HOW PUBLIC HEALTH MESSAGING FAILED US IN THE PANDEMIC:

“One of the most important problems undermining the pandemic response has been the mistrust and paternalism that some public-health agencies and experts have exhibited toward the public.”

Plus: “Throughout the past year, traditional and social media have been caught up in a cycle of shaming—made worse by being so unscientific and misguided. How dare you go to the beach? newspapers have scolded us for months, despite lacking evidence that this posed any significant threat to public health. It wasn’t just talk: Many cities closed parks and outdoor recreational spaces, even as they kept open indoor dining and gyms. Just this month, UC Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst both banned students from taking even solitary walks outdoors.”

Related:

Covid has given a lot of (bored) people a sense of meaning, purpose, morality, authority, and community.

That's why the whole mask/lockdown/vaccine thing has become so cultish.

To truly understand what's going on, better to look to religion and politics than science and logic.

— ZUBY: (@ZubyMusic) February 22, 2021

h/t Glenn