Only 29% of Dems believe people should strive for normal life now.
Here are my top 10 things with comparable support/belief among Americans:
1.Bigfoot – 21%
2.Sun revolves the earth – 25%
3.Dinosaurs & humans co-existed – 41%
4.Counting on lottery win for retirement – 20%
5.Witchcraft – 26%
6.Cell phones cause cancer – 20%
7.9/11 was an inside job – 23%
8.Ghosts/spirits can hurt living people – 32%
9.Astrology – 33%
10.Fortune telling – 26% 11. (Bonus) Telepathy – 31%
Its enjoyable/cathartic for me to write these longer semi-random threads & people seem to appreciate them as they can like and/or retweet the whole thread or individual tweets in the thread if so inclined (h/t to @MarkChangizi for teaching me how to tweet 🤣)
So here goes
0/20
1. Oh look, what a surprise … overdose-associated cardiac arrests (OCAs) were up 42.1% last year and the increase curve correlates exactly with the unemployment rate. Who could have possibly seen this coming? @EWoodhouse7@snorman1776 jamanetwork.com/journals/jamap…
2. From the book Surveillance Capitalism: "Google's ideal society is a population of distant users, not citizenry. It idealizes people who are informed, but only in the ways the corporation chooses." 😲
Thinking over the wknd further about this atrocious CDC garbage & tying it w a couple datapoints, a picture emerges:
Society is a dichotomous mess w only 29% of Dems in favor of a return to normal vs 87% of Rs & only 1/3 of VACCINATED people comfortable going to the movies
The CDC, now just a political arm, recognizes this sizeable contingent of the pop. effectively lost to the propaganda of the last yr & believes the only way these folks will be comfortable reentering society is with every last child they may potentially encounter vaccinated
2/6
That'll never happen but I’ll be honest- even if it did- I fear it wouldn't be enough as I think this 71% group falls into 2 camps: (1) ppl literally traumatized by CNN propaganda, which only CNN could undo, which it will not b/c that would be contrary to its profit model,
Reflecting on Fauci emails, my biggest takeaway is degree to which overall dialogue on the pandemic was controlled & censored mostly by BigTech/Media. But also by the left, which has become increasingly & strangely anti-free speech. This isn’t “muh freedoms”…this cost lives
1/7
Things “we” weren’t allowed to discuss but turns out Fauci was discussing early ‘20
- lab leak
- focused protection (GBD)
- asymptomatic spread
- PCR
- masks ineffective
- aerosolized transm.
- virus already “past point of no return”
- seasonality
- risk contextualization
2/7
Had such topics been “permissible” to debate our disastrous monomaniacal interventions—which upended society & have proven anything but temporary—could've been tailored for greatest impact w the least harm/disruption. Instead, we shredded the societal fabric w/nothing to show
3/7
Since my last “random backlog of covid musings” thread was popular, I thought I’d give it another shot. 22 quick thoughts/analogies/quotes/metaphors that I haven't had time to share previously:
1. The ppl who now claim it unreasonable to instantly give up masks & go back to work after 15 months of “new normal” r the same who scolded others for displaying any hesitation when forced to give-up an entire life’s work in Mar ’20 & embrace the criminalization of everyday life
2. The eagerness w which lockdown supporters are now embracing lab leak leads me to believe they view it as a scapegoat for why their abysmal policies didn’t work. ie NPIs/lockdowns would’ve stopped a natural virus but were no match for this manmade lab-freak. Don’t fall for it.
Why the sudden shift in mask guidance that surely marks the beginning of the end of COVID mania? It certainly isn't b/c the science changed. Its because society is completely broken and the status quo is unsustainable.
When running a stock portfolio, u are taught to reevaluate holdings each day & ask whether, if u had fresh $$ to invest, u would buy the same stocks u hold or whether you’re just hanging onto them b/c they’re already there.
We should ask ourselves the same about NPIs.
🧵
1/9
In behavioral finance, we call this status quo bias: people resist change even if change is prudent. Also associated w/ sunk cost fallacy (highly relevant to NPIs) & Kahneman’s work showing people feel greater regret for bad outcomes from new actions than from inaction.
2/9
Lockdowns & NPIs should be approached the same as ur portfolio. If anyone, even PH officials, stepped into our current world today, it would be objectively ridiculous to keep any current restrictions on schools, businesses, mask mandates, etc. CDC news today is a good start.
3/9