A DIFFERENT PANDEMIC APPROACH: A Manifesto on how Things Might be Done Differently
PANDEMIC WRITINGS, Melbourne, Australia (2020-2022): piece originally published August 3, 2020
Victoria is not in a ‘State of Disaster,’ we are in a state currently governed disastrously. We should not be in Stage 4, let alone Stage 3. I am not a COVID-19 denier, the virus is ‘real, very real’ as we are told, although, at this stage, it is apparent that it is 10% virus and 90% a Self-hoaxing Hysteria Loop.
There are three primary causes for why this has all come to be, and it actually has very little to do with the pandemic.
(1) The lack of ethical media.
(2) The lack of government transparency.
(3) A combination of the previous two — the absence of the essential symbiosis of ethical media and government transparency for dealing with a pandemic.
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(1) MEDIA in a Pandemic
In a pandemic facts are essential. The facts pertaining to the pandemic need to be reported accurately: no propaganda, doomsday predictions, hyperbole or sensationalism. It is imperative that the media is a source of ethical output, with an awareness of the psychological repercussions of deceptively terrorising vulnerable minds. The media must be held accountable for presenting fake science and questionable data/statistics, and for prioritizing “entertainment” and revenue, over truth and accuracy. Ethical reporting and the integrity of the message are demanded, and should be the sole modus operandi. Needless to say, our media currently has free license to psychologically program many with manufactured trauma and anxiety. All this constitutes the first cause that needs to be addressed — the lack of ethical media. This is the undeniable problem of our current media paradigm: it is beyond corrupt, and criminally dangerous. It needs to be held accountable — especially in a ‘State of Emergency,’ and now, ‘A State of Disaster.’ The wellbeing of all is a stake — not just limited to those directly affected by the virus.
Incorrect reporting should be admitted after the fact, clarified, and then current scientific facts presented openly. No more leaving media-inspired mythical beasts lumbering at large — slay them early, and inculcate the wrongness of having first misreported on crucial information. This should be done with an awareness of persuasive techniques (not deception tactics) and presented with an optimistic slant. Hope should be inspired, and maintained in the message, even when things may be interpreted as increasing dire. The cohesion of society and the collective human spirit demand it.
Our Media has deliberately, recklessly and shamelessly programed the public with falsehoods, paranoia, and a sense of helplessness. It keeps them in an adrenalin-induced survival mode — discouraging any rational, balanced understanding. This has created the phenomenon of The Stampeding Herd, where, if spooked, the herd will stampede mindlessly as a mass, AND en mass, will submit to demands of obedience from established authority. The public becomes conditioned to being spooked. They may even come to desire it, and to eagerly anticipate further ‘spooking,’ as they have unwittingly become addicted to emotional chemicals. In this irrational state, people can be readily coerced to accept restrictive measures. These measures may be unreasonable, but are accepted due to an impaired perception of objective reality. The message is distorted and the public mind is distorted. In this frenzied confused state, the public acquiesces to governmental decisions made on their behalf — decisions and strategies that might actually be alarmist, reactionary and overreaching. It cannot be assumed that the government is infallible.
The media has birthed its own contagion, a ‘mind virus of panic’ that is supremely contagious. It has infected the public, and has been instrumental in causing them to demand more from the government, as they imagine there is more to the virus. The government senses the popular opinion and strives to do right by the prevailing thought of the fearful population. However, to do right when the media message has been deliberately corrupted, is tantamount to doing an incredible wrong. It may be opined that a media that is not held accountable has forced the hand of a government that is scrambling to appear to be doing all it can. Recklessly pursuing this direction is simply a cascade into a foreseeable chaos.
All this constitutes how an unethical media has directly contributed to the situation we currently have.
This is why Victoria is in effectively under de facto Martial Law.
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(2) GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY in a Pandemic
Now, what I mean by government transparency should be transparent. The pandemic facts communicated by the government should be worded, and delivered without emotive rhetoric, as this serves only to corrupt the message.
I will endeavour to present concrete examples relating to our Premier, Dan Andrews, and how things could be communicated better:
During his daily briefing, Dan Andrews should begin by reinforcing that the new daily ‘positive cases’ do not necessarily mean hospitalisations. Period.
The Andrews’ government is reacting to the daily case numbers as if they pertained to the Bubonic Plague (30%-60% mortality), or even the Spanish Influenza (2.5%). It is neither, not even close. It is 0.02%. Let people know this.
How many people have recovered? Never expressed, yet it may help calm general anxiety. It should be mentioned before the daily deaths.
How many individuals actually have influenza, or bronchitis and pneumonia, and are we always able to differentiate, and if not, make this commonly known.
Reiterate that the virus is so mild, that unlike the flu, most people actually have to get tested to know that they even have it. That is true, but it will never be worded as such. Why? This understanding would be psychologically powerful.
Enough time has passed, and we now know far more about this pandemic, yet, here in Victoria, you would be mistaken for believing it is a new unknown threat. It is important to recognize that this pandemic is not endemic, has been global, and has lasted for almost 24 weeks. In that time we have had just 136 COVID-19 deaths. 267 deaths in 170 days!* Remind people of this often. *(as of 13-08-20).
All aspects of the virus should be discussed, updated and revised as often as required. It is now known that 99.98% of people will survive, and that 99% of those that have COVID-19 will only have ‘mild symptoms.’ This is important. It is of the family of coronaviruses, and is now considered to be even less deadly than seasonal influenza. This too, is important. That means that the mortality rate is approximately 0.02%. Astoundingly low.
Most people who have COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and WHO admitted that the chances of asymptomatic transmission were ‘very low,’ but of course that was soon retracted, as it derails the vaccine agenda and mandatory masks for the healthy. The World Health Organisation does not haphazardly advise during a pandemic. Take the first revelation as the truth, and the retraction as being evidence of an agenda overriding the truth.
That the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Tests were never intended to be used for wide-scale testing. They are not always accurate, and although they are presently the best available means of testing, many results are false ‘positives,’ and many more are ‘positives’ that may actually be a coronavirus, such as the common cold. Tell people this. Everyone should be aware that the testing is problematic, that this is admitted on government websites (including our own). Surely this information is crucial in determining the necessity of additional lockdown stages? Surely it is crucial to public opinion, and to reassure the public that the actions taken are justified? Yet, we are not even certain that the daily number of ‘positive cases’ hold empirical meaning. An argument might be made for erring on the side of caution, but for how long, and at what eventual cost?
Victoria has a ‘Nursing Home Crisis’ and not a ‘Second Wave’ or even a ‘Victorian Wave.’ It is important to recognize that this pandemic is not endemic, has been global, and has lasted for almost 23 weeks. We have learnt much from other countries, and none of this is occurring in an isolated bubble. Nowhere else on the planet has a lockdown for COVID-19 been so restrictive, and so protracted with so few deaths, and so few cases. Nowhere else on the planet has there actually been a ‘Second Wave.’ It is deceptive to suggest that this is what Victoria is experiencing. Victoria will be in lockdown for at least 7 months. Is this reasonable? Transparency from the start, combined with ethical media reporting would have suggested otherwise.
Elderly who have passed away in their 70s, 80s and 90s, are not ‘fatalities,’ and should not be paraded as part of our daily National COVID Tragedy. They are individuals, incredibly important to immediate family and friends, who have died at a statistically old-age at the end of a natural human lifecycle, often in poor health — having at least 2-3 co-morbidities. Yes, they are amongst the vulnerable and immunocompromised, but it is not accurate to declare that they died from COVID-19. They died with COVID-19. This should be emphasised, and it should also be specifically stated: few, if any have actually died JUST from COVID-19. Those that have died have been in the same risk category as those that might succumb to influenza, typically dying from advanced-age and co-morbidities when they contract influenza. Tell the people this.
Furthermore, people should be made aware of this development: the CDC and WHO, and even the NSW Chief Health Minister, all hold the emerging understanding that the infection rate of the virus has been vastly underestimated. The NSW Chief Health Minister speculates on recent blood sample analysis that possibly 500,000 Australians have already had it! The CDC believes that there are perhaps ‘2 to 24 times more infections’; and the WHO holds the position that global infections for COVID-19 could be somewhere ‘around 80-100x higher than estimated.’ This is revelatory and immensely positive. It also brings down the mortality rate to something infinitesimally smaller again. Tell the public this. Allay their collective fears, and do everything to fill the vacuum created by trauma and disassociation, with positive information, and to promote truthful developments.
All these examples are factual, and constitute an approach to the pandemic that the general public has been largely denied. Victoria would not be in a ‘State of Disaster’ if the presentation of information by Victoria’s Premier had been consistently transparent, and underpinned by a propensity for transparency.
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(3) THE NEED FOR SYMBIOSIS OF ETHICAL MEDIA AND TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT in a Pandemic
Our government relays its position, policies and containment measures through the media conduit. This is the general interface for all communication with the people. Media and the government need to be in an ethical and transparent symbiosis — an integrated organism for conveying truth, and acting upon the same. Right thinking begets right action. If the media is ethical and operates with integrity, their reporting should garner the trust of the people, as trust should be implicit. The government and its ‘pandemic messaging’ should not be pre-framed in a context of exaggerated fear, but exactitude and science and absolute transparency. Ethical media is essential for this to occur and the government should act in accord.
Efforts should be made to inspire the public to think, and encourage cautious optimism. The media should portray a government that instills confidence, positivity and acts and speaks in a manner that boosts the morale in these uncertain times. Above all, the symbiosis must be absolutely transparent. With this symbiotic attitude of transparency the perceived threat might actually become almost invisible. All this must be done, not in complacency, but in knowledge, and with a confidence that we are being led, not blamed and belittled due to past mistakes. Past mishaps would be forgivable, but deferral of blame, and deflection of responsibility for mistakes made at a governmental level are an admission of weakness. Trust is eroded, and confidence diminished. Admit, explain and be transparent. A condescending and peevish leader creates a squabbling culture of division amongst those influenced by such behavior from top down.
The majority of the public are so dependent on being spoon-fed, they can no longer hold their own spoon — and thus, the disinformation, compounded with their ignorance, becomes a means to convince them that additional restrictions and lockdown measures are required. This is the exploitation of gullibility in a vacuum of ignorance, and many have no awareness of what this might ultimately usher in. They have no inkling of the gravity of the situation. The pandemic is not the primary issue — it is our Self-hoaxing Hysteria Loop.
It is the general trust and reliance amongst the public in sourcing information from the unethical media in symbiosis with non-transparent government that has been detrimental to our solidarity and pandemic approach. We are divided, and angered in our competing ignorance. The public has assumed in good faith, that these apparatuses of society are operating in good faith. They have not, and do not. It is imperative that they do, or that we start to demand that they do — as the foreseeable aftermath of ill-begotten lockdowns are unquestionably catastrophic.
This naïve ‘assuming of good faith’ is why we are in Stage 4 Lockdown today — Martial Law.