A layman's perspective.
By definition, a narrative is a written or spoken account of connected events, a story if the reader will permit such a simple simplification. The earliest stories were handed down generation to generation by word of mouth. Eventually, art was invented to convey a moment of story and of course writing came along and while it has been said that 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. There is no picture that comes to the mind of this author that will ever replace the two grand works of Homer; the Iliad and the Odyssey.
This is just a throw in; when one looks up 'define Sophistry' on Google an example given is - "trying to argue that I had benefited in any way from the disaster was pure sophistry".
Two weeks to flatten the curve has now become two years of social destruction and control. Many countries across the globe have Charters of Rights and Freedoms or Constitutions. These foundational documents are being ignored if not even trod upon by every level of government; at least here in Toronto, Ontario Canada. It is the opinion of this author, that the NEWS outlets have been complicit in this effort; a form of Governmental sophists.
The question in hand is; has the last two years been the feeding of a narrative that has little to no actual demonstrative evidence being provided? This is the subject matter this article seeks to explore.
A number of countries have already adjusted their COVID-19 death tolls after it was pointed out that there is a difference between 'dying "with" COVID' and 'dying "of" COVID'. A specific case towards this situation is; a man was listed as a COVID death after he collapsed on his drive with chest pain, which was the result of a gunshot wound. England dropped their death counts by 5,000 in 2021 over the distinction mentioned above.
The vaccines are safe and once a person is vaccinated they will be safe and save others, was the party line and this was the mantra within the narrative being spewed by those informing the public. This has been shown to be incorrect on both counts and the government(s) and NEWS outlets changed the narrative once again back to 'please help flatten the curve'. Additionally, this author has to ask why the NEWS outlets are making such an effort to hide to the people that Myocarditis, a swelling of the myocardium (heart muscle), is related to the application of vaccines, nor is there reporting on the women suffering from the disruption of their typical 28 day cycle. The numbers for these two conditions is minor but they do exist. The reader is ask to note; any defense is only required if there is a danger that it can solve; for example, no-one created anti-aircraft guns until attack planes were invented and deployed.
The Government of Ontario has been maintaining data on the case numbers of COVID-19, per 100,000.
For Jan 14 2022 the numbers were: Full-VAXed 73.08, Partly-VAXed 42.20 and Un_VAXed 55.55
For Feb 12 2022 the numbers were: Full-VAXed 16.15, Partly-VAXed 15.30 and Un_VAXed 18.56
The reduction in case numbers are: Full-VAXed 77.9%, Partly-VAXed 63.7% and Un_VAXed 66.59%
The Formula used for change is: 100 - (FEB/JAN×100) = Percentage drop
DATA Source: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/data/case-numbers-and-spread
What happened to the term 'super spreader event' as an excuse for control? This author is not suggesting that the Sars-Coronavirus-2 is gone from the planet or even individual societies. This author's concern is that the risk/reward ratio the politicians are playing with is being overplayed. Also, it must be under-stood that doctors don't save lives; they only prolong them, and that in of itself is not a bad thing.
Politics can be both an easy game and a hard one; easy politics is when the politician looks after themselves and hard politics is when the politician weighs the needs of the one against the needs of the many; for the greater good has historically been a slippery slope. The human experience must not be reduced to just numbers.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 6 – Mobility Rights states, a Canadian citizen can, in simple terms; move between provinces, leave Canada and return to Canada. Some legal scholars have argued that even when the boarders are closed Canadian citizens still maintain the right to re-enter Canada. The PM himself supported this argument when he made arrangements in 2020 with Air Canada to repatriate Canadians on foreign soil as Sars-Coronavirus-2 was already spreading around the world.
In Ottawa a number of steps have been taken to make the Truckers go back to their homes. An early step was smearing them with name calling. Names such as: racist, sexist, xenophobic, and misogynist where made common place and this did not sit well with the female drivers, the Hindi drivers and those from Romania. The next step was to deprive the truckers of fuel and so the Ottawa police seized jerry cans though eventually a court ordered the police to give them back. In the mind of this author, the most despicable threat made was to send in Child Protective Services, some of the truckers brought their families. The Canadian Government also convinced GoFundMe to freeze the donations to the truckers in order to remove support; the value of which was about million dollars Canadian, it was Milton Freedman who said that people first vote with their feet and then their wallets. It is assumed by this author, this idea will tested in the next election.
It should be mentioned that the truckers did leave a single lane open on each road, street and avenue for emergency vehicles. Additionally the reader should note that in downtown Ottawa crime rates have dropped since the start of the Freedom Convoy and that when the courts ordered those truckers in residential areas to stop honking the truckers stopped honking.
Still referring to Ottawa, there is another side of this story; a CNN commentator stated something such as - 'the fuel should be drained, the tires slashed and the trucks towed away' and so it seems that this CNN commentator has never seen a truck. The trucker supporters set up food stations and fed the homeless in the area, which is not being reported, all the while the one trucker entering a soup kitchen who when informed the kitchen was for the homeless only exited the shelter and yet this one incident was exaggerated by the NEWS outlets to include the truckers at-large. Also, where are the news reports pointing out that Ottawa hospitals are being over whelmed due to COVID-19?
Other locations within Canada for the Freedom Convoy will not be addressed by this author at this time, as the amount of type would generate a small pamphlet at least.
The Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, has at the time of this writing recently declared a state of emergency for Ontario. Premier Ford coupled his declaration with threats of fines, up to 100 K, property seizure, and jail time up to one year; when one does not comply with what Premier Ford tells you to do. The purpose of representative Government is to listen to the citizenry sooner or later. The latter is inevitabile, and that happens typically when an election is called. Yet, Premier Ford, and Prime Minister Trudeau, will not parley with the demonstrators; this author will leave it to the reader to sort out the title typically assigned to leaders who refuse to listen to the citizens they have power over.
In conclusion; this author feels that those informing the public are now in a bit of a corner. The numbers of cases, ICU and dead patients have dropped, though not through attrition. At some point in time the politicians at all levels will have to draw a line, by stepping over that line, they will have to explain to the people as to why it is now safe enough for things can reopen when it wasn't yesterday. Unfortunately society has long past the post; as so many small businesses have now been shuttered forever, and so many Canadians will not have a job to return to.
Quote: Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.
- Mark Twain
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