Thread by @eric_lombrozo

To anyone who has lost a loved one to complications from this virus, my sincere condolences. If there's a way I can help ease your pain, I'm all for it.

Having said that, a thread. 👇

https://twitter.com/eric_lombrozo/status/1329648708833615872

First the obvious. Good sanitation and good hygiene are good idea. And sometimes more extreme measures such as quarantine/isolation may be merited

But let's be honest. People die from complications of infectious disease all the time.

1/11

Stop to think for a moment about how we are reacting to covid19, one of many infectious diseases that kill many people each year. There are many other causes of death & the overwhelming majority of deaths (even from infectious disease alone) are not covid19-related at all.

2/11

Is it sane for people to be scared of even seeing family and friends? The overwhelming majority of people seem to survive it without complications. Is it OK to terrorize kids despite lack of evidence they are significantly affected or even significant carriers?

3/11

I can understand extra precautions for those who are particularly vulnerable. But is it really sane policy to lock down the entire healthy population? Are you perhaps being scared into doing things that are a bit beyond what is reasonable?

4/11

You don't have to believe me, you may think I am totally crazy. I will state my opinion. I try to be openminded. Offer me a good challenge and you may change my mind. But I am quite confident about this right now, and I am not alone

5/11

This pandemic scare is part of a sinister global propaganda campaign based on cherry-picking cases, manipulating statistics, and use of Sybil attacks. The point is to exaggerate the risk and incessantly get people to focus their attention on this one particular thing.

6/11

The campaign seeks to undermine social cohesion and morale, hitting economies and political systems hard. Whether the virus is real is not the point. The point is that it is being used in a deliberate global propaganda campaign.

7/11

People love to speculate on who the culprit is and what their ultimate aims may be. Sorry to disappoint. I'm not going to speculate on who it might be and ultimate aims at this time. My claims here are merely regarding the evidentiary trail of such an attack, not suspects.

8/11

Elected officials are largely either caught flatfooted, duped as well, or are otherwise complicit (whether they are aware of it or not). This is also an attack on democratic institutions. It takes advantage of known weaknesses in political institutions around the world.

9/11

Right or wrong, many of us are far more concerned about large scale effects on humanity these extreme response measures are having, whether they are even effective, and whether their cost on society is justified; than we are about the disease itself.

10/11

Thank you for taking the time to read this thread. You may think I am crazy. You may completely disagree. I won't hate you for it. I am open to rational discussion. But I am not open to fearmongering.

Always question authority. Peace. ✌

11/11

P.S. I have also lost loved ones to disease. It's one of the saddest things that can happen to someone. The pain for family and friends is horrible, and none of this thread changes that fact.

This thread will probably come across horribly to a lot of people. Probably will not convince very many of anything other than what they already believe. Whatever...that's OK.