls out for herd immunity, people should read the document and the media need to stop lying about it. Itâs a reasonable balanced approach of measures to protect the vulnerable while letting the young and healthy get on with their lives, and most importantly avoid the longer term social, economic and health costs of ongoing restrictions.
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True, but where will that debate happen? The Irish timesâ reach is miniscule and it costs money and a conscious choice to engage with it. Twitter is instant, free, and offers immediate âvictoriesâ guaranteed by others always voicing support for your point of view.
At some point I donât agree with you was replaced with an immediate shriek of nazi or commie or whatever. And civil rights organisations moved from protecting things like free speech to backing de-platforming, in the desperate scramble to be on the right side, not of history, but of the here and now. The toothpaste is out of the tube.
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There are elements of their plan that are kind of crazy sounding.
For example, the logistics of ensuring aged care facilities are staffed by people with antibodies.
Though you compare that to Zero Covid which gets legitimate airings and has just as many fanciful elements.
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In fairness, it was the ITâs reporting that eventually got Dr Feeley on Prime Time.
The big issue I have with RTĂ was their claim to be following the truth then printing shit like 6 month old WHO stats on who is impacted from a confirmed case, unqualified Tomas Ryan talking about exponential growth and that being the headlineâŚitâs actually the day to day reporting that is the worst part of all of this.
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Whatâs RTEs agenda do you think? Just to toe the government line?