NYT Opinion Essay..."How COVID Remade America"...long, but worthwhile...
...here's an excerpt from the beginning...
-------------------
It turned us into hyperindividualists.
At first, the solidarity was breathtaking. Out of concern for ourselves and one another, we suspended nearly all interpersonal activity for months, wiping our lives almost entirely clean of the very people we were trying to protect. But, perversely, that solidarity destroyed our social fabric, dividing Americans into groups of essential workers and remote ones and making briefly real Margaret Thatcher’s dictum that there was no such thing as society, only individuals and families. It was a crash course in libertarianism — and solipsism. For several months the daily lives of many Americans were reduced to the boundaries of their nuclear unit and their phones and televisions and computers.
Isolated, we saw one another first as threats and then as something less than real. Covid unfolded on screens for most Americans, and although the experience was in many ways collective, all our screens were different: Some showed overflowing morgues, others revealing a sham. Soon, we began to worry less about how our actions affected others and more about how theirs affected us — a sense of interdependence giving way to anomie, atomization and entitlement. Serious people began describing the world in terms of vibes, another sign that reality had become something to divine from a distance.
Politics started to look more like a zone of virtual reality, too, and many Americans came to see their fellow humans as mindless drones. We borrowed a term from video games — nonplayer character, or NPC — to use as a kind of slur. Over the long sweep of liberal history, our circle of empathy had expanded steadily, until it encompassed nearly the whole globe; now it snapped back, as tight as a rubber band.
-------------------
Note: The Image depicts U.S. Weekly Deaths Above Normal during the pandemic
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/04/opinion/covid-impact-five-years-later.html
Replies to: NYT Opinion Essay..."How COVID Remade America"...long, but worthwhile...
I read the entire article, despite the fact you refuse to read Dr. Risch's paper
I don't agree with all of the author's conclusions but it's an interesting piece.
Three things stood out to me:
- The number of increased deaths 2023 well after the vaccine rollout.
- "Federal estimates suggest that more than $200 billion in Covid relief loans and grants went to fraudulent actors — almost one out of every five dollars spent by the program." This alone proves the need for DOGE. The left is now saying waste and fraud are miniscule - if it even exists - but this statement clearly shows it isn't.
- No mention of how hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc and azithromycin actually was almost a miracle cure. Thank goodness fellow NY Times journalist Sheryl Gay Stolberg is communicating with Dr. Risch about this topic.
Read my 2:29pm post, re: Dr. Risch...as for the "waste and fraud", Trump FIRED the Inspector General
the day after his COVID Relief Bill was passed...and that was over the strong objections by Democrats...you've obviously seen the results...why on earth would anyone fire the person responsible for ensuring the money was spent judiciously??...only a Criminal and Grifter, which DJT is, would do that. Let that sink in.
I'm not going to read this but for me the Dem response to COVID opened the door for Trump in 2024.
They overplayed their hand by a long shot and alienated reasonable people.
It's your choice to stay uninformed, Curly...certainly doesn't add credibility to your position.
(no message)
"It's your choice to stay uninformed, Curly.." says the guy who refuses to be educated by Dr. Risch
(no message)
Right on Cue...let's recap...
I joined the OF in early October, 2020...
>HCQ+ was Dead and Buried by August of 2020.
>When this topic was brought up on the OF, I asked our family ID Specialist about it...was informed, in no uncertain terms, that the ID community considered it a "Joke"
>I did research into why that was so...
>Read the letters from Dr. Risch's Peers at Yale who disavowed his promotion of HCQ+...and his Co-Editors of the publication he used to pen that "Opinion Piece" who also strongly expressed their regret for having published it...all before October, 2020.
>Read two of the Debunked Studies Dr. Risch based his paper on...studies that Dr. Risch ADMITTED were deeply flawed...and btw, those authors also acknowledged their failures...
>Read a scholarly and detailed critique of Dr. Risch's paper by a noted Virologist.
>Viewed several video presentations as to why HCQ+ could never be effective (i.e. lack of TMPRSS2 inhibition...and no 'Ritonavir'-like lipid nanoparticles)
So, I did my own research and understood WHY HCQ+ got shelved...my only reason for dialoguing with you on this is to try and help you learn why you should stop pushing on a rope...reading that debunked paper won't help one bit. Hope this summary helps...but I'm not holding my breath ;-)
Your information "debunking" HCQ+ was discredited by Dr. Risch's paper
That I have been trying to no avail to get you to read. YOU are the one deliberately choosing to remain ignorant on this.
And I guarantee I know more about HCQ+ than your vaunted ID doc. He's relying on faulty trials, as you are, on why it allegedly didn't work.
When Dr. Risch's peers at Yale, and the publication Co-Editors, change their minds and support
HCQ for COVID treatment, I'll read his paper...Deal?
They haven't made any statements since then...and his paper successfully rebutted what they alleged
And all the "evidence" you cited was, again, successfully addressed by Dr. Risch's paper. If I were wealthy I'd offer you a very healthy sum of money to the cause of your choice (even the DNC) if you read his research paper. But alas, you remain stubbornly committed to ignorance.
By the way, I'm gonna email Dr. Risch and see how his conversations with Ms. Stolberg from the NY Times are going. My water is she heard from her higher ups to drop it.
The folks I cited work with Dr. Risch...it's implausible that he wouldn't show them his revised
paper...since neither he nor they have announced a change of opinion, it's safe to say they still disagree. When they announce their support for HC+ as a treatment for COVID-19, I'll read his paper...you have my word on it...I Promise in front of everyone here on this Forum. How about we put this topic to bed until the conditions change...Agree?
You are missing the point entirely
EVERY study showing HCQ+ was ineffective wasn't conducted properly. And yet those are the studies the mainstream medical community (and your ignorant vaunted family ID doctor) are relying on to say it doesn't work.
Re-read my previous post, re: Risch’s Peers at Yale and his Co-Publication Editors…
They CERTAINLY would have been shown ALL of his papers….can’t deny that, Mark…and they haven’t changed their opinions…
Time to pack it in.
They have NOT weighed in since before he wrote his research paper
Where he answered every criticism. Tell me, how can you possibly base an opinion HCQ+ didn't work when the studies showing it to be ineffective weren't conducted properly? Can you at least answer that?
Ten Myths Told By CoVid Experts - Now Debunked
Everyone should read that.
(no message)
Nothing wrong with Free Speech, just read BOTH sides of the story and use 'Critical Thinking'...
something you are not known for, Ned...case in point, my rejoinder to you on the Abortion issue.
The science has changed… what a moron.
(no message)
You are quite possibly the last person anyone should go to for an opinion...as evidenced by your
consistent lack of substance.
Carry on...at least this board caters to the "Full Range" of participants ;-).
More Misinformation...from Rupert Murdoch's NY Post no less (don't forget his $787M fee to continue
knowingly lying to readers/viewers)
#1) 98% of ICU patients were unvaccinated during the height of COVID...that's a HUGE risk to take...not very smart...and all the reports I saw definitely acknowledged the immunization effect of surviving infection. The NYP's characterization of this item is definitely "Misinformation".
#2) The CDC and all other Medical Authorities have always promoted Masking as a "Mitigation" tool...not as a 100% effective prevention, as the Post implies...more Misinformation. Also, as I've posted, a real world example of Masking's effectiveness was described in the NEJM study of Boston School Districts that maintained their Masking Mandate, as opposed to those that didn't.
#3) Sweden recanted it's "Open" strategy when faced with much higher death rates than their Scandinavian neighbors...Closures and/or restrictions on gatherings work...the only question is the timing of reopening.
#4) This one is flat out wrong...I've posted evidence that Myocarditis is indeed more prevalent...and more severe...in those who are infected, than those who are vaccinated.
#5) Kids can become infected...and then become "Superspreaders" to those around them who are much more vulnerable...that's a fact...therefore, given the effectiveness of vaccines in reducing transmission...especially in the early days of the pandemic, before Omicron...it made perfect sense to vaccinate children...more Misinformation.
#6) Had everyone complied with Mandates we would have been more like Japan with our Mortality Rates...i.e. Much Lower. Sadly, the U.S. is lacking in Social Awareness...they embraced the logic of Mitigation and Vaccine measures...too many of us didn't...and look what it got us.
#7) While the majority of investigations point to a "zoonotic" origin...the possibility of a Lab origin has not been ruled out. Note that China completely eliminated all evidence from the Wuhan "Wet Market" where evidence of a zoonotic origin may have existed. Hopefully, they actually found evidence and kept it, but the odds of ever seeing it are remote...same with anything from the Lab...more Misinformation.
#8) Haven't heard this one before...would love to see some documentation and study data, along with any critiques.
#9) The author at least admits it's his 'Opinion' that the bivalent vaccine caused increased Myocarditis in children...sadly, there is no reference to any studies backing up that claim.
#10) 'Long COVID' is a very difficult diagnosis, so Dr. Makary is free to Opine all he wants.
Take a look at Dr. Makary's Wiki page...he's a bit odd when it comes to COVID...e.g. he was a huge proponent of Masking and Vaccinations early on, but then writes an opinion piece like this one. Hard to explain.
You have zero credibility.
(no message)
Prove it.
(no message)
You just did.
(no message)
Oh, Boy...with that Non-Answer, you cratered whatever cred you think you have, Cheeks.
(no message)
Not hard to explain Makary's change of stance - he's intellectually honest
When faced with new information, he changed his mind.
And I seriously doubt you know more about this subject than he does.
Read the attached Wiki Summary of Dr. Makary...his credibility suffered a significant wound as noted
in this excerpt...
--------------------
In a February 2021 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Makary predicted that "At the current trajectory", COVID-19 in the United States would "be mostly gone by April" 2021, primarily as a result of naturally acquired immunity, which would result in herd immunity.[39] The article's estimates of herd immunity were criticized for being higher than the best available data supported.[40] Later that year, the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 caused hundreds of thousands of additional deaths in the United States.[5]
-------------------
I'm sure Dr. Makary is an intelligent physician, but 'Intelligence' does not equal 'Wisdom'...he should stay in his lane of Abdominal Surgery and yield to the consensus opinions of trained and experienced Infectious Disease Specialists, who deal with epidemics and pandemics on a daily basis.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Makary