Talking about COVID

A guide  to discussing issues 

We have the truth on our side. The government’s strategy is one of denial, negation, and lies. But presence, truth, and a vision for a better future will always be more compelling than a lie. Unlike what WHO is saying, our narrative is honest, consistent, and backed by science. Unlike the WHO, we value human life and are offering actual care. Denial as a strategy cannot work for long. People are seeking answers; we have to educate one another and offer a path forward. We have to keep one another safe.

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We believe in humanity. It is not true that most people are selfish, bad, stupid, ignorant, or unwilling to learn. Most people do not know what is going on, or feel powerless to stop it, or both. 

A great majority of people who have stopped taking Covid precautions have done so because they have been misled, because they are exhausted, and because we are in an information vacuum. In ways large and small, the U.S. government is downplaying Covid’s continued existence and evolution. The U.S. is not alone in this, and almost no matter where you are in the world – at this point in 2023 – your government is probably using the same violent tactics to downplay and minimize the pandemic.

The abandonment by our governments under the guise of “individual responsibility” has meant that harming others as the pandemic continues has been unavoidable for many, many people. Through public policy decisions, propaganda campaigns, and economic pressures, most of us have been forced to be complicit at one point or another; for example, many of us have been forced to travel for work, or have unmasked in a social situation under pressure (to our own deep regret). But many people who are presently engaging in reckless behaviors (like not wearing masks) are not fully aware of the consequences of their actions. Or if they are aware, they don’t feel empowered to act, or to face the truth. 

Individual risk assessment is nonsensical in an airborne pandemic with a disease that can be transmitted asymptomatically; we share the air and we all share this earth.