A friend recently posted concerns about her mother being in a nursing home where residents had tested positive for the virus. A commenter quickly chimed in: “They are doing it on purpose. Sending corona people to those homes.”
That commenter, and many others, appear to believe that the pandemic is part of an international effort intended to depopulate the planet while making billions in profits off the vaccine.
Some versions of the theory end in the total subjugation of the remaining population via “medical martial law”. Others believe the vaccine will contain a microchip allowing government to monitor every citizen’s, every move. 5G cell-phone technology is also seen as a key factor in the overall scheme.
Almost daily, I receive email from people urging me to watch various YouTube videos of interviews with seemingly rational and educated experts asserting with the utmost confidence various scenarios.
The basic premise is that entities such as Bill Gates, the Rockefeller Foundation, George Soros, the Deep State, Jeff Bezos, the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), and/or (fill in the blank), have individually or collectively, in collaboration with China, Russia, the Central Intelligence Agency CIA), Israel, and/or (fill in the blank), engineered and deliberately released into the world the COVID-19 virus.
The online chatter supporting various theories as to the origin of the virus and the intent of various persons, countries, and organizations, has in my opinion, gone way, way over the top.
The nature of a conspiracy theory is that it connects the dots of “known truths” with dots of “well, it could be true”, “it was once true”, “someone told me it was true”, and circling back around to “known truths”, with the dots accumulating and spreading in an ever-widening ring. The more the cycle is repeated, the more believable it becomes.
It is true that overpopulation is seen by many as a primary cause of much of our planet’s problems. It’s also true that many organizations have studied and implemented various strategies over the years, from increased access to birth control to government mandates, in an effort to slow population growth.
It’s also true that there is a segment of the population for whom vaccines aren’t good for, with some people becoming sick, or dying, from adverse reactions to certain vaccines.
Various groups and governments have over the years prepared for a COVID-19 type pandemic and even stockpiled supplies in anticipation. That does not mean they engineered it and made it happen.
The well known right-wing talk radio provocateur Rush Limbaugh is fond to say, “Well it could be true!” He is of course, correct. And also incorrect. This type of empty rhetoric echoed by many around the globe is the fuel that every conspiracy theory relies upon.
The earth could also be flat and, in fact, I could show you a dozen studies and a bunch of YouTube videos by ostensibly credible people to prove it.
But it ain’t true.
To be clear, I have an inherent distrust of “big pharma”, “big healthcare” and “big money” and I am fully aware that there are bad people, countries, businesses, and various organizations that do bad and arguably very evil things in the world.
But I cannot imagine or believe a scenario where a virus like this is developed and intentionally released as a strategy to achieve world domination, or as a way to make money.
I do my best to also “connect the dots” and come to my own conclusions about life. I look first and again last to those people in my community whom I trust. I also review a wide range of media. When a provocative “statement of fact” is made, I look for the source and do my best to determine if the fact is credible or not.
I often bounce these columns off of friends for review prior to submitting for publication. I was told by a reviewer today: “You are writing an article attempting to reason with irrational people; I don’t know if you can win”.
Perhaps that is the case. But if true, and I cannot win, at least I can have the last word. Suffice to say in conclusion, that we are all better served by making sure the dots we connect are based upon facts, reason, and an underlying faith in humanity.
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GaryHooser's Blog 
The Trump administration may not have created the corona virus, but it has done as little as possible to curtail its spread. The resulting consequence includes the deaths of people the White House does not want to pay for: low-income people, people on Social Security and people of color. It will be interesting to see how the demographics change with the re-opening of beaches, boardwalks and bars…
Thank you Jennifer for the comment. Wondering also how long this journey will last. I suppose it’s just an extension of the one we were already on and just a twisted turn into a dark valley. Let’s hope the light shines again soon.
“for whom vaccines aren’t good for” ???? Leave out the first “for” and forget the nonexistent rule that prepositions can’t end a clause. Also, please change “Rush Limbaugh is fond to say” to “Rush Limbaugh is fond of saying.”
I went back and forth on both of these before I hit “publish”. I like the “is fond to say”…perhaps it is just something I say or have heard and it stuck with me. As to the other…hmm in my mind, it could go either way. But obviously, I am not an expert in grammar…though I do have several other good people reading and suggesting changes prior to publication. In any case, mahalo for caring!
Connecting dots is an easy and often entertaining task. Scientific process like critical thinking is a challange requiring focus and effort. One must be prepared for the uncomfortable result. Confirmation bias is always ready and waiting to lead us down the path of “dots.”
Beware.
I have reached a point where I believe very little of what I see or hear today. I am retired from a 45 year career in medical technology (clinical laboratory scientist). I have a hard time comprehending the propaganda given to the importance of CV19 testing. The designer of the test never meant for it to be used diagnostically. It was created as a research tool. It is extremely inaccurate with up to 80% false positives, yet the false negative results are being stressed by the media. In addition, the results are not reproducible. Also, sick people or those with deficient immune systems are the ones who need to wear masks, not healthy populations. I have much more to comment on, but not at this time.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.
I’m sure you are aware of some fo the fact check sights. This is my favorite: http://www.adfontesmedia.com
My motto: Check the facts and check the source of those facts.
Yes!
Mahalo for your level-headed commentary, Mr. Hooser. I’ve been reading all your essays since they’ve been arriving in my inbox.
Regarding the popular theory that the virus came from a Wuhan lab instead of from bat guano, the following question has held me in a terrible quandary: If traditional Chinese culinary culture has prized bats as a delicacy for presumably 10-20 centuries, why did it take a thousand years of bat consumption for the virus to infect humans? Are we considering how it could possibly have taken a millennium for an amateurish wet-market butcher to undercook a bat? This view supports the lab-created virus theory. Please read on for reasoning which supports viral transmission from bats.
I believe it will soon be confirmed that the spread of COVID-19 is completely non-selective between species. It has already passed (in chronological order) from animal (bats) to human, human to human, human to animal, and animal to animal (Bronx Zoo tigers, domestic cats & dogs, and a mink farm in Holland). It’s unlikely to be fatal in dogs and cats because they have a higher body temperature than humans, averaging four degrees higher than ours which results in a natural anti-viral effect. For those who’ve read how their pets can contract the virus from humans but not vice versa, here’s my other query: If humans caught the virus from bats, why would we not catch it from infected cats?
The same body-temperature reasoning applies to bats being asymptomatic carriers of certain coronaviruses. Due to extreme exertion, bats generate high amounts of body heat when flying nightly to feed, averaging 105 Fahrenheit. This fever-temperature level effectively suppresses type A & B viruses. However, bats kept caged and unable to fly while awaiting their fate in the wet markets will maintain an average resting body temperature of 98.6. Without opportunity to boost their body heat, the bats’ viral loads would increase. Their body temperature of 98.6 is an exact match to humans, making a perfectly compatible environment for animal-to-human transmission.
It will be very challenging to create a vaccine(s) for a virus which might be capable of mutating as it passes easily among different species. Currently there are 14 different mutations of COVID-19. How many vaccine revisions will be necessary? How often will we need to be reinoculated?
I strongly suggest we collectively turn our attention to the proper use of traditional and natural anti-viral remedies, while the big names in Big Pharma are locked in competition to increase their stock prices via media blitzes touting their progress towards treatments or cures which may either fizzle into obscurity, or flood the market as a hailed success and ultimately cause further collateral damage to the fearful public.
It’s nice to see you take the time to research the spectrum of ideas out there. So many Democratic folks seem so polarized and unable to even entertain anything but their hatred towards Trump. I used to be one of them until all this started …I was so alarmed at this ever present hate in the media and the culture that I was compelled to dig deeper. After all could EVERYTHING be his fault?! The over hatred made me suspicious and thus I became more wholistically informed and it made all the difference.