How Covid lies radicalized so many of us

A couple of years ago, waiting for an appointment, I found myself at an outdoor bar in downtown Manhattan. It was a warm summer weekday. The place was crowded with twenty- and thirty-somethings, flirting and drinking, rich and carefree.

And suddenly I found myself thinking, I might be the only person in this place who hasn’t taken the Covid vaccine. Probably it didn’t hurt them, probably they’re all fine, they’re all going to be fine… but none of them even understand the chance they took. They’re good boys and girls, the system has always worked for them, it’s put them in this beautiful place drinking $15 cocktails, why would they ever question it too hard?

There wasn’t really anyone I could talk to about this, so I just sipped my beer and faded into a corner and watched. (If you’ve read any of my John Wells novels, you’ll know, Wells is a great watcher. The difference is that he’s always got a pistol tucked away. Just in case.)

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(I couldn’t talk to them. But I CAN talk to you. And that’s enough.)

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But I thought about that afternoon when I read this email. And especially the line you’ll see I bolded.

Unreported Truths is a place for contrarians who’ve become skeptics and skeptics who know that some conspiracy theories — like the conspiracy between top officials at Pfizer and the White House to censor me — are true. Even if the world won’t admit those truths.

We’ve all been radicalized here, some further than others. Some more loudly than others. But we all saw the truth — during Covid, or before.

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Her words, edited only to remove a couple of possibly identifying details:

I am a physician, and married to a physician, and have been following you closely since COVID started. You have been one of the few balanced, objective and sane voices I could cling to during that tumultuous time.

I am a mother and at that time had two children in high school in [the rural part of a deep blue state]. I still feel enraged about what was done to my children and taken from them. Especially my son who had his Senior year destroyed. Who went from a happy charismatic kid to severely depressed. He ended up going to a large university down south fall of 2021, where COVID did not really exist and blossomed. He is doing great, graduated and has a job and girlfriend he loves.

My daughter did better during COVID as we were able to send her to a small private school that was able to do in person due to tiny class sizes. My son did not want to leave his large public high school for his Senior year and was primarily remote. You are familiar with how that went and how many children’s lives were destroyed. Mine were lucky, they had two parents who loved them deeply and had resources.

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Regarding my thoughts on medicine and the medical community it was a transformational time for me. I have always been a bit of a rebel and a questioner of authority, but I did have a deep trust for the medical establishment that trained me.

I lost my innocence and this trust completely. I was so profoundly disillusioned by most of my colleagues, mentors CDC, FDA. I could not believe the sheep mentality, the scale of the lying and suppression. Everything we were told to do flew in the face of practicing medicine and common sense, the masking, distancing, treatments and what we learned early on about the vaccine but was hidden.

I was working in a men’s medium security state prison primarily during that time. I kept seeing patients in person while all the private docs were remote. I loved working in prison, but that is another story.

What I found fascinating was the natural skepticism of all the inmates regarding everything that was being pushed. They were much less likely to buy into the masking and vaccine than my highly educated suburban soccer mom friends. Their distrust of government and authority served them well. The officers at the prison (very conservative group, despised the state’s Democratic governor) also showed lots of common sense and skepticism of government messaging.

I had more in common with my patients (murderers, gang bangers) and the officers than most of my physician friends!

By the way we had tons of COVID in my prison -staff, inmates and only one patient ever went to the hospital(and did fine). It is a younger population, but lots of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, HIV, Hep C and substance abuse.

Anyway my point is your extensive diligent research, passionate writings on all things COVID from vaccines to free speech and lockdowns was a clear voice of reason. You were lifeline for me when I was surrounded by complete insanity in my profession and personal life. Thank you.

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(Join me in the fight for truth.)

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No, thank you.

All of you.

We may not agree on everything, but during Covid we all kept each other sane, and we still are. However successful we are, we’ve learned that the system works for itself — and perhaps the people at the very, very top of it — not for us.

It’s more than seeing.

Once you feel that truth in your bones, you can’t forget it.