There are lots that I think would be beneficial – bringing back handicrafts like knitting and crocheting (though I know they’re gaining popularity); learning to cook nutritious, healthy food; gardening and growing food. All would be great and edifying. But honestly? My first thought when I saw this was: common sense. I know, I know. That’s a bit of a snarky response. But it’s honest. I’ve had such a hard time, particularly over the past few years, with how disinformation has been tearing our communities apart. I want people to think critically. I want people to be able to have differences of opinion. But I hate that the conspiracy theories about vaccines harbouring tracking devices and masks making it hard for people to breathe have become so pervasive and caused so much suffering for people like me whose very lives hang in the balance. Seriously, my kid came home from school saying that another kid said their mother told them that wearing a mask is bad for your health, can stop you breathing and can make you sick. I mean, seriously??? Seriously. That’s just ridiculous. I have asthma, for goodness sake, and I can wear an N95 mask for 6 days straight including when I’m asleep during fire season and breathe better because of it. That’s clearly not true. There’s now a measles outbreak because of the anti-vaccine movement. People are going to be very sick and possibly die, and why? We are so lucky to live in a time when we have vaccines that can eradicate illnesses like measles, but only if the majority of people take them. We have tools that we can use to protect ourselves and our communities – like N95 masks – that weren’t available to our ancestors and could have saved countless lives. And instead of making use of them, people are spreading lies to stop people making use of simple and effective measures. That’s not even scratching the surface of the climate change denial and all the lies in politics. It’s so hard to not be angry all the time. So yeah, common sense would be helpful.
Hopefully I didn’t offend too many people with that, but I suspect this isn’t the first time you’ve read this kind of opinion on my blog, and I think most people who visit here have a similar view on these things. I’m not trying to stomp on anyone’s right to their own viewpoint, I just hate that the media has been feeding this fire and making it so hard to discern reality from false information! Anyway, that’s enough of that. What about you guys? What was your answer this week?
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Cheers for common sense!
As someone who didn’t have nearly as rough a time with measles as I did with an unnecessary contaminated MMR vaccine, I’m definitely pro-choice when it comes to vax. The “herd immunity” theory is convenient for pharmaceutical companies but it’s not so tenable in the real world: North America used to enjoy full herd immunity to lots of things, and as a result natural resistance died out, and that is why I’m typing this in English rather than Cherokee. But we now know ways to predict who’s likely to have an especially hard time with a particular disease and might be better off having the vax for things like measles or flu.
Do masks do people any harm? It probably depends on their condition but I’d be inclined to say something snarky like “Washing them helps.” LOL. It IS possible for people wearing a cotton mask, in hopes of controlling the spread of virus while they have cold symptoms, to soak through the mask and it would certainly be very unpleasant for those people to go on wearing those masks. If that’s not the problem your child was having I think it was awfully rude for anyone to give him a hard time about it.
Well, yes, I did voluntarily live in Maryland and I have been accused of sitting on every available fence…but just wanted to spell out clearly that even people who tend to disagree with you CAN do it in a way that respects your right to your opinions.
Cheers to you! And your son!
Thank you for your thoughtful response. We have different opinions on vaccination, but I think we both want people to be able to balance what is best for themselves with what is best for the community.
Masks are a tricky one. I agree, wearing cotton masks that aren’t washed is a terrible idea (and now we also know that they’re not actually going to be much help even if clean – N95 masks are the ones to wear as they form a seal and actually filter germs). We don’t use anything except N95 masks, so that wasn’t the case for us – I think it was just a case of misinformation. Again, I don’t try to talk people into wearing masks or expect them to around me, but I do choose to wear them for my own protection and – if I’m sick – to protect others, and I just don’t want that to be something that I have to fight over. It’s what I’m comfortable with, and it’s been working well for me!
It is so difficult these days, and I do understand that every person’s situation and experiences will of course impact their decisions and opinions. We all have to figure things out for ourselves!
I’m with you. The conspiracy theories are out of control. I was really ill with anorexia during the pandemic, and I am so grateful to all those who were vaccinated and masked. My immune system just couldn’t have handled covid back then. People need to stop believing ‘facts’ without checking to see if they are correct.
I hear you. I like that people are able to do their own research these days, but I do worry that we don’t seem to be teaching how to assess the veracity of sources, so people often aren’t able to (or willing to?) critically analyze sources of information. There’s a lot of great info out there… but it seems even more that is absolutely not based on any kind of scientific research. And it seems like those often get spread more quickly. I did so much research during COVID, and even when we didn’t know a lot yet, I found it comforting to know what was fact and not. Some of the things that upset me the most were the concerns about vaccines that didn’t weigh any potential risk against the known risk of COVID, all the drama about masks (and misinformation about which were effective – N95 being the ones that are worth wearing) and all the disinformation about how it was being transmitted. I have a bunch of medical issues, so even a cold can have me struggling to breathe and takes weeks to recover from, often resulting in secondary lung infections. COVID was terrifying. I’m with you on that gratitude for all the people around me whose willingness to put protections like mask wearing in place helped to save my life. I’m so glad that you are better now, and that you also made it through! I hope that you are feeling much stronger!