If COVID Was Planned...
The conspiracies around the pandemic
Editors Note:
We have a guest writer while I’m finishing revisions. Dani Pistole is an Arkansas native and writer from Van Buren County. She has a degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies from UCA, and is currently preparing for law school. She is passionate about civil, environmental, and animal rights issues. She currently lives in a cabin on the Cadron Creek where she cares for her herb garden, four cats, two dogs, and husband. Dani is working on her newest project, a podcast about current issues facing our state and our country. To help fund her podcast, send donations to $JujiPistol on Cashapp, or subscribe to this newsletter!
The United States thrives on fear. Every day we have something new to be afraid of. Our country faces tragedy after tragedy that other “developed” nations do not. We have a hateful and divisive president, a lack of affordable education and healthcare, and every year, tens of thousands of US citizens die from gun-related injuries. However, it seems that Americans have become jaded to this constant influx of bad news, so much so that some are ignoring, denying, or simply don't care about the current global pandemic, COVID-19.
COVID deniers and conspiracy theorists are everywhere online, especially coming from rural areas like mine, and they range from concerned to malicious: moms, patriots, anti-vaxxers, xenophobic racists, and even cult leaders. A local Arkansas mom, who I’m keeping anonymous for her privacy, is a member of an anti-vax, anti-men, and anti-minority cult, led by a white woman from New Jersey. Her main form of communication with her followers is a podcast called “Exactly How,” where she tells people “exactly how” to think about political and spiritual issues. She is among the COVID deniers I have encountered online. She and her followers believe that COVID was created by the government in order to control citizens and take rights away from white moms.
Another Arkansas mom I know, Whitney, believes that COVID is not the problem, face masks are. She insists that mask wearing is causing strep throat and pneumonia rather than preventing COVID. She has also told me that she is simply tired of hearing the words “COVID, masks, quarantine, and social distancing.” Many parents who are already under a great deal of stress are ready for the pandemic to end, but denying it is not how that will happen.
I have also encountered COVID deniers who simply lack understanding of the severity of this global pandemic, particularly because it has not affected them personally. However, most of them are already established conspiracy theorists who are eager to jump onto the next conspiracy train they can find. A great deal of these people are also Trump supporters, which only serves to exacerbate the misinformation, since Trump himself has claimed that COVID is a “hoax” and therefore something citizens shouldn't worry about (despite the fact that he himself contracted the virus). In fact, according to a Cornell study published in the New York Times, Trump is the single largest driver of misinformation about COVID-19.
A popular conspiracy among COVID deniers is the idea that COVID was created by the government in order to control the American people and take away their rights. Many white Americans, who form Trump’s base, have never actually experienced a loss of their rights. To them, perhaps being told to wear a mask in public is the biggest loss of freedom they have perceived.
Of course, COVID is a global pandemic. Governments who in no way stand by the US government are dealing with the virus as well. In fact, the virus started in China. The idea that the US government is somehow behind the COVID pandemic in an attempt to remove more rights from United States citizens does not add up—the entire world would have to be in on the conspiracy. This sentiment is why we have twenty-five percent of it's COVID cases, despite being only four percent of the world population.
Due to social media, people are able to live in echo-chambers of their own opinions, furthering misinformation.
COVID was not a planned pandemic, or “plan-demic” as the conspiracy theorists are claiming, but even if it was, here are three reasons why you should still follow CDC guidelines when it comes to the Coronavirus:
COVID was not planned, but even if it was, it has still claimed the lives of 1.2 million people worldwide. That number includes 230,000 Americans, and 1,900 Arkansans. It has infected 46.4 million people globally, including 112,000 Arkansans, which also includes the Arkansas State Surgeon General.
COVID was not planned, but it is still causing extra hardship to minorities, the elderly, people living in poverty, and “essential workers” such as healthcare professionals and teachers.
COVID was not planned, but even if it was, hand-washing, mask-wearing, and social distancing are still effective ways of preventing further infection.
Where the virus came from is of less concern to me than where it is going. Whether it was created in a lab, came from bats, or pummeled to Earth in a meteor, it is still the cause of more deaths than the Vietnam War, 9/11, and every school shooting the US has ever had, combined (https://www.ecori.org/public-safety/2019/9/7/us-school-shootings-just-the-facts).
Being told to wear a mask to protect others is no more an infringement of rights than being told to wear pants, yet somehow this simple guideline is being twisted into a symbol of control. In reality, it is COVID itself that is taking away our freedoms, and the longer we fail to keep the virus at bay, the longer we will suffer its consequences.
What I’m Recommending:
Go back and re-watch all of the Michael Moore documentaries. They seem to be even more relevant now than they were when they were released. A few of them are available for free with an Amazon Prime subscription, and the ones that are not free are less than 3.99 each to rent or purchase on Prime.
Cute Animal Pic of the Week:
It's spooky season, and apparently the animals have decided to rise to the occasion! I went outside one morning to find my cats and new pup casting a circle on the porch! I wonder who they were trying to summon?
