amidwesterndoctor | One of the things I have come to appreciate as the years have gone by is how much of what people say are not their own thoughts. The current structure of our educational system (discussed here) is largely about replacing critical thinking with the illusion of intelligence, where you are seen as smart if you copy what the most authoritative sources or voices say instead of formulating your own opinion.
Because of this, whenever I hear someone proudly share an argument or train of logic I have already seen numerous times, one of the most common replies I give is “are you sure those ideas are your own?”
If you look at this article within the context of
Oster’s previous plea and its response (both of these articles are
essentially trying to do the same thing), I believe a strong case can be
made that these were tests to see what narrative needs to be pivoted
to. Likewise, Germany’s minister of health (and a well-credentialed
scientist) finally made a limited apology
for the disastrous policies he pushed on the German people without
acknowledging the worst mistakes while simultaneously shifting the blame
for his decisions to unnamed scientists who gave him bad advice.
Similarly, let’s consider Malcom Kendrick’s recent commentary on another leading advocate of this insanity:
With the resignation of Jacinda Ardern [two weeks ago], my thoughts were dragged back to Covid once more. Jacinda, as Prime Minster of New Zealand was the ultimate lockdown enforcer. She was feted round the world for her iron will, but I was not a fan, to put it mildly. Whenever I heard her speak, it brought to mind one of my most favourite quotes:
‘Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.’ C.S. Lewis
At one point she actually said the following:
“We will continue to be your single source of truth” “Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth.’
Yet, there are still many who believe her to have been a great and caring leader. She certainly hugged a lot of people with that well rehearsed pained/caring expression on her face.
In many ways it’s remarkable that we have been able to move the dialogue this far in just a few months, and to be honest, I would have given almost anything for a compromise like what this article presented to have been made any time in 2020 or early in 2021. However, any time a negotiation occurs, you must keep in mind that whatever is initially offered is much less than the party is willing to agree to, and the fact that something like this is being openly offered means we are in a very strong bargaining position.
Any type of promise or apology (especially
disingenuous ones) will not prevent what we saw happen over the last few
years from happening again. Laws, and ideally constitutional amendments
(initially at the state level and ideally at the national level) can
prevent such tragedies, and many people I have spoken to feel we have a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to correct many of the systemic issues
within medicine that have poisoned our culture.
In
my own opinion, if these people are actually sorry for what they did to
us, they would be willing to relinquish some of their power so it could
not happen again and I believe moving forward it is critical for us to
hold them to that. Anything less should not be considered acceptable
for them to be granted amnesty.
