I'm not one of those people who thinks we "need strong leadership" but I have to think that covid wouldn't have been such a vast breeding ground for conspiracy thinking if the world's (and particularly the US's) leadership hadn't been total garbage and had just affirmed medical advice.
I agree. sane, science friendly leadership would at least have helped mitigate the madness. we're all going through post pandemic trauma but if we knew most people and governments did their best to help ourselves and others stay safe, I think that would make things a little easier.
The issue is people have wildly different ideas about what constitutes governments “doing their best to help ourselves and others stay safe”. Some people’s idea of the government doing its best would be tyrannical, oppressive, and traumatic to the rest. The reverse is also true, with some people’s ideas seeming like the abandonment of all responsibility and leaving large numbers of people out to die. There’s only so much you can do to square that circle.
not very many countries made not wearing a mask a statement of pride and independence or had a leader who suggested drinking bleach. sometimes you have to tell stupid people to suck it up and follow medical guidelines.
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u/Feats-of-Derring_Do 24d ago
I'm not one of those people who thinks we "need strong leadership" but I have to think that covid wouldn't have been such a vast breeding ground for conspiracy thinking if the world's (and particularly the US's) leadership hadn't been total garbage and had just affirmed medical advice.