The article Coronavirus: Pastor who decried 'hysteria' dies after attending Mardi Gras (archived) has been written on various "news" outlets. Can you picture the self-righteous grin of those who enjoy the death of he who dares question the severity of their beloved coronavirus - the scapegoat for all their problems?1 That the coronavirus-denier was a pastor gives the article the extra flavor it needs for the consumption of the public. The pastor was a God loving man, and thus in addition to being a denier he was also a heretic who promotes the main competitor religion to the religion of the state.
This article's popularity and the positive response to the global home arrest have been disheartening. I can't say I'm surprised, but it is difficult to listen to the applause the police have received for flexing their authoritarian muscles.2 Apparently a drop of fear was all that was needed to have everyone be not only complacent with, but actively encouraging, the mutilation of the first amendment.3
I gather that no matter how this plays out, those that deny the severity of the virus4 will have no way to be vindicated. Either the stats of coronavirus deaths will be over reported or the lack of deaths will be attributed to the we-did-it-reddit crowd who have found a way to congratulate themselves for sitting around doing nothing.
- I am wary to the possibility that the target audience is a person like me - someone imagining the self-righteousness of some other (non-existant) person that reads the article. But I do not think this is the case. [↩]
- Police opening fire on surfers is okay now; they were just shooting warning shots. [↩]
- That amendment includes the right to peacefully assemble, remember? Who am I kidding, the US and its citizenry have never cared about or followed that constitution thing. And anyways, on the railroad tracks of alleged rights one can but trudge. [↩]
- A week ago I was doubtful about whether there was any virus at all; it seems likely that this whole shebang is due to the media spotlight shining on vaguely related respiratory illnesses. This view caused my girl to be a tad annoyed with me as I was previously rolling my eyes whenever the topic of the deadliness of the coronavirus came up. So per her request to get an opinion that comes from outside my circle of "hacker friends" I spoke to another friend who is working as a doctor in the alleged epicenter of the virus - New York.
He told me that the test for coronavirus is legitimate (and if anything too prone to false negatives) and that there are numerous patients dying from complications caused by the coronavirus itself (as opposed to dying from something else while merely carrying the virus.) He stated that NY hospitals are indeed overwhelmed and that the makeshift hospitals are necessary to handle the overflow of patients. So although I believe governments are seizing this opportunity to gain more power, from my angle it now appears that the coronavirus is a real illness causing a non-neglible number of deaths. [↩]
I'm persuaded it's real and that I caught it in February. I'm not persuaded it's worth shutting down everything to combat it.
I think there will be consequences for the nazi "just following orders" cops, too, but only time will tell. At the moment, all the women are freaked out.
I will have to leave the payback to the surfers, since very little has changed about my life in quarantine and I have no idea who is oppressing who.
> I'm persuaded it's real and that I caught it in February. I'm not persuaded it's worth shutting down everything to combat it.
Sorry to hear that. I guess that's what I think too, although I understand things had to shut down and this is just the excuse.
> I think there will be consequences for the nazi "just following orders" cops, too, but only time will tell. At the moment, all the women are freaked out.
Re the cops - really? In which countries? And yes, I think I remember seeing a good deal more masks on women than men while in the supermarket.
> I will have to leave the payback to the surfers, since very little has changed about my life in quarantine and I have no idea who is oppressing who.
A lot of surfers share the "oh the police are just flexing their muscles" sentiment. However surfing causes delinquency and I don't imagine I'll see any gang of surfers giving up time in the water to go fight against some police.
In the US. People are taking names. There's a lawsuit in CA over churches being shutdown.
As for the surfers:
https://twitter.com/bronzeagemantis/status/1215893231440924672
An important read and relevant to this topic:
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/51/2/CargoCult.htm
K thanks.