It’s too easy, and often wrong, to label fact-deniers merely “stupid”, “half-witted” and/or “brain-dead” – as I have done too many times. It’s easy to forget the power of politics, and the lure of simple explanations, and the impact these have on thought processing; twisting and misreading facts until they comport with political predispositions, or simplifying reality to two, easily comprehended, dimensions. The debate over the accuracy of reported Covid 19 deaths is the perfect example.
The facts are that, based on the reported numbers, the Coronavirus is far more infectious, lethal and widespread than any disease the world has seen in a hundred years. Also factual, is the economic pressure – imposed by employers and workers – to force the denial or twisting of facts, to enable an ever faster economic reopening of the U.S.; and, of course, the shattering of the American economy, and its own deadly impact, is also an undeniable fact. Facing these facts is a sobering – if not depressing – experience, but allowing politics or an urge to see the world as merely black and white, is downright cowardly and self-defeating. Facing facts resolutely is the only – ONLY – way out of the deadly dilemma these miserable facts pose, because it’s only then that honest alternatives can be imagined.
The facts are that, based on the reported numbers, the Coronavirus is far more infectious, lethal and widespread than any disease the world has seen in a hundred years. Also factual, is the economic pressure – imposed by employers and workers – to force the denial or twisting of facts, to enable an ever faster economic reopening of the U.S.; and, of course, the shattering of the American economy, and its own deadly impact, is also an undeniable fact. Facing these facts is a sobering – if not depressing – experience, but allowing politics or an urge to see the world as merely black and white, is downright cowardly and self-defeating. Facing facts resolutely is the only – ONLY – way out of the deadly dilemma these miserable facts pose, because it’s only then that honest alternatives can be imagined.
