One remarkable outcome of the madness of the last three years is that the authoritarianism and insane policies have brought a number of us to each others' attention who would not have otherwise known how to find one another. Given that "liberal" and "racist" and "fascist" are all words that increasingly mean the opposite of what they used to--why not "bad guys" too?
My husband thinks that because I am not in lockstep with everything GOP, I’m not real conservative. The labels and groups do indeed need to go away. They describe nothing identifiable. If there was a way to have double-blind publications, and have the audience decide on the contents and merit, we might wend our way. Thank you is so insufficient when referencing the way you have navigates the past three years. I “got it” immediately when you went through the events at Evergreen, and thought, “I need to hear from these people”.
As a conservative, I find the GOP's apparent willingness to be "the respectful opposition" in perpetuity rather distasteful. I don't lionize Trump, despite voting for him twice, but the "never Trumpers" did all conservatives a disservice IMO.
Knee-jerk governing or thinking does us all a disservice. I’ll always vote Republican, because I am a conservative. Yesterday on “The Five”, Harold Ford, Jr., hit the nail on the head, and affirms my conservative position. He said, “Until the GOP gets on the right side of the abortion issue they have no chance.” I’ll never put a check to vote for a pro-choice candidate, regardless of other positions. His mind will never be changed, as will not the other pro-choice minds. I shared my opinion that the GOP will lose because the numbers don’t seem to be there.
The language tricks are nothing new. Here’s Orwell himself, excerpt from Essays:
“The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable"...In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.”
I have come to greatly appreciate all you both have done during this pandemic. You both remind me of the very best of my college professors all those decades ago. I fear that kind of scientific inquisitiveness has been lost forever when I talk to my young medical students today.
Again, thank you for all you do. You have been a harbor of sanity in this whole disaster.
If only I had an internist like you--I dread my internal med appointment next week. More lectures, just as he gave me last year (twice during the one appointment).
This is about as complete, concise and rational a summary of the past three years as I have seen. You have done yeoman's work at a time when very few would go there. There are many of us who will be forever grateful. I know it is sometimes hard to remember that when you are a "bad guy". But it is true nevertheless. Many, many thanks.
This is beautifully written and hits each point in devastating clarity. I would also like to ad my 2 cents. Most middle class, lower-middle class are a paycheck away from being on the street. When management says get the shot, wear a badge signifying you got the shot, the media is telling you to get the shot, and let’s not forget the medical community, the fear, you get the shot. The medical community is just as much a player in this terrible part of history and has really shot itself in ways that will make the general public extremely wary of shots, vaccines, medical alerts, and the list goes on. Yes a large group was raising alarms but the majority shut.them.down.
I now trust very few people, organizations and government. I live in a small community, I help out where I can and hope it helps. But my heart and mind are damaged not by a direct contact with COVID but the indirect consequents of the lack of integrity, honesty, and outright grab for power and money.
Thank you - and Dr. Weinstein - for everything you have done and endured over the past three years. Your reasoned arguments for sanity definitely kept me on the rails and I am forever appreciative.
I am beginning to believe that the solution to the "Fermi Paradox" (where are the aliens that we think must be out there?) is a simple one: the more advanced a society, the more advanced its technology the more the individuals decline over the generations. All technological species use their technology to make life easier for themselves and their offspring. Think of beavers and the dams that they build. A sufficiently advanced species will inevitably reduce selective pressures on their own offspring and mitigate for as long as possible those effects on their gene pool until the decline becomes to great. The technology required to exploit, much less leave one's natal star system reduces the fitness of the individuals until they can no longer maintain their society. Dr Edward Dutton has posited that the mean IQ in the west has declined about a point per decade since the Industrial Revolution. 250 years later, 90% of the population of the advanced world is "spiteful mutants" that would not have survived to adulthood in pre-industrial times. I think this process of dumbing down the west explains a lot of what we see today and say "WTF?".
I honestly love you two. You are - for the most part - sane, always kind, reasoned, and articulate. I even appreciate Bret's jokes.
I'm not sure you two appreciated what an honor it was to be named in the top of the list of disinformation spreaders. Cheer's to yous, or maybe y'all.
Lets start with the assumption that a leaf doesn't get swept from a Chinese sidewalk unless it benefits the party . Everything is in support of the government. Even if that were right in only 60% of the time, Vegas would make you rich. Any advanced research being encouraged on Chinese soil will also have a Chinese military/security connection. Fouche's funneling money through eco health alliance was a subsidiary to hostile major military power.
We are now pretty sure that the lab escape happened in Oct of 19.
Rush Limbaugh posited that the leak was an accident, but that when a report made it to Xi Jinping and the others in leadership that a deadly and fast spreading virus had escaped their lab, and that it will kill millions of Chinese, the leadership decided that if China was to be devastated, so must the other world powers, and initiated a program of flying people from Wuhan to the infect the West.
Sounded plausible to me at the time. I wonder if there plane records to support this supposition.
Bad guys, clearly. Bret's hat is questionable, I must say. He'd be shot by the end of any traditional western movie, for sure.
I'd quibble with one statement: "I no longer trust my government to borrow any of my freedoms." They didn't borrow them. They stole them outright, with no intention of ever returning them, even in a 3-branched government that cooperates (and conspires) in power-mongering.
This is so good! I have so enjoyed listening to the Darkhorse podcast for a while now and just recently signed up to receive your weekly writings. Keep up the good work... I know others have said it but it keeps me feeling sane!!
I really appreciated this article. I followed the discussions you were having, along with the presentations by Chris Martenson, during the visceral beginning (and subsequent evolution) of all this pandemic response nonsense. The actions proposed - and our mandated, unquestioning, compliance - just didn't make sense to me. I was looking for the intelligent conversation so I wouldn't just be the lone questioning voice in my little sphere of influence. Thanks for being there, because nobody in my family, friend, neighbor, or extended social circle - NOBODY - would even engage the topic. Of course, I'm in Portland, OR, so that's par for the course. <grimacing smiley>
Oh, and Dr. John Campbell too. Another great resource for being data driven and willing to follow the trail, even if it meant changing his mind. In general, there are too many people with strong ego / attachment to their ideas or beliefs. I truly appreciate how you and Bret have been truly curious and open to new information.
My heart feels physical,pain, and I have actual tears for you and Bret as you model integrity. Today’s publication needs to be spoken before Congress, before the world. Call n Dr. Rand Paul to have you testify before Congress, and send me the same when it happens. Or Marsha Blackburn.
Nicely done Heather, so well stated. Thank you both - eternally grateful for the pod in our household. Noticed also no one seems to want to discuss out loud the fact that some people are "genetically" more or less at risk. There was at least one Yale study on this, yet crickets as far as I can tell. For sure a confounder and who I wonder has personal immunity?
If you're the bad guys, I'm quite happy to have you both in the "bad guys" camp with me.
One remarkable outcome of the madness of the last three years is that the authoritarianism and insane policies have brought a number of us to each others' attention who would not have otherwise known how to find one another. Given that "liberal" and "racist" and "fascist" are all words that increasingly mean the opposite of what they used to--why not "bad guys" too?
The same goes for the label 'disinformation spreaders'. We may want to consider wearing it as a badge of honour !
My husband thinks that because I am not in lockstep with everything GOP, I’m not real conservative. The labels and groups do indeed need to go away. They describe nothing identifiable. If there was a way to have double-blind publications, and have the audience decide on the contents and merit, we might wend our way. Thank you is so insufficient when referencing the way you have navigates the past three years. I “got it” immediately when you went through the events at Evergreen, and thought, “I need to hear from these people”.
As a conservative, I find the GOP's apparent willingness to be "the respectful opposition" in perpetuity rather distasteful. I don't lionize Trump, despite voting for him twice, but the "never Trumpers" did all conservatives a disservice IMO.
Knee-jerk governing or thinking does us all a disservice. I’ll always vote Republican, because I am a conservative. Yesterday on “The Five”, Harold Ford, Jr., hit the nail on the head, and affirms my conservative position. He said, “Until the GOP gets on the right side of the abortion issue they have no chance.” I’ll never put a check to vote for a pro-choice candidate, regardless of other positions. His mind will never be changed, as will not the other pro-choice minds. I shared my opinion that the GOP will lose because the numbers don’t seem to be there.
The language tricks are nothing new. Here’s Orwell himself, excerpt from Essays:
“The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies "something not desirable"...In the case of a word like democracy, not only is there no agreed definition, but the attempt to make one is resisted from all sides. It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it: consequently the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.”
That's how a new culture will rise from the ashes, when we recognize the epithets as chevrons and wear the experience as armour.
I have come to greatly appreciate all you both have done during this pandemic. You both remind me of the very best of my college professors all those decades ago. I fear that kind of scientific inquisitiveness has been lost forever when I talk to my young medical students today.
Again, thank you for all you do. You have been a harbor of sanity in this whole disaster.
Thank you. This means a lot.
If only I had an internist like you--I dread my internal med appointment next week. More lectures, just as he gave me last year (twice during the one appointment).
This is about as complete, concise and rational a summary of the past three years as I have seen. You have done yeoman's work at a time when very few would go there. There are many of us who will be forever grateful. I know it is sometimes hard to remember that when you are a "bad guy". But it is true nevertheless. Many, many thanks.
This is beautifully written and hits each point in devastating clarity. I would also like to ad my 2 cents. Most middle class, lower-middle class are a paycheck away from being on the street. When management says get the shot, wear a badge signifying you got the shot, the media is telling you to get the shot, and let’s not forget the medical community, the fear, you get the shot. The medical community is just as much a player in this terrible part of history and has really shot itself in ways that will make the general public extremely wary of shots, vaccines, medical alerts, and the list goes on. Yes a large group was raising alarms but the majority shut.them.down.
I now trust very few people, organizations and government. I live in a small community, I help out where I can and hope it helps. But my heart and mind are damaged not by a direct contact with COVID but the indirect consequents of the lack of integrity, honesty, and outright grab for power and money.
Beautiful summation and exhortation Dr. Heying.
Thank you and Dr. Weinstein for all you do.
Heather:
After all the crap you and Bret have had to tolerate over the past 5 years it’s time to take a victory lap.
I hope vindication is sweet and offers you relief.
You two have been the voice of logic and rationality that helped me to maintain hope and equilibrium throughout the turmoil.
On so many topics it seemed like the ruling class lost its ability to lead.
We seem to have entered an era where true leadership comes from ground level actors.
Leadership from below from, as it turns out, immensely superior thinkers like Heather and Bret Weinstein.
Bottoms Up, as they say!
CHEERS to you guys!! 🍻
Thank you - and Dr. Weinstein - for everything you have done and endured over the past three years. Your reasoned arguments for sanity definitely kept me on the rails and I am forever appreciative.
I am beginning to believe that the solution to the "Fermi Paradox" (where are the aliens that we think must be out there?) is a simple one: the more advanced a society, the more advanced its technology the more the individuals decline over the generations. All technological species use their technology to make life easier for themselves and their offspring. Think of beavers and the dams that they build. A sufficiently advanced species will inevitably reduce selective pressures on their own offspring and mitigate for as long as possible those effects on their gene pool until the decline becomes to great. The technology required to exploit, much less leave one's natal star system reduces the fitness of the individuals until they can no longer maintain their society. Dr Edward Dutton has posited that the mean IQ in the west has declined about a point per decade since the Industrial Revolution. 250 years later, 90% of the population of the advanced world is "spiteful mutants" that would not have survived to adulthood in pre-industrial times. I think this process of dumbing down the west explains a lot of what we see today and say "WTF?".
Your guys' fearlessness has inspired me to also voice positions that are at odds with the accepted narrative. Thank you.
You have to show proof of vaccination in order to be part of the SNL audience.
How sick is our society: terminal
I honestly love you two. You are - for the most part - sane, always kind, reasoned, and articulate. I even appreciate Bret's jokes.
I'm not sure you two appreciated what an honor it was to be named in the top of the list of disinformation spreaders. Cheer's to yous, or maybe y'all.
Lets start with the assumption that a leaf doesn't get swept from a Chinese sidewalk unless it benefits the party . Everything is in support of the government. Even if that were right in only 60% of the time, Vegas would make you rich. Any advanced research being encouraged on Chinese soil will also have a Chinese military/security connection. Fouche's funneling money through eco health alliance was a subsidiary to hostile major military power.
We are now pretty sure that the lab escape happened in Oct of 19.
Rush Limbaugh posited that the leak was an accident, but that when a report made it to Xi Jinping and the others in leadership that a deadly and fast spreading virus had escaped their lab, and that it will kill millions of Chinese, the leadership decided that if China was to be devastated, so must the other world powers, and initiated a program of flying people from Wuhan to the infect the West.
Sounded plausible to me at the time. I wonder if there plane records to support this supposition.
Bad guys, clearly. Bret's hat is questionable, I must say. He'd be shot by the end of any traditional western movie, for sure.
I'd quibble with one statement: "I no longer trust my government to borrow any of my freedoms." They didn't borrow them. They stole them outright, with no intention of ever returning them, even in a 3-branched government that cooperates (and conspires) in power-mongering.
This is so good! I have so enjoyed listening to the Darkhorse podcast for a while now and just recently signed up to receive your weekly writings. Keep up the good work... I know others have said it but it keeps me feeling sane!!
I really appreciated this article. I followed the discussions you were having, along with the presentations by Chris Martenson, during the visceral beginning (and subsequent evolution) of all this pandemic response nonsense. The actions proposed - and our mandated, unquestioning, compliance - just didn't make sense to me. I was looking for the intelligent conversation so I wouldn't just be the lone questioning voice in my little sphere of influence. Thanks for being there, because nobody in my family, friend, neighbor, or extended social circle - NOBODY - would even engage the topic. Of course, I'm in Portland, OR, so that's par for the course. <grimacing smiley>
Oh, and Dr. John Campbell too. Another great resource for being data driven and willing to follow the trail, even if it meant changing his mind. In general, there are too many people with strong ego / attachment to their ideas or beliefs. I truly appreciate how you and Bret have been truly curious and open to new information.
My heart feels physical,pain, and I have actual tears for you and Bret as you model integrity. Today’s publication needs to be spoken before Congress, before the world. Call n Dr. Rand Paul to have you testify before Congress, and send me the same when it happens. Or Marsha Blackburn.
Nicely done Heather, so well stated. Thank you both - eternally grateful for the pod in our household. Noticed also no one seems to want to discuss out loud the fact that some people are "genetically" more or less at risk. There was at least one Yale study on this, yet crickets as far as I can tell. For sure a confounder and who I wonder has personal immunity?