Carolin, I wholly concur that, as you say, "One of the scariest things of the last 3 years is seeing people that I previously thought were critical thinkers mindlessly parrot the lasting talking points from tv that to any logical thinking person makes no sense (e.g. "the unvaccinated are responsible for the covid infections of the vaccin…
Carolin, I wholly concur that, as you say, "One of the scariest things of the last 3 years is seeing people that I previously thought were critical thinkers mindlessly parrot the lasting talking points from tv that to any logical thinking person makes no sense (e.g. "the unvaccinated are responsible for the covid infections of the vaccinated"). Everything you have written here makes sense to me, and is also quite close to my own experience.
As for the religious, alas, many in my family and social circles are devout Catholics and they did what the Pope told them they should do "for love." I also have, or I should say, had, some church-going mainline Protestants in my family and, with counted exceptions, they ingested gallons of the Kool-Aid-- even the kids have now had multiple jabs. But of course, attending church isn't the litmus test for genuine spirituality, never was.
In my experience, resisting the jabbing had more to do with social status than any other factor, and after that, independent of social status, it was the inclination and confidence to think for oneself, and after that, the ability to withstand the pressure in 2021 and 2022. Interestingly, what I observed was that education wasn't much of a factor-- although in my own case I will say that my education gave me confidence in my ability to be discerning, and to see where things were just, well, loony.
I still marvel at the sight at a funeral of an employer of mine who died in 2020 and with whom I had kept in contact. There were his brother-in-law and sister-in-law wearing what looked like tree surgeon helmets/visors.
I tried hard not to laugh. At the wake afterwards though I did say they looked rather silly (I had met the brother-in-law). I think they got the point.
The list we could all write of the insane things we have seen...
I too have a scientific bent and a fair IQ. I tend not to follow the herd or seek intellectual approval, but go my own way. In my darker moments, I admit to myself that what saved me was probably just arrogance.
In my own case, it felt at times akin to arrogance, and undoubtedly the covidians who were aware of my stance saw me that way, however, looking back I would say that actually my refusal to get on board the covid train was not arrogance, but simply self-respect, together with sincere gratitude for my health, undergirded by common sense. To begin with-- just to begin-- the lockdowns did not make sense. I would say that the truly arrogant people were the ones insisting everyone else do what they wanted: shut up, stay home, mask up, get jabbed, or else. Was it not arrogance that they would openly smear and ridicule those who did not agree with them? And stomp down on those who might merely venture a question, a mild objection? Now, now that such characters as I am familiar with all had covid anyway, and they don't exactly hanker for their 7th injection... they don't want to talk about it. Huh.
For me it stemmed from my scepticism. I am of average intelligence but from the beginning all of the covid debacle played out like we were all in a bad movie. We had the “deadly disease” ravaging humanity then stepped in our politicians, scientists and medics to bring aid to the populations. Along comes our hero “the vaccine” that will save mankind and return us to health and normality, The End. Except it did not!
Carolin, I wholly concur that, as you say, "One of the scariest things of the last 3 years is seeing people that I previously thought were critical thinkers mindlessly parrot the lasting talking points from tv that to any logical thinking person makes no sense (e.g. "the unvaccinated are responsible for the covid infections of the vaccinated"). Everything you have written here makes sense to me, and is also quite close to my own experience.
As for the religious, alas, many in my family and social circles are devout Catholics and they did what the Pope told them they should do "for love." I also have, or I should say, had, some church-going mainline Protestants in my family and, with counted exceptions, they ingested gallons of the Kool-Aid-- even the kids have now had multiple jabs. But of course, attending church isn't the litmus test for genuine spirituality, never was.
In my experience, resisting the jabbing had more to do with social status than any other factor, and after that, independent of social status, it was the inclination and confidence to think for oneself, and after that, the ability to withstand the pressure in 2021 and 2022. Interestingly, what I observed was that education wasn't much of a factor-- although in my own case I will say that my education gave me confidence in my ability to be discerning, and to see where things were just, well, loony.
B, as a lifelong devout Catholic I can attest to the fact that Catholics often make the mistake of listening to the Pope rather than to the Lord.
"...just, well, looney." Quite!
I still marvel at the sight at a funeral of an employer of mine who died in 2020 and with whom I had kept in contact. There were his brother-in-law and sister-in-law wearing what looked like tree surgeon helmets/visors.
I tried hard not to laugh. At the wake afterwards though I did say they looked rather silly (I had met the brother-in-law). I think they got the point.
The list we could all write of the insane things we have seen...
I too have a scientific bent and a fair IQ. I tend not to follow the herd or seek intellectual approval, but go my own way. In my darker moments, I admit to myself that what saved me was probably just arrogance.
In my own case, it felt at times akin to arrogance, and undoubtedly the covidians who were aware of my stance saw me that way, however, looking back I would say that actually my refusal to get on board the covid train was not arrogance, but simply self-respect, together with sincere gratitude for my health, undergirded by common sense. To begin with-- just to begin-- the lockdowns did not make sense. I would say that the truly arrogant people were the ones insisting everyone else do what they wanted: shut up, stay home, mask up, get jabbed, or else. Was it not arrogance that they would openly smear and ridicule those who did not agree with them? And stomp down on those who might merely venture a question, a mild objection? Now, now that such characters as I am familiar with all had covid anyway, and they don't exactly hanker for their 7th injection... they don't want to talk about it. Huh.
For me it stemmed from my scepticism. I am of average intelligence but from the beginning all of the covid debacle played out like we were all in a bad movie. We had the “deadly disease” ravaging humanity then stepped in our politicians, scientists and medics to bring aid to the populations. Along comes our hero “the vaccine” that will save mankind and return us to health and normality, The End. Except it did not!