Thread by @SeanCasten

In our recent debate, my opponent raised the "Great Barrington Declaration". It is a massively dangerous and deadly idea that will lead to millions of dead Americans. We need to shut it down. Now. Thread:

1/ First, I am not going to link to it or give it any oxygen. You can find the discussion in the video here if you want: wgntv.com/news/watch-liv…

2/ It is a heaping, stinking pile of junk science, advocating that we isolate the sick and the elderly and pretend that COVID doesn't affect young healthy people in the name of "restarting" the economy and herd immunity.

3/ I wrote about the problems with herd immunity a few weeks ago - all this is still true.

https://twitter.com/SeanCasten/status/1310929371922935811?s=20

4/ But the GBD is in many ways worse. It advocates for the social isolation of our most vulnerable so that we can kill young people. Seriously. Exposing a greater % of people with lower % infection rates to COVID leads to more death.

5/ Because it's not like young people are immune from COVID; they are just less susceptible. You're only 1/6th as likely to die playing Russian roulette than shooting yourself with a fully loaded 6-shooter but only an idiot would conclude that everyone should play RR.

6/ What I cannot stress enough is that THIS SHOULD NOT BE PARTISAN. Your right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is not a function of your political affiliation.

7/ When COVID first hit our shores, it surged in densely populated cities... as airborne communicable diseases are inclined to do. The fact that urban areas tend to have Democratic leadership is correlation, not causation.

8/ Those regions were hit really hard. But they did what they needed to do (masks, testing, social distancing) and flattened the curve. That is the model we should have followed. The surge we are now seeing in rural areas that didn't follow was a completely avoidable disaster.

9/ Yes, NY and NJ surged first. But today it's WI, the Dakotas - rural America.
npr.org/sections/healt…

10/ To my @GOP colleagues, I get it. Trump is an embarrassment. You'll do anything you can to suggest his incompetent drooling all over the checkerboard of our public health is actually some masterful 5-dimensional chess strategy. It isn't. And you don't have to emulate him.

11/ So back to the GBD. Public health experts agree. This is dangerous, junk science. wired.co.uk/article/great-…

12/ But surely, some troll is about to say... "not ALL public health experts". Why here's some crank I just found who says it's great. Does that argument sound familiar?

13/ It should, because it is exactly the framing that has been used for decades to inject a false debate into the cigarette debate and climate change. And GBD is backed by the same people. (Hint: rhymes with Foch Mothers) bylinetimes.com/2020/10/09/cli…

14/ Why are they doing this? It was amoral to promote disinformation in order to sell more cigarettes and fossil fuel, but there was at least a crass, short-term economic interest. The GBD advocates nothing more than killing Americans. That is pure, unadulterated evil.

15/ So to my colleagues and challengers who are encouraging this. Stop. It is irresponsible and deadly. You do not want that blood on your hands.

16/ To the media: do not give platforms to anyone who advocates this plan. Do not "both sides" this. Ignore it. Shut it down. Real lives are in the balance.

17/ And for goodness sakes, check your sources: These aren't even real people, much less real doctors! news.sky.com/story/coronvai…

18/ Make sure the public understands that junk science is junk, not an interesting alternative theory. The Guardian does a good job here: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

19/ And to everyone else, please stay safe. Listen to public health experts. Wear a mask. Get tested. Quarantine if you test positive. We can beat this if we work together. That is the only way forward. /fin