Everyone who writes about propaganda and government lies is expected to have a really strong opinion about Covid-19 and masks and lockdowns, but I just don't and I can't help it. I find the whole thing ultimately irrelevant and boring and have nothing to add to the debate. 1/6
I find that people get ridiculously irrational and emotional about it, and I find that both sides of the debate have a lot less evidence for many of their beliefs than they think they do. I pay attention to actual concrete policies which threaten to facilitate pre-existing 2/6
authoritarian agendas like increased tech surveillance, and I've written multiple articles about such things. But getting involved in the hysterical shrieking about masks, the economy and just how deadly the virus actually is blah blah blah is just intensely boring to me. 3/6
I think a lot of the intensity in this debate has a lot more to do with the fact that people are scared and stressed out than actual facts and data. I see a lot of sloppy thinking and conflation of issues that should be kept distinct, and not a lot of emotional wisdom. 4/6
I think discourse about the virus would greatly benefit from people just taking responsibility for their emotions, feeling their feelings all the way through, completely divorcing themselves from partisan thought, thinking carefully, then seeing what remains. 5/6
And that's really the extent of my opinions on the matter. There are a lot of people who are a lot more knowledgeable than myself on the actual science of these matters, and I have nothing to add to that conversation. Sorry if that doesn't conform to your expectations. 6/6
