In the middle, we have scientists who keep learning more and more about this new virus. The two hands are the media who make money by sensationalising things and the fringe using this as en excuse to promote whatever conspiracy theory floats their boat.
I don't dispute that. I was referring more to my line of thinking and whose information I trust more regarding the pandemic. I think I trust the researchers more than anyone else, because they're generally more positive in how they discuss the virus than anyone else is. I also default to my own common sense based on what I do know about the virus, although that's more of a personal choice and I wouldn't expect others to agree with me.
The government has a little bit of trust since, in a democracy, they can be held accountable so if they're fudging the situation too much we're going to know- and make them answer for it. Still, there's part of me that thinks they're still not forthright with all the information they could provide us, and the fact the numbers are sketchy does raise some skepticism.
Furthermore, their "make it up as we go along" policy decisions sure doesn't give me much hope that they truly know what they're doing.
As for who I trust the least I'm with you on the media and the conspiracy nuts. The media seems to love running the most tragic and fear-mongering of headlines to grab attention and clicks, but once you actually read the articles they're just fluff because they're just talking to one person speculating. Then the conspiracy nuts...I think the lack of trust here is obvious, don't you think?
I have the exact same sentiments about this as well....
What gets me is that you have government officials and other scientists worried about conspiracy theorists but they do very little to stop those conspiracy theorists from cropping up.
One, you have pretty consistent consensus from policymakers that nightclubs, festivals and bars will be the last places to reopen. Given how much we already know that governments hate those places, how can someone not think COVID-19 isn't being used as an excuse to get rid of them?
Then you have all these dire predictions from so-called "experts" that think we'll be "social distancing" (I
hate that term) for the next decade...but no one is acting like that will be the reality, as event organizers seem to think once the fall hits, it's business as usual. I mean, if, as "experts" think, 2021 is a write-off then I doubt festivals would reschedule their events for then. Right? So, why the conflicting messaging? Is there something we don't know about?
Then we have people like Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders saying "if we were dealing with scorpions, people would appreciate the threat more". No, Chief, it's got nothing to do with "visibility". It's got everything to do with lots of people (including me) thinking, "I've got a greater chance of getting hit by a car than I do of dying or even catching the virus". Simply put, if we were dealing with a virus where one person infects ten other people, does so asymptomatically and kills 50% of those it infects...I hardly doubt there would be many "not appreciating the threat".
Then there's the fact that the virus is more impactful in hospitals and long-term care homes than in the public. Well, if the public at large isn't in that much danger, why are we being practically imprisoned?
...and that's all off the top of my head, and before we get into weirder "Plandemic" territory. I'm not saying all this to downplay the public health issue or even to say that I believe in those- or any- conspiracy theories. There's lots of alternate, more rational explanations for the items above, and I fully recognize that.
I'm simply saying that, with how things are going, it's very easy to come up with conspiracy theories because government officials have done such a poor job not creating an environment for them to occur. There's a distinct lack of transparency that is really disturbing and should be concerning no matter what you think about COVID-19. Full stop.