liminalOyster » Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:53 pm wrote:
[All of the above without consideration of prior infection as a form of protection]
Knowing that you don't generally believe much if anything from mainstream medical journals, it would be foolhardy to point out that is at least in part based on evidence (I know, I'm sure its bullshit to you) that the currently globally dominant variant doesn't provide immunity.
Where's the outcry from those that typically clamor about human rights violations?
Focusing on things that affect substantially more and more vulnerable people. E.G. abortion, immigration, water quality, etc. Noticing that the very good and very important rigorously smart and skeptical of COVID crowd is couple with a much bigger mass of people who don't have a fucking clue what they're talking about, probably.
Mandates and lockdowns are crimes against humanity. It's grotesque that mandates still exist. They should have NEVER been implemented.
Was there ever once a single "lockdown" in the US, BS? Was there ever a time when one could not leave their house, in any state? Was there ever a time when anyone had to wear a tracking bracelet due to their COVID status? Were people forcibly quarantined by military or LEO? Literally even once? Are the mandates and lockdowns that were used successfully in, say Zaire or Congo to stop the spread of Ebola crimes against humanity too? Or did they save lives with a minimum of harm, in a situation (unsanitary conditions, lack of medical facilities, etc) created by colonialism?
And yet: even with clear acknowledgement by the CDC that these shots do NOT curb transmission, many colleges and employers CONTINUE to ENFORCE MANDATES.
There's also a current trend to drop those mandates, including the Uni I work at.
/snip
Do you care to walk back any of the above, by the way? I will repeat that as more time passes, it does appear -- and
more studies are showing -- that prior infection DOES INDEED provide longer lasting and more durable immunity (for
all variants) than any of these mRNA products. Broadly-speaking, those with 2 or more covid shots are more likely to get covid more than once/twice, and more likely to be hospitalized, among other ailments that remain TBD. It will be several years before there is clarity on this. That said, as of now the "plausible deniability" attempts look weaker with each passing month.
Also: are you still holding to this notion that the U.S. didn't "actually" have lockdowns by drawing this shameless strawman comparing the more egregious aspects of how a "lockdown" may be defined? There are many fucking ways to implement a lockdown. That ANY schools were closed; that ANY playgrounds were sealed off with yellow police tape, or beaches, sports venues, public events or meeting places, restaurants, bars, etc. were shut down (many forever); that ANY curfews were implemented, etc.;
they were all gross, ineffective, unwarranted and egregious affronts to fundamental human rights. Your glib hand-waving doesn't minimize the significant harms caused. You (and many others with similar sentiment) truly should be ashamed of the tone employed here on this issue.
It should be clear by now that lockdowns and mandates were NOT implemented for "benevolent but misguided/miscalculated" reasons, but instead, for reasons that were malevolent (the wealth/power transfers alone during lockdown periods should have been called out by any/all that clamor for the rights of the under-privileged/working classes, not to mention the MILLIONS of jobs/livelihoods lost, and of course, lives as well).
Then there is the
fact that too many colleges/universities
continue to push vaccine mandates -- especially the Ivy Leagues -- including mandating the most recent booster.
This is criminal and despicable.
Of course, there
remain employers that are terminating employees due to non-compliance with draconian mandate policies.
As mentioned before, I will be terminated from my position by end of year because my employer -- a publicly traded company that touts "
diversity, inclusion and belonging" -- is
STILL ENFORCING vaccine mandates and terminating employees for their "wrong"
personal medical decision. Many of my colleagues have been largely indifferent to the blatant forms of ostracism, othering, alienation and segregation endured by the relative few of us with exemptions (we were granted 'temporary' exemptions but restricted from participating in any 'team' events or visiting any company office, meeting any co-workers in person, etc.). Many of these 'colleagues' will virtue signal about the token corporate 'good cause'
du jour, however.
Fucking hypocrites. They are legion these days.
(Fortunately, due to my larger peer network I've already received an offer with another firm which will pay more; an org that has no covid mandates or policies in place.
MANY others -- all over the world -- terminated due to covid mandates were not as fortunate, however)
In your posting above (which was typed earlier this year, just before the CDC updated their guidance to explicitly indicate no difference in guidance between the "vaccinated" and the un-"vaccinated", among other notable updates for that time period), you attempted to (not-so-subtly, and with more than a bit of smug) paint me as using this thread as a "crusade".
A related aside:
You also reference a lack of "nuance" (perhaps not in the portion I excerpted, but it was in the same posting); once more, you're attempting to broadly summarize, misrepresent and mischaracterize my arguments. My position on this evolved over time, but it quickly became clear - to me, and others - that this was not a "botched health crisis" but a purposeful series of events with other aspirations. Sowing and fueling discord, division and distrust of authority figures and institutions may well be part of the over-arching agenda as a means to introduce more overt control systems ('social credit'; CBDCs, UBI, etc). A number of these themes are covered in other threads I started, such as "Blockchain/Digital Currency as part of 'The Great Reset'": http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/ ... =8&t=42182 , though other forum members have also postulated on these themes astutely, cogently, in other threads.
This notion of "nuance", such as the concepts of individual autonomy vs 'collective good' during times of crisis, etc., can be a viable conversation, IF INDEED masks worked in some capacity, or these shots offered sterilizing immunity of some sort (along with minimal harms). Or, if the policies implemented/actions taken by govts/bureaucracies were, at their core, earnest attempts to mitigate spread or address a health crisis (which, to be clear, I've no doubt MANY involved at the lower levels: doctors, nurses, scientists, etc. -- had earnest, good intent). But my focus -- as I imagine it would be for others -- is trained on the intent and actions of those in positions of power/influence that seek to cause harms at a mass scale.
Unfortunately, NEITHER premise has been shown to be true in any meaningful way that would justify mandates* (masks don't curb aerosol spread in any real world setting, and covid shots have not prevented transmission/spread and indeed cause significant harms for a notable percentage, the true scale of which remains TBD) -- and it seems you are still having trouble fully acknowledging this. Part of your issue with my content and/or style, in other words, is your continued refusal to fully acknowledge just how egregiously harmful all of this has been, and how deeply misled so many have been. Unfortunately this also means acknowledging complicity in participation of the harms caused. And many remain unable or unwilling to vocalize this at this time, to themselves or to others.
*I'd argue that mandates have no place in any mentally sound society, irrespective of the benefits of any products put forth. Moot, in any event, with respect to covid.
If there is a fucking hill to die on, the egregious and continued affronts to human rights, the utter disregard for any ethical standards, and the passive complicity of those that should have rejected all these policies outright (but were apparently more concerned with being modern day 'good Germans'/apologists)
is a fucking hill worth dying on.
There's been much progress on many of these issues, despite the passivity of those that should never have been passive about any of this.
But we're not out of the woods yet, by a longshot. However: It's been encouraging to see the growing numbers -- those willing to clearly acknowledge how they've been deeply misled, and willing to take active steps to prevent recurrence in any way they can.
And yet, many continue to refuse to own up to just how fucked up the last ~2yrs were, or instead offer a semi-acknowledgement of some harms but not others, or otherwise -- as called out in my prior posting above -- attempt to sweep it all under the rug with minimal, if any, ownership of their passive or active complicity.
I won't fucking apologize for anything I typed here on this topic. I'm sure others here that keep this thread active share much of the same sentiment.
I'm far from alone, especially now.
Nothing will be forgotten or swept under the rug unless or until there is some form of accountability, in the first instance.
Given the broader, longer-term agendas in play, outside of a number of scapegoats/sacrificial lambs that may be offered up for sacrifice, the likelihood of true
justice is slim/none.
And yet, persist we will., in spite of it.
