Public relations works—until it does not any more.
It bought a week or two of calm—so some of us who ignored official statements went out and did our prepping thing.
But—there is a price to be paid.
It is called credibility.
I no longer believe anything anybody says—and have to verify everything. But—that is because public officials have been lying about stuff for decades—and I noticed.
But—cynical old-timers like me are the minority.
You do _not_ want a society of cynics like me.
Because—the next time the public officials have something important and true to say—they will be ignored.
the boy really did cry when a wolf appeared, but the public officials always say things are ok so you don’t have to worry about them actually saying ‘wolf.’ they always say ‘deer.’
the cdc is at best a lagging indicator and at worst just dishonest about stuff.