Ryan Tennant, who has himself written letters to the editor in Kitchener Ontario and I quoted in a previous newsletter. He points out good advice from a reader, in response to what looks like a really problematic advice column in the newspaper.
@ryantennant_ · May 24, 2024 My grandma called me this morning because of a feedback piece in the newspaper’s advice column today. “It’s all the things you say too!” I hope the advice columnists heed this reader’s recommendations in the last paragraph. It’s true; we have a duty to take care of each other. Newspaper clipping printed text: Feedback Regarding the family disagreement over COVID-19 (April 10): Reader “While the ‘global emergency of acute COVID-19 has mostly passed in Canada, thanks to vaccines, some minimally effective drugs and non-pharmaceutical interventions like masking that have since been malignantly politicized, the long-term effects are still a matter of grave concern. “COVID-19 is a vascular disease which causes, among other health problems, strokes, diabetes, ME/CFS and brain damage. Stats Can reported that up to 40 per cent 1 of us will develop long COVID by our third infection. “Please use your platform to encourage your readers to take care of one another: stay up to date on their vaccinations, stay home when sick, advocate for clean indoor air and wear a well-fitting mask in public spaces.”
And he posted what it was a response to:
@ryantennant_ · May 24, 2024 Here was the original piece from April 10th that the reader was providing feedback on: “I am not dismissing anyone’s stand on the vaccine; I’m just saying that, with the pandemic behind us (yes, I know COVID-19 still exists, but it is now a known virus, like the flu), families and friends should be able to get back to the loving place where they left off before they found themselves disagreeing on one (important) issue. I have a friend who doesn’t believe in vaccines, whereas I do. We took a hiatus during the pandemic because we didn’t agree on anything. But we’re friends again because that’s no longer an issue to discuss or argue over. Help your family move forward.”
This reminds me of the naive journalist in Milford Pennsylvania who’s decided that Trumpers and anti-vaxxers are fine after all now, he’s good with becoming anti-mask and anti-vax, and that the rest of us should just join them in their reckless behaviour, and people should now trust right-wing covid contrarian anti-vax anti-maskers. But what bothers me most about the “pandemic is over, just let all the bad behaviour be water under the bridge” and get back to welcoming family back, infectiousness recklessness and all… is not even that it involves the inaccurate definition of the pandemic being over. It’s not even this foolish idea that “moving forward” somehow wouldn’t involve learning to adapt to new realities. The scary part about this is that somehow for these people giving this advice, the pandemic was never real life, and somehow happened outside the reality of community and family functioning, instead of being one of those life experiences where people had an opportunity to really live up to their best being, or they instead showed you the truth of who they really are.
If someone was reckless with your safety regarding covid, they will likely be inconsiderate in other ways. If someone got hostile with you over right-wing extremism over pandemic issues, chances are their right-wing extremism will be provoked by any number of other issues. We already know that the trucker convoy Moms for Liberty anti-vax crowd were not satisfied by Democratic Party politicians agreeing to cede on public health. Once MAGA won that battle and got what they want, unmitigated spread and restricted vaccination, then they came after Black History books and reproductive health.