No matter how old I get, I'll never understand people thinking that the doctors, researchers and public health professionals toiling in obscurity are the people lying and hurting people, but the politicians and billionaires craving power and wealth are the ones telling the truth and saving their lives. That's a special kind of stupid or brainwashing to which I cannot relate.
@augieray "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - Isaac Asimov, 1980.
The people who think this way have a special kind of hatred for intelligence. They feel educated people are looking down at them, being condescending and negative. They feel alienated by expertise.
@augieray Certainly the politicians are to blame, but so are a lot of insurance companies & doctors. I have years of experience being denied healthcare, many times at the last minute because idiot doctor's staff waited until I arrived at an appointment to check insurance. Even though I gave them the information a week ahead of time.
There is a solution for this, you know. It's called universal healthcare.
@irregularjoe @augieray
"There is a solution for this, you know. It's called universal healthcare."
Too bad the politicians and billionaires will never allow it.
@augieray the myth of meritocracy cuts both ways. When people believe that people who are best suited for leadership roles are the people who rise to that position they're predisposed to trust the leaders. Combine that with a distrust of academia and it's easy, from that paradigm, to believe that the shifty, middle class nerds are trying to undercut the leaders who very clearly* have earned their position of respect through strength, hard work and always knowing what to do/s
@augieray It's better if you just listen to Ween.
@augieray politicians and billionaire get much more press than scientists and doctors, so disinformation is one cause. The other one is a few bad apples:
Exhibit A: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Raoult#COVID-19
Exhibit B: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Montagnier#Controversies
This is something I think about a lot and per-chance, had a discussion about just this weekend. Looking back, some good friends were completely 'lost in space' with the covid drama. People I would call intelligent.
It's an intriguing subject which for me, is closely tied to understanding why and how religion works.
@augieray agree mostly, though it’s understandable the mistrust for doctors considering how hoards of them abandoned masks and covid precautions very quickly (and so few are keeping up with the science of their fields. It almost seems they are trained to dismiss patients’ symptoms). The healthcare system has and continues to create an environment of mistrust for sure.
@starsnspoons @augieray On the advice of public health officials
@augieray I can see it in a way. A lot of doctors gaslight their patients, and lost trust can build paranoia.
Same here…
@augieray I don't get it either
@augieray For sure. Brainwashing is the game being played.
@augieray
At least here in Brazil, people with a higher degree of education are often seen as the same kind of power-hungry elite, with plenty of historical justification, and while most of the professionals did side with public health, a large number did side with the politicians and billionaires.
@augieray I think it speaks to how ignorant some people are about how the world works.
@augieray Consider yourself lucky that you cannot relate.
6 corporations basically the entire mediascape in N America. We pretend there's free market economics and plenty of free speech but the reality is that both are in short supply.
@augieray
It's because those people believe that every single person is evil. And then it makes sense that the people that don't say evil things are worse than those saying evil things. Like, the "good guys" must be lying, while the "bad guys" are evil, too, but they don't lie to you.
@augieray but when I see capitalism take over and sell me diabetes drugs at $500/month, it is cognitively difficult to separate the science from the sales pitch.
The cherry picking of science and presenting that along with "bribes" to the public facing medical professionals also makes me question what is going on.
I don't want to deny organizations that took a risk on an expensive drug development their due profit, but that pursuit of profit has even compromised the good guys in medicine.
🆁
🅷🅽 ツ @augieray if you've ever been fucked over by the healthcare system, or not been able to get adequate healthcare, you immediately focus on the provider, not the institution that makes it inaccessible. #singlepayerhealthcare