Being old enough to remember the heady days of 2020-22, I was led to understand that questioning the edicts of The Science™, with the Public Health™ apparatus as the conduit, was a cardinal sin that warranted summary excommunication from grocery stores, schools, churches, the military, etc. — in short, the whole of society — on the grounds that, in so doing, one had exposed oneself as a “conspiracy theorist,” a threat to public safety, and likely a domestic terrorist to boot.
As an assumed loyal consumer of Armageddon Prose, because I’ve probably clipped it a hundred times over the years, you’re likely familiar with COVID Warlord Anthony Fauci’s infamous crowning of himself as the divine physical manifestation of The Science™, dispatched from above the clouds to liaise with the lesser beings of Earth, to direct and guide their behavior so as to liberate them from the shackles of their ignorance.
But here’s a lesser-known, and perhaps a more apropos clip for the purpose of this article, from August 2020, in which the old pharma warhorse laments “mistrust“ in the “authority” Public Health™ (with himself as its high priest and spokesman):
“There is a degree of anti-science feeling in this country. And I think it’s not just related to science, it’s almost related to authority and a mistrust in authority that spills over because, in some respects, scientists because they’re trying to represent data, may be looked upon as being authoritative figure. And their pushing back on authority, their pushing back on government, is the same as pushing back on science.”