What to Believe?

Covid-19 is the most divisive issue of my lifetime—worse than abortion, “gay rights,” or Trump’s presidency. It cuts across party and ideological lines. The Left may be more inclined to favor mask mandates and vaccine passports, the Right more likely to oppose them, but those are by no means well-defined positions. I’ve been shocked to see many “conservatives” embrace tyranny—all in the name of “safety,” of course.

The question is what to believe—which really comes down to whom to believe. Conflicting information abounds, in our news feeds and social media accounts. People and institutions we trust, or once trusted, tell us contradictory things, sometimes changing their tune from one day to the next. And each side insists it is “following the science.” In this bizarro universe, how are we supposed to distinguish truth from falsehood?

First, we must acknowledge that the truth about this virus and its effects is, at best, difficult to know. New information emerges each day, as those scientists still interested in pursuing truth continue their efforts. Not all scientists are reliable; many seek not truth but affirmation, acclaim, and funding. But some still have integrity, and we should be grateful for them. The problem, of course, is determining which is which. But I’ll get to that in a moment.

Meanwhile, even if we can’t know the full truth about Covid, there are some bedrock truths to which we can hold fast. The first and most important is that there is a God and we are made in His image, with—as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently put it—“certain unalienable rights [including] life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” “Unalienable” means no one can take them from us, not even government.

Thus, when government policy encroaches on those rights, or the ones enumerated in the Bill of Rights, we know it is wrong—even if it has the best of intentions. The government has no constitutional authority to close churches, confine well people to their homes, shut down private businesses, or force people to accept an experimental treatment they might not even need. Such policies are unjust and must be resisted, whatever we happen to think about their effectiveness at controlling the virus.

Beyond that, in our quest for truth, there are people we ought to listen to, those we should ignore, and those whose advice we must take with a grain of salt.

In the last category I will put your family doctor along with other medical professionals you know personally, whether friends or family. They certainly have some expertise and should therefore be taken seriously. But that doesn’t mean you should simply do whatever they say.

For one thing, any two of them are likely to disagree. Also, they may or may not have your best interests at heart; they might not know you well or understand your situation. By all means, consider what they tell you, but weigh it carefully. (In my case, for example, when it comes to the vaccines, my healthcare provider is telling me one thing, while the medical professional I trust most—and who knows me best—is telling me the complete opposite.)

I also include, in that first group, the government health apparatus. It’s tempting to put them in group two—ignore altogether—but they have given us some good advice: wash your hands regularly, stay home if you’re sick, get vaccinated if you’re old or obese. However, they have also given us some horrific advice, such as to wear two (or three!) masks, keep healthy children home from school, and vaccinate the young and people with natural immunity. And they have neglected to say things they should have, such as advising people to lose weight and doctors to treat symptoms early with therapeutics.

Like I said—a mixed bag of advice that should all be taken with a grain of salt.

In the second category—those who should be ignored—I first put Meme Guy, who is constantly making supposedly clever (but actually silly) posts on social media. You know, like how Ivermectin is solely a horse-dewormer or Trump said people should inject themselves with bleach. Such contentions are so ignorant, neither they nor their purveyors can be taken seriously.

I also include in this category most of the mainstream media, who have rarely said a true thing about Covid since March 2020. Their motives seem to be a) to advance the Democrat narrative and promote one-party rule; and b) to induce as much fear and thereby drive as many clicks as possible. To say they cannot be trusted is an understatement. In general, if you assume whatever they say is false, you will be right far more often than if you routinely take them at their word.

Which brings us to the first category: people we CAN trust. This consists of a small group of doctors, scientists, and journalists who—unlike their government and MSM counterparts—have been mostly right for the past 18 months. That is something you can check for yourself, as I have been doing. Look at what people say, then compare it to the reality that emerges a few weeks or months later. Those who are consistently right are the ones to listen to. A short list of these folks, taken from my Twitter feed, would include Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Andrew Bostom, Dr. Ryan Cole, Jennifer Cabrera, Phil Kerpen, Daniel Horowitz, and Townhall’s own Scott Morefield.

I also have an affinity for those who have been deplatformed. Perhaps it’s the contrarian in me. I just believe that, as Jefferson also wrote, “it is error alone that needs to the support of government”—to which I would add “Big Tech” as an agent of government. People are usually deplatformed for telling the truth, not for spreading “misinformation,” except as the term is commonly used nowadays to mean “information that contradicts the official narrative.” Those whom government/Big Tech wishes to silence therefore merit special attention. On that list I put el gato malo, Alex Berenson, and Emily Woodhouse, all of whom can be found on Substack.com.

The bottom line is that there are people providing accurate information, as best they can, if you know where to look for them. Some work for the government, but sadly most do not. The government’s priority is the government, not the people. The sooner we accept that reality and learn to think for ourselves, the sooner we will be able to extricate ourselves from this mess.

I am surprised by how many of my fellow citizens ignore or discount the effects of human nature on events in our nation.

I think this stems from two issues.

One is the prevalence of computers.

We start to think that people are like computers. They will always obey their programming and behave in a rational manner.

The second issue is the rotten state of education in this country and our flippant disregard towards the teachings of classical literature.

Even here on FR, we have the constant argument that education is training and should only serve to prepare the worker bee for his job.

Human beings are not computers.

We think that people can be programmed to behave the way we want them to behave.

I have yet to see the human with a built in keyboard.

People come with different processing power. They come with different programs and experiences.

People have wants. They want things. Computers just run.

When we select a leader or a representative, we must remember that we are choosing someone who has wants. They may want a yacht. They may want several vacation homes. They may want lots of cash.

It is extremely naive and dangerous for us to forget or play down these wants. The Founders of this nation understood that people have wants. They built in protections in our Constitution to defend against people with wants destroying our country.

It is deadly to our nation to ignore the Constitution and to assume that people are just like computers.

We must be wary of leaders and their wants.

Good posts.

Conservatives have always over-estimated the rational side of human nature, because conservatives tend to be more rational and less emotional than those on the left.

Human history (especially the nasty side) is often about the “madness of crowds”.

The elites have been beta testing all different kinds of influence-peddling and brainwashing techniques, and they are still dreaming of the day when the slaves learn to obey their masters without question.

They would prefer the obedience be voluntary (due to brainwashing). It is not as messy as violent methods.

I’ve had plenty of discussion with people here and elsewhere who conflate training & education. Proper education (And I agree about classic literature ! **) is necessary for good citizenship, if you haven’t at least been exposed to the foundational principles how can you appreciate our form of government. Also proper education allows proper training to occur.

** I am talking about the foundational literature of Western Civilization. Oh your genetic material is not from the West. You live here learn the West, then learn the culture of where your genes come from.

While our technology has certainly changed and improved, human emotions have generally stayed the same.

We are greedy. We are fearful. We are jealous. We desire affirmation and love.

These feelings have been with humans since humans were formed.

Read The Iliad. Read the tales from the Vikings. Look at the ancient writings from India and China.

And yes, read the Bible. There is much to be learned in it.

I’ve been shocked to see many “conservatives” embrace tyranny

There is a flip-side to this statement.

Years ago I listened on the radio to an interview of an author of a biography on Ayn Rand - I think it was Anne Heller. At the end of the interview, Heller was asked if she learned anything new philosophically...the author, who was a self-admitted liberal, said something like "I think liberals need to think twice about using the government to fix things."

She had a change of heart. It's possible. And it has happened over the past 18 months.

I've found philosophical allies hiding where I'd never imagine; people skeptical of vaccines in high places, liberals who think certain groups like Antifa et al are really shakedown artists, and so on.

We don't need massive numbers of people to turn away from statism and embrace freedom, even a swing of 5% would be massive.

“certain unalienable rights [including] life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” “Unalienable” means no one can take them from us, not even government.”

Now that’s pure BS. Governments all over the world do exactly that.

Joe Biden is a human being. Nancy Pelosi is a human being George Bush is a human being. Mitch McConell is a human being.

Do they have wants? Of course they do. They must constantly be reminded that they serve us….the citizens. They must work to take care of our wants and needs. Certainly, they should not have to go needy while serving us. Their wants must be considered.

Or, perhaps they should find a different line of work if they always put themselves ahead of the citizens.

We must always remember that politicians have wants.

Some of them have excessive wants.

This cannot be tolerated.

Serving the citizens of this country cannot be a smokescreen for fulfilling excessive wants.

I’ve been shocked to see many “conservatives” embrace tyranny—all in the name of “safety,” of course.

Benjamin Franklin supposedly said the below. It is still true today

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

“When we select a leader or a representative, we must remember that we are choosing someone who has wants. They may want a yacht. They may want several vacation homes. They may want lots of cash.”

Exactly. Politicians and bureaucrats are no different than the rest of us, they, like the rest of us are out to advance their self interests first and foremost. So we should give them the minimum amount of money and power to do their jobs and to watch them like a hawk.

Unfortunately, we’ve done the opposite - we’ve let them take whatever amount of money they want from us, and to give themselves whatever power they want. And instead of us watching them like a hawk they do that to us.

True. But what I see in this virus “crisis” is the lies.. the deceit.. and it isn’t just the lies either.. it’s the beginning.. the opening... of control over us out here.
Lose your job if not vaxed.. can’t travel... blamed for it all if not vaxed. its evil holding it over the good people out here who won’t be controlled by them.

Look at the picture the left has drawn... let in millions come in.. we don’t know who they are, or what they might have... but we citizens have to behave and be controlled. The mistakes they have made are monumental... why would they be any better with this covid. They do not know what they are doing.. it’s worse than ineptness.. it’s giving a country away to communism control.

There is more for the argument... but I would not let them my dog.. let alone take the vax.. they are not to be trusted with anything I hold dear... 13 dead soldiers is a sad and totally unnecessary act of the worst administration ever.

If this were the republicans doing this, the dems would already be in action.. the republicans live with 50 years of giving into the dems... need new blood in there..

One thing Trump did...he turned on the light for all of us to see the wickedness and deception in Washington!

No the author assumed the reader would smart enough to recognize a quote from one of the principal documents on which we base the US law code

But of course, he underestimated the rabid stupidity of the Freeper Troll brigade who race from threat to thread infantilely desperate to manufacture some sort of moronic snarky comment to post.

I have been writing about the behavior of our politicians, but we must also consider our fellow citizens.

They all have wants.

It is extremely wrong to think that inner city Democrat voters vote purely from habit.

They also have wants.

They don’t vote for Democrats because that is ingrained in their behavior.

They think that the Democrats will fulfill their wants.

The sad thing is that the Democrat politicians fulfill their wants by taking advantage of the inner city Democrat voters.

This is why the Democrats must control the press. They cannot allow the Democrat voters to discover that they are taking advantage of them to fulfill their own excessive wants.

Which brings us to the first category: people we CAN trust.

Those people being anyone who supports your already establised opinion on a subject. If you are to take the advice from your physician with a grain of salt because "any two of them are likely to disagree" then why should we believe Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Andrew Bostom, Dr. Ryan Cole, Jennifer Cabrera, Phil Kerpen, Daniel Horowitz, and Scott Morefield when there are dozens of people who disagree with them? So obviously Jenkins says believe those who have your position and ignore those who don't.

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