A piece in the New Statesman by Sam Bowman which ostensibly aims to debunk the “eight biggest Covid-sceptic myths” presents us with a pot-pourri of Twitter-troll inspired overripe low hanging fruit. No serious lockdown critic has ever framed the argument in the way Bowman represents it. Bowman’s (and the New Statesman’s) response is to reduce the two sides of the argument to a collection of Tweet-sized memes, and then, like the child with two insects trapped in a jar, to have them face off against each other. To be sure, this tactic is also used by the less nuanced lockdown sceptics, who are just as convinced that their low-resolution arguments are sufficient. Meanwhile, in the real world, the adults are having a quite different conversation.
Month: January 2021
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The Question of Masks
The real evidence lies in the fact that, contrary to the dogma that has taken root in American society, especially in Democratic circles, there is simply no scientific substantiation for the claim that masks, as they are worn in everyday life, protect either the wearer or those who encounter her. In Berenson’s words, “The evidence that face coverings do any good turns out to be even more porous than the masks themselves.” In my opinion, were the subject not so politically fraught, it is unlikely that the scientific evidence would be ignored.
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Who will pay for the coronavirus bailout? If you’re under 50 and working, you will!
“Even though the spending to battle the coronavirus has made our fiscal outlook far worse, the administration is calling for another round of tax cuts, and both Congress and the administration are talking about spending trillions more on infrastructure and other programs. If the U.S. government keeps spending like the Europeans, the American middle-class will be taxed like Europeans.” FREE LUNCH INDEED!
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The Demonisation of Dissenters Has Reached Hysterical Proportions.
“This is, to be frank, unhinged. It is unreasonable in the extreme to blame the spread of Covid on sceptics who have very little influence in public discussion. Virtually the entire political establishment, the vast bulk of the media and every online ‘influencer’ favours lockdown. The message we receive constantly – on TV, online, in the press – is to stay home, be good, don’t kill people. It is a fantasy to believe that the voices of isolated and demonised sceptics are cutting through this conformist fog and inspiring people to recklessly spread the plague.” READ MORE
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What They Said about Lockdowns before 2020
While the expert consensus regarding the ineffectiveness of mass quarantine of previous years has recently been challenged, significant present-day evidence continuously demonstrates that mass quarantine is both ineffectual at preventing disease spread as well as harmful to individuals. Learning the wrong lesson – assuming that mass quarantines are both good and effective – sets a dangerous precedent for future pandemics. READ MORE
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Big Tech’s Free Lunch Pushes People to Censorship-Resistant Blockchain Social Media
The best thing people can do right now is to start migrating toward social media applications that offer decentralization and blockchain censorship-resistance, because the dystopian world that looks an awful lot like Fahrenheit 451 or 1984 is surely upon us.
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CCP Introduces New Rules on What Members Can Say as it Expands Free Lunch
Party members are encouraged to report misconduct to the party’s circuit inspection teams, which investigate corruption and have been responsible for the downfall of many senior officials. The new rules also officially incorporate references to Xi Jinping “Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era“, as the leader’s ideology is officially known – a concept that has already been written into the constitution. In addition to running the government, party members also fill the top jobs in universities, scientific institutes, hospitals, the military and many private companies. READ MORE
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The Liberal-Left Has Gone Fully Illiberal
That the liberal-left appears untroubled by the grotesque violations of civil rights and liberties we have witnessed over the past ten months tells us all we need to know. Human rights are negotiable under this new ideology. I am not certain what this political theory should be called – perhaps left-wing authoritarianism – but it bears no resemblance to liberalism whatsoever. To the extent we have not gone quite as far as China in violating human rights in the quest to suppress the virus, the consensus on the liberal-left is plain: we have not gone far enough. Everyone deserves a free lunch! READ MORE
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A Year After Wuhan, China Locks Down Another City of 11 Million People to Ensure We Get a Free Lunch
This time around, some public health experts in China said the reemergence of the virus in Shijiazhuang was detected too late, with rural areas a weak link in epidemic prevention and control. Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told state broadcaster CCTV that the surging caseload suggested that the virus had been “spreading quietly for a while.” READ MORE
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We Need Skepticism (Not Free Lunch?) More Than Ever
Look at the hysterical criticism leveled at the authors of the lockdown-questioning Great Barrington Declaration, and lockdown-sceptical individuals, such as Sunetra Gupta, a professor of theoretical epidemiology at the University of Oxford University. They have been personally and professionally maligned, and, more troubling still, their critics want them removed from the public sphere. This has all the characteristics of a modern high-tech witch-hunt. Of course, no one’s talking about burning or drowning the skeptical. But the cultural and academic establishment does seem to want skeptics removed from public life. Especially skeptical scientists. READ MORE