i remember in feb and march of 2020 being astonished by this lockdown idea and loudly yowling "do you have any idea what shutting down the world for 2 weeks would do to global supply chains and economic function?" it did not even occur to me that anyone would be crazy enough to try it for months or years at the expense of small business, social fabric, and education. it was simply such an insane idea that my mind could not compass the notion that someone would try it or that anyone would go along with it if they did. i think a number of us suffered from a similar failure of imagination. there was a pervasive sense among us that there was just no way that the "people in charge" could be this stupid, barking mad, and hopelessly corrupt and self-absorbed or that society could be so easily panicked into a stampede of self-enforcing submission to collective delusions. it turns out that the intersection of milgram and ash is a very dangerous place for society. it turns out that propaganda works. and it turns out that "the experts" are anything but. the question that remains is "did we generate the societal antibodies to resist the next one?" a significant part of that is resisting this historical re-write of "mistakes were made, but no one could have known." they could. they did. and they will again. but alone, that does not amount to much. you get run over. it's who society stands behind that decides whether or not "people knowing better" matters. choose well.
i remember in feb and march of 2020 being astonished by this lockdown idea and loudly yowling "do you have any idea what shutting down the world for 2 weeks would do to global supply chains and economic function?" it did not even occur to me that anyone would be crazy enough to try it for months or years at the expense of small business, social fabric, and education. it was simply such an insane idea that my mind could not compass the notion that someone would try it or that anyone would go along with it if they did. i think a number of us suffered from a similar failure of imagination. there was a pervasive sense among us that there was just no way that the "people in charge" could be this stupid, barking mad, and hopelessly corrupt and self-absorbed or that society could be so easily panicked into a stampede of self-enforcing submission to collective delusions. it turns out that the intersection of milgram and ash is a very dangerous place for society. it turns out that propaganda works. and it turns out that "the experts" are anything but. the question that remains is "did we generate the societal antibodies to resist the next one?" a significant part of that is resisting this historical re-write of "mistakes were made, but no one could have known." they could. they did. and they will again. but alone, that does not amount to much. you get run over. it's who society stands behind that decides whether or not "people knowing better" matters. choose well.
I endorse this message. As an applied environmental cleanup scientist for decades, I tried to discuss the detriment from the mitigation management measures implemented during COVID but most virtue signaling community members wouldn’t hear it. -Masks didn’t work before COVID and still don’t. -You can’t shut down the world and print money to pretend you’re in control and expect a bright future. -attacking dissenting voices doesn’t produce the best outcome. -mandating a poorly tested vax and ruining people’s lives who didn’t take it isn’t necessary to save the children and old people. -Science isn’t “REAL”. Science is all about uncertainty and choices and requires discourse to find the best solution. -“Control of the narrative” through censorship isn’t necessary to “protect those less able to protect themselves”. It is power and greed of a fascist state run wild from its own fear.