I see the Surgeon General of the United States is calling Covid misinformation an 'urgent threat'. Ever notice how many things nowadays is categorized under the heading 'urgent threat' or similar? It's as if they're saying they fully support our rights and freedoms as long as those do not pose an urgent threat. Out of dumb blind luck, however, almost anything that questions a leftwing narrative is an urgent threat.
Of course the joke here is that you can't have misinformation when the last thing that has defined the Covid era has been consistency of messaging. If there was some consistent narrative at all, I could then figure what was and wasn't misinformation.
For instance, my sons predicted weeks ago that within a week or so of July 4th - when President Biden promised we would be liberated from Covid - you'd see news reports of Covid spikes and the beginning of talks about returning to restrictions and even lockdowns. Given that's what dominated the news this morning, I'd say they're not too far off.
We all know that Covid, like climate, health, opioids, or anything today, is about one part science, and five parts politics. I couldn't tell you what to think of Covid unless I just said whatever they say today is now gospel truth and I obey. If I think more than that about what has been said over the last year or more, almost none of it makes sense.
In fact, if I begin asking questions like why was my mom not tested for Covid when we had to take her to the ER with chest pains, shortness of breath, and general weakness, I begin to wonder why the Covid rates are really down. Heck, they didn't even ask if she was vaccinated. But then, that could be misinformation because I noticed things. And we all know that misinformation is an urgent threat.
The Moral Equivalence of War is the phrase you're looking for. It goes back to at least the 70s. I know I've seen Jonah Goldberg comment on it for a couple of decades now.
ReplyDeleteI think we're on the downward slope of moral equivalence. It worked for a time to suggest America, Aztecs, Ottomans, Christianity, atheism, liberalism, whatever is all the same. Now we're heading into 'there is nothing more inferior than any morality grounded in the Christian Western tradition.
Delete