UPDATE 04/19/20: Readers have uncovered a massive, coordinated asstroturf campaign to spread fake news and rally a denialist uprising about the CoronaVirus. Buzzfeed concurs, noting ties to a special interest group.
See, I told you it was deliberate, not ignorance! Listen to your prophet next time.
As I write, 04/04/20 (or 04/04/20 for you Europeans), the world is in the grips of – wait for it – the CoronaVirus / COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide cases: 1.1M, worldwide deaths: 64K, US cases: 300K, US deaths, 8K. Compare those numbers as you read this to see how we did.
The US is currently the most-infected country in the world. At a rate of one thousand people dying per day, we will soon match and surpass the countries where the virus has taken its deadliest toll. Currently that’s Italy, at 15K deaths. The US can catch up to that number by next week at this rate.
In the middle of all this, we still have a shockingly high denial factor.
- Nine state governors are still not issuing stay-at-home. Here in Iowa, our own governor Kim Reynolds speculated that Dr. Anthony Fauci “doesn’t have all the information.”
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and leader of the White House CoronaVirus Task Force, has been getting death threats. Merely for doing his job.
- Impeached, sitting president Donald Trump clashes with Dr. Fauci and the Center for Disease Control by refusing to wear protective gear. He has earlier called the virus a hoax, amongst many denials.
- A mere 56% of Americans saw the CoronaVirus as a “real threat” just a couple weeks ago.
- FOX News is making the pandemic a partisan issue, and their viewers are falling in step.
- In spite of the pandemic, students took their spring break defying orders not to congregate in large groups. One teenager whose interview went viral claimed the virus wasn’t going to stop him from partying. 44 of those people are now infected.
- Churches have continued to hold services despite being a major vector for infection.
We could go on all day of course, but that’s enough examples for now. At this point, either the reader has turned away, or else I’m preaching to the choir. Because reality is politicized. So it’s time we looked at how it got that way.
Continue reading “Try To Understand This: There Are Evil People”