Aug 14, 2022·edited Aug 14, 2022Liked by Modern Discontent
Very thoughtful post. I come back to substack and substackers to support them and have access to news and studies that I no longer have the time to scour the internet for. At one time, when everyone I know and love took this injection, this substack community was my lifeline. I'm not too much of a computer person, but the real community I found here got me through some personally very difficult months. I know many people were in that same situation. These days I want to support substackers because they've been so important to me. I don't have time to read in depth as much as I used to, and since my money is low I can't subscribe, but I want to support the people who supported me. If it wasn't for this I probably would not be on substack half as much as I am. Thanks for your care and wisdom promoting mental and psychological breaks from news when we need it. 🙏💕
Thanks for the comments Nova. I agree that many of the writings helped when you kind of felt like you were the crazy one in a sea of so-called normal people. At the time when these vaccines were being rolled out my old place of employment got first dibs since we were considered frontline workers, and at the time I started growing a bit more reticent in getting the vaccine. However, as soon as everyone was wearing all of their side effects as some badge of honor I immediately thought no I can't be crazy in believing that having to take a day off after getting vaccinated was completely normal. I think this environment helped at a point when I and a few others thought something was amiss and was able to find a community that agreed.
I think it's because of that I'm concerned that the messaging goes so far past the initial intentions. Sometimes it now feels like things are ramping up when I've mentally reached the point where I want to just stop dealing with COVID anymore. I suppose that's why I react a lot to this idea that all of our current issues are related to the vaccine rather than argue that the vaccines have a ton of problems but there are also plenty of other issues going on in the world.
But anyways Nova, know that any support either through likes, comments, and shares helps. We certainly know it's tough now especially with inflation right now. All the best!
Aug 12, 2022·edited Aug 12, 2022Liked by Modern Discontent
I love your article, even though it does go against some of my instincts, but it definitely acts as a nice check on my own tendencies of interpreting life.
That said, as of now, several people close to me are having covid today, some had covid last week, and tons of their friends and associates are also having covid or had one in the last month.
A 17 year old boosted young man I know well (not my relative) was (briefly) hospitalized with his 4th Covid
So Covid is not going away and the "authorities" have every reason to downplay its extent and severity.
Well let me be clear by stating that COVID is going to be with us and that people getting sick isn't good- we wouldn't wish that people get ill either from COVID or the vaccines.
That said, we have to understand at what point we decide to live our lives rather than just staying alive. People keep getting sick, but do we stop allowing people from going to work, doing what they need to in order to survive, or stop them from enjoying things that make life more meaningful rather than constantly worrying about COVID.
And so then we have to ask a question. If people keep getting sick, what do we do about it then? Because from my perspective you do as much as you can to help yourself, including eating right, exercising, sleeping, and going outside- things that are basic and fundamental to our overall health. Then we decide if we want supplements or whatever else. But we don't do things that interrupt our daily lives for fear of getting sick- we've already seen all the damaging effects from the lockdowns.
Then Igor I ask you, what do we do to stop people from getting sick? Because we have to be careful in making arguments that would support the original ideas of lockdowns and mask mandates. If we are so concerned that people continue to get ill then I don't see how this is anything more than a pretense to push for further lockdowns.
I'm not religious so I couldn't think of the name and had to look it up, but something I think about is The Serenity Prayer when I consider what exactly is going on:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.[1]
We do what we can to help ourselves, but we need to understand when things are outside of our control. At that point, do we hand over our autonomy to authority figures or do we decide that we accept those thins that we cannot do much about knowing full well the consequences.
I think there's also a Jordan Peterson quote along the lines of carrying the burden of the world when you venture out rather than being a burden onto the world. We understand the burden we carry when we venture out and interact with others, but we do so knowing that it's worth it in the end.
So I suppose those are my remarks for now, and I do hope that those people you mentioned get well.
Hi Modern. You are asking good questions. The mitigations that were used, like masks and isolation, do not work and the CDC relaxing requirements is just keeping recommendations with reality.
What is bad is the reality itself.
The reality is that we have a lab-made plague virus, most people have taken an experimental vaccine that made them MORE susceptible to having the virus repeatedly, and we have covid infections waves (and reinfections) that come more and more often. It is possible that for every individual susceptible to reinfections, they will come more and more frequently as the immune systems are worn down by each bout of the disease.
I call it "Chronic Covid" and wrote two articles about it in March and April.
I am not proposing a return to masks or politices that failed.
But I do want to point out that people "living with the virus" may end up NOT living very long. I hate this but I am afraid that it is a real possibility.
The dieoff possibly already started, if we look at mortality statistics of the UK for example.
What to do is a complicated question and I do not have all the answers. But we need to start looking for answers, and fire ALL people who got us to where we are.
lol... if people thought for themselves... there would be no need for you or anyone else.. everyone would just look up their own information. That's why the government is acting like a parent.. that's what we want. And... apparently we find the "parent" that tells us what we want to hear... good or bad.
Sure, but most people don't know what it means to look and think for themselves, and most importantly most people assume they think for themselves when they may not be. Take right now; how many people are taking supplements because people told them to without looking deeper into the research and understanding exactly what these things are supposed to do? Are these people thinking for themselves? I think one of my growing problems is that many people will point fingers at each other saying that the other are sheep when we need to remember to check ourselves. So we may blame people who decided to take vaccines without being informed of all of the adverse side effects or other possible long-term issues, but then we may be blamed for taking supplements that are "unsubstantiated".
Everything that I do for myself is done with great thought. I followed all the vaccine makers, and decided based on the limited public information regarding each one, that I would take the Johnson & Johnson shot. I was in the 1st round that come to NY in early March. I don't regret my decision. I gave it a try, based on the Covid environment at the time. That being said, I knew we were all participating in an experiment, and data on effectiveness and effects would follow. I took it upon myself, to test every 2 weeks for Covid, in order to "see" if the vaccine prevented infection. I never tested positive. I also did a full panel blood work within 2 weeks, 2 months and again in October 2021, in order to see if there were changes in my body. I also did testing to measure for antibodies, both prior to vaccination and after.
I appreciate your efforts researching information as it comes out and presenting a full picture for your subscribers. I have survived these 2 years Covid-free, with no obvious sickness because of my own knowledge. When I find someone who is providing information that interests me or aligns with what I am already doing for my health, then I consider their point of view.
Since the beginning, I decided to stay in the neutral zone, only concerned with staying healthy through this time, for how ever long this goes on.
Personally, I ordered my NAC, because I have been taking it since 2015 for many of the cited benefits, and have actually confirmed for myself that it rids mucosal buildup from my system, and works as an anti-oxidant in my body, as I am a smoker. What I did learn from your article, was that one of the medications prescribed by my doctor is contraindicated with NAC. Its unfortunate, that my doctor did not do a through assessment of my history prior to prescribing any medication, but that is par for the course. So now, I will do my own research on any medication that my doctor may prescribe to see if there are any contraindications with any substance I am already taking, and make my own decision.
Working in a liberal area and living in a conservative area has allowed me to see the world from both viewpoints and I definitely prefer the conservative side (not that either side truly gets it right - there are jerks all over the place and an absolute lack of nuance - or even the ability to have a deep meaningful conversation with someone on the opposing side). I also feel like I have had a lot of my own personal preconceived ideas broken these past two years - particularly in the realm of science (I have a B.S. in Biology and have worked in an immunogenetics lab for upwards of 25 years). Now I was never in the mindset of believing in "settled science", but rather building on past understanding and modifying/adding new findings to that understanding - which can literally change at anytime. I think my natural skepticism concerning our understanding of how the biological sciences work has definitely shaped my faith in God (I am beyond blown away when I consider the intricacies of the human body). A lot of science is based on certain assumptions (if those assumptions turn out to be wrong, then the whole theory crumbles to the ground).
I am a bit dismayed as well by the big-name Stacks and the mostly doom & gloom comments which always seem to take the top spots. I truly do believe people can understand the basics of science if they are willing to take the time to learn (but they are busy so they outsource thinking to those whom they trust). Like my mom for example: she is always sending me right-wing fear porn and asking my thoughts (she introduced me to Dr. Ardis - funny how he seems to have slithered away).
In closing I will leave a verse that has been on my heart lately from 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love."
My advice - go out and do something nice for someone. Life is too short to cower in fear. I will choose love over fear.
Thanks for the comment Clarisse. I think the problem is that science is a field which arrogance has sort of been both allowed and expected. There's so much hubris and so many people not being open to new ideas or wanting to be right that they can't let new ideas flourish. It feels as if "settled science" is also an easy heuristic that is invoked so that people stop having to think or incorporate new ideas. It's settled, so don't as me to change my thoughts!
I think my problem with a lot of the doom posts is that there's much in the way of actual discourse that happens when presented with this new information. It's why I mentioned that I was concerned seeing people say they don't know what the heck they've read but know they should be scared. What exactly are you scared about; is it because someone told you to be scared or because the actual information is scary. It's a pretty absurd comment, and yet these types of comments occur quite frequently and I'm not sure why there's a need to comment down that route rather than asking people to clarify their posts or provide rebuttal. But that's also an issue when many bigger Substacks lock their comments behind paywalls, and so I think there's an argument there that the type of comments allowed have essentially been curated to be ones that generally fit the intended narrative- why pay people to provide your own critiques of their work?
Thanks for the verse. I'm not religious but I do find meaning in some of these verses in a manner similar to Heather and Bret with their "literally false; metaphorically true" suggestions.
I am not so sure about how "make sure your thoughts are your own" could actually work. For instance your Substack thoughts (posts) sometimes are enriching mine, sometimes they are the sought confirmation of my biases or fears and a lot of times very educational.
Indeed most of the time the posts show a much needed moderation and balance. The problem is that moderation it's a hard sell these days after two and a half years where some people lives were messed up badly and the state of exception arbitrariness was sold as normal. I never thought about being at war, the war was brought to us and I feel like I have to pick sides because all that it happened went well beyond theoretical. It never was a dialogue.
And I don't think we, Substack readers are outside or beyond bubbles, I just wish that our bubble its better looking/dressed than other's.
So when I say to make your thoughts your own, I don't mean to be original but to be genuine. You can take what other people say, but have an understanding of what you are saying and know if it is genuinely words that you would say or if you are lying.
As an example given what I've been seeing, a lot of people have argued in favor of terrain theory by suggesting that COVID doesn't exist, or that viruses themselves are not pathogenic. People are able to have their own thoughts; I argue against this point, but in open discourse we allow both sides. However, there's been a growing number of people who have now been staunchly against any vaccines, or are now arguing that COVId or viruses don't exist/ don't cause disease. When these people are making thousands of dollars a month on Substack, and most of your paying subscribers make such an argument, you have to figure out if you are beholden to your readers and go with whatever direction the money wind goes, or if you decide to remain steadfast in your position and only changing when you find that the evidence overwhelmingly supports such a change in position.
And that's sort of what I mean. I mentioned in Stephanie Brails' comments once that I'm not sure who is being genuine anymore or if they are going in the direction that money takes them, even if it goes against their own beliefs. And therefore, their thoughts are not their own, but those of their audience that they have adopted. This isn't going towards anyone in particular, but it's one thing I continue to think about when I come across many posts suggested that we're just closer to the end of days.
Groupthink exists on all sides. We need to remember that and make sure that we exist as individuals amongst the crowd rather than a collective who's thoughts are all the same- whether manufactured or genuine.
I just recalled this.... SAME TIME LAST YEAR, the CDC told everyone who was vaccinated they could drop the masks, go out and enjoy... that they were safe from infection. BOOM .. within 30 days we had the Delta wave, the Massachusetts gathering where all the vaccinated got infected, and hospitalized... and then the Delta variant killed a lot of people.
What if HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF-... like in 30 days we will have a new, more deadly wave, that affects a lot of people, including children... because the CDC did it again...hummm
But given that scenario we have to look at what we take away from that. We talk about all of these people dying, yet I would ask how many people have gotten their own health in order to alleviate their chances of dying. How many people lost weight, got healthier, and started eating right, exercising, and sleeping better? We argue against authority figures, but we don't do things for ourselves we put ourselves in a position in which the government makes decisions for us. Remember that Former NYC mayor Bloomberg wanted to tax soda so that people would stop drinking it. We tax cigarettes to disincentivize people. We argue about the government taking control of our lives and yet we provide the government all the reasons to do so. Take those reigns away from them, get our own affairs in order and then we can argue against the government try to meddle in our own affairs.
That's why your voice is so important. You provide the facts, without trying to influence anyone either way. If a person is looking for information upon which to base a decision about their choices, your substack is a great resource. Keep doing you, it works!
Thanks. There exists research showing that reading/watching the news is as stressful as being there, so to speak, as most "news" is negative, violent etc.
Balance it out by taking a walk and smelling the roses.
Also subscribe to something like David Byrne's Reasons To Be Cheerful https://reasonstobecheerful.world and see that cool stuff is happening skill over the globe. F#ck covid
I tried reading Steven Pinker's book Apocalypse Now (I believe it was called) but it kind of came about in an era where Trump was in office and it was really kind of hard to read any books that didn't feel the need to reference Charlottesville for some reason. But anyways, he makes comments about how the news could talk about all the lives saved from modern medicine, the number of babies being born or the number of people surviving cancer, but that doesn't get the same message as thinking that we are all going to die or that there is a need for urgency. It's amazing that you can spend all day online and feel like the sky is crumbling, but then walk outside and experience nature and feel as if everything (or mostly everything) is right in the world.
Helpful and encouraging thoughts about moderation and “checking yourself” (my words). One of the things I like about Substack in contrast to other platforms is that it lends itself to more well developed commentary rather than simple fear mongering. I do think that there are very real issues at play in our culture that pose substantive threats to our way of life.
It’s also true that we can’t solve them by competing with increasingly emphatic rallying cries to “be afraid.” Neither is silence the answer. Your post is a welcome reminder to moderate, be thoughtful, and remember what’s important. Thank you.
Substack is great in that there are so many voices and on topics that are so varied. Stephanie Brail talks about random stuff such as those gaudy signs or watching holiday movies in July but she does so because that's what she wants to write about. Peter from All Facts Matter writes about a lot of the inflation stuff, and although I'm not that interested in economics (although I should be) it's interesting seeing him write those things. Substack allows for a place for people to be exposed to new ideas and challenge their own.
HOWEVER, Substack is itself a social media platform, with all of the woes of social media i.e. the cancer that can be found on Twitter. As such, it's not too difficult to feel like everything is going to hell in a handbasket sometimes. I think one thing that people should consider with Substack is finding ways to engage in a more meaningful way. When presented with ideas engage the ideas and ask questions and provide insights rather than fall back into clapbacks that people go for on Twitter. People comment they don't like posting long comments, but I think it's welcomed as long as it stays somewhat relevant.
Ironically, I think Monsters Inc. was providing some social commentary on the media with their phrase, "We scare because we care". I always thought it would be fitting on a shirt!.
Very thoughtful post. I come back to substack and substackers to support them and have access to news and studies that I no longer have the time to scour the internet for. At one time, when everyone I know and love took this injection, this substack community was my lifeline. I'm not too much of a computer person, but the real community I found here got me through some personally very difficult months. I know many people were in that same situation. These days I want to support substackers because they've been so important to me. I don't have time to read in depth as much as I used to, and since my money is low I can't subscribe, but I want to support the people who supported me. If it wasn't for this I probably would not be on substack half as much as I am. Thanks for your care and wisdom promoting mental and psychological breaks from news when we need it. 🙏💕
Thanks for the comments Nova. I agree that many of the writings helped when you kind of felt like you were the crazy one in a sea of so-called normal people. At the time when these vaccines were being rolled out my old place of employment got first dibs since we were considered frontline workers, and at the time I started growing a bit more reticent in getting the vaccine. However, as soon as everyone was wearing all of their side effects as some badge of honor I immediately thought no I can't be crazy in believing that having to take a day off after getting vaccinated was completely normal. I think this environment helped at a point when I and a few others thought something was amiss and was able to find a community that agreed.
I think it's because of that I'm concerned that the messaging goes so far past the initial intentions. Sometimes it now feels like things are ramping up when I've mentally reached the point where I want to just stop dealing with COVID anymore. I suppose that's why I react a lot to this idea that all of our current issues are related to the vaccine rather than argue that the vaccines have a ton of problems but there are also plenty of other issues going on in the world.
But anyways Nova, know that any support either through likes, comments, and shares helps. We certainly know it's tough now especially with inflation right now. All the best!
I love your article, even though it does go against some of my instincts, but it definitely acts as a nice check on my own tendencies of interpreting life.
That said, as of now, several people close to me are having covid today, some had covid last week, and tons of their friends and associates are also having covid or had one in the last month.
A 17 year old boosted young man I know well (not my relative) was (briefly) hospitalized with his 4th Covid
So Covid is not going away and the "authorities" have every reason to downplay its extent and severity.
Well let me be clear by stating that COVID is going to be with us and that people getting sick isn't good- we wouldn't wish that people get ill either from COVID or the vaccines.
That said, we have to understand at what point we decide to live our lives rather than just staying alive. People keep getting sick, but do we stop allowing people from going to work, doing what they need to in order to survive, or stop them from enjoying things that make life more meaningful rather than constantly worrying about COVID.
And so then we have to ask a question. If people keep getting sick, what do we do about it then? Because from my perspective you do as much as you can to help yourself, including eating right, exercising, sleeping, and going outside- things that are basic and fundamental to our overall health. Then we decide if we want supplements or whatever else. But we don't do things that interrupt our daily lives for fear of getting sick- we've already seen all the damaging effects from the lockdowns.
Then Igor I ask you, what do we do to stop people from getting sick? Because we have to be careful in making arguments that would support the original ideas of lockdowns and mask mandates. If we are so concerned that people continue to get ill then I don't see how this is anything more than a pretense to push for further lockdowns.
I'm not religious so I couldn't think of the name and had to look it up, but something I think about is The Serenity Prayer when I consider what exactly is going on:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.[1]
We do what we can to help ourselves, but we need to understand when things are outside of our control. At that point, do we hand over our autonomy to authority figures or do we decide that we accept those thins that we cannot do much about knowing full well the consequences.
I think there's also a Jordan Peterson quote along the lines of carrying the burden of the world when you venture out rather than being a burden onto the world. We understand the burden we carry when we venture out and interact with others, but we do so knowing that it's worth it in the end.
So I suppose those are my remarks for now, and I do hope that those people you mentioned get well.
Hi Modern. You are asking good questions. The mitigations that were used, like masks and isolation, do not work and the CDC relaxing requirements is just keeping recommendations with reality.
What is bad is the reality itself.
The reality is that we have a lab-made plague virus, most people have taken an experimental vaccine that made them MORE susceptible to having the virus repeatedly, and we have covid infections waves (and reinfections) that come more and more often. It is possible that for every individual susceptible to reinfections, they will come more and more frequently as the immune systems are worn down by each bout of the disease.
I call it "Chronic Covid" and wrote two articles about it in March and April.
I am not proposing a return to masks or politices that failed.
But I do want to point out that people "living with the virus" may end up NOT living very long. I hate this but I am afraid that it is a real possibility.
The dieoff possibly already started, if we look at mortality statistics of the UK for example.
What to do is a complicated question and I do not have all the answers. But we need to start looking for answers, and fire ALL people who got us to where we are.
lol... if people thought for themselves... there would be no need for you or anyone else.. everyone would just look up their own information. That's why the government is acting like a parent.. that's what we want. And... apparently we find the "parent" that tells us what we want to hear... good or bad.
Sure, but most people don't know what it means to look and think for themselves, and most importantly most people assume they think for themselves when they may not be. Take right now; how many people are taking supplements because people told them to without looking deeper into the research and understanding exactly what these things are supposed to do? Are these people thinking for themselves? I think one of my growing problems is that many people will point fingers at each other saying that the other are sheep when we need to remember to check ourselves. So we may blame people who decided to take vaccines without being informed of all of the adverse side effects or other possible long-term issues, but then we may be blamed for taking supplements that are "unsubstantiated".
Everything that I do for myself is done with great thought. I followed all the vaccine makers, and decided based on the limited public information regarding each one, that I would take the Johnson & Johnson shot. I was in the 1st round that come to NY in early March. I don't regret my decision. I gave it a try, based on the Covid environment at the time. That being said, I knew we were all participating in an experiment, and data on effectiveness and effects would follow. I took it upon myself, to test every 2 weeks for Covid, in order to "see" if the vaccine prevented infection. I never tested positive. I also did a full panel blood work within 2 weeks, 2 months and again in October 2021, in order to see if there were changes in my body. I also did testing to measure for antibodies, both prior to vaccination and after.
I appreciate your efforts researching information as it comes out and presenting a full picture for your subscribers. I have survived these 2 years Covid-free, with no obvious sickness because of my own knowledge. When I find someone who is providing information that interests me or aligns with what I am already doing for my health, then I consider their point of view.
Since the beginning, I decided to stay in the neutral zone, only concerned with staying healthy through this time, for how ever long this goes on.
Personally, I ordered my NAC, because I have been taking it since 2015 for many of the cited benefits, and have actually confirmed for myself that it rids mucosal buildup from my system, and works as an anti-oxidant in my body, as I am a smoker. What I did learn from your article, was that one of the medications prescribed by my doctor is contraindicated with NAC. Its unfortunate, that my doctor did not do a through assessment of my history prior to prescribing any medication, but that is par for the course. So now, I will do my own research on any medication that my doctor may prescribe to see if there are any contraindications with any substance I am already taking, and make my own decision.
Thank you for all your efforts.
Working in a liberal area and living in a conservative area has allowed me to see the world from both viewpoints and I definitely prefer the conservative side (not that either side truly gets it right - there are jerks all over the place and an absolute lack of nuance - or even the ability to have a deep meaningful conversation with someone on the opposing side). I also feel like I have had a lot of my own personal preconceived ideas broken these past two years - particularly in the realm of science (I have a B.S. in Biology and have worked in an immunogenetics lab for upwards of 25 years). Now I was never in the mindset of believing in "settled science", but rather building on past understanding and modifying/adding new findings to that understanding - which can literally change at anytime. I think my natural skepticism concerning our understanding of how the biological sciences work has definitely shaped my faith in God (I am beyond blown away when I consider the intricacies of the human body). A lot of science is based on certain assumptions (if those assumptions turn out to be wrong, then the whole theory crumbles to the ground).
I am a bit dismayed as well by the big-name Stacks and the mostly doom & gloom comments which always seem to take the top spots. I truly do believe people can understand the basics of science if they are willing to take the time to learn (but they are busy so they outsource thinking to those whom they trust). Like my mom for example: she is always sending me right-wing fear porn and asking my thoughts (she introduced me to Dr. Ardis - funny how he seems to have slithered away).
In closing I will leave a verse that has been on my heart lately from 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been made perfect in love."
My advice - go out and do something nice for someone. Life is too short to cower in fear. I will choose love over fear.
Thanks for the comment Clarisse. I think the problem is that science is a field which arrogance has sort of been both allowed and expected. There's so much hubris and so many people not being open to new ideas or wanting to be right that they can't let new ideas flourish. It feels as if "settled science" is also an easy heuristic that is invoked so that people stop having to think or incorporate new ideas. It's settled, so don't as me to change my thoughts!
I think my problem with a lot of the doom posts is that there's much in the way of actual discourse that happens when presented with this new information. It's why I mentioned that I was concerned seeing people say they don't know what the heck they've read but know they should be scared. What exactly are you scared about; is it because someone told you to be scared or because the actual information is scary. It's a pretty absurd comment, and yet these types of comments occur quite frequently and I'm not sure why there's a need to comment down that route rather than asking people to clarify their posts or provide rebuttal. But that's also an issue when many bigger Substacks lock their comments behind paywalls, and so I think there's an argument there that the type of comments allowed have essentially been curated to be ones that generally fit the intended narrative- why pay people to provide your own critiques of their work?
Thanks for the verse. I'm not religious but I do find meaning in some of these verses in a manner similar to Heather and Bret with their "literally false; metaphorically true" suggestions.
I am not so sure about how "make sure your thoughts are your own" could actually work. For instance your Substack thoughts (posts) sometimes are enriching mine, sometimes they are the sought confirmation of my biases or fears and a lot of times very educational.
Indeed most of the time the posts show a much needed moderation and balance. The problem is that moderation it's a hard sell these days after two and a half years where some people lives were messed up badly and the state of exception arbitrariness was sold as normal. I never thought about being at war, the war was brought to us and I feel like I have to pick sides because all that it happened went well beyond theoretical. It never was a dialogue.
And I don't think we, Substack readers are outside or beyond bubbles, I just wish that our bubble its better looking/dressed than other's.
So when I say to make your thoughts your own, I don't mean to be original but to be genuine. You can take what other people say, but have an understanding of what you are saying and know if it is genuinely words that you would say or if you are lying.
As an example given what I've been seeing, a lot of people have argued in favor of terrain theory by suggesting that COVID doesn't exist, or that viruses themselves are not pathogenic. People are able to have their own thoughts; I argue against this point, but in open discourse we allow both sides. However, there's been a growing number of people who have now been staunchly against any vaccines, or are now arguing that COVId or viruses don't exist/ don't cause disease. When these people are making thousands of dollars a month on Substack, and most of your paying subscribers make such an argument, you have to figure out if you are beholden to your readers and go with whatever direction the money wind goes, or if you decide to remain steadfast in your position and only changing when you find that the evidence overwhelmingly supports such a change in position.
And that's sort of what I mean. I mentioned in Stephanie Brails' comments once that I'm not sure who is being genuine anymore or if they are going in the direction that money takes them, even if it goes against their own beliefs. And therefore, their thoughts are not their own, but those of their audience that they have adopted. This isn't going towards anyone in particular, but it's one thing I continue to think about when I come across many posts suggested that we're just closer to the end of days.
Groupthink exists on all sides. We need to remember that and make sure that we exist as individuals amongst the crowd rather than a collective who's thoughts are all the same- whether manufactured or genuine.
I just recalled this.... SAME TIME LAST YEAR, the CDC told everyone who was vaccinated they could drop the masks, go out and enjoy... that they were safe from infection. BOOM .. within 30 days we had the Delta wave, the Massachusetts gathering where all the vaccinated got infected, and hospitalized... and then the Delta variant killed a lot of people.
What if HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF-... like in 30 days we will have a new, more deadly wave, that affects a lot of people, including children... because the CDC did it again...hummm
But given that scenario we have to look at what we take away from that. We talk about all of these people dying, yet I would ask how many people have gotten their own health in order to alleviate their chances of dying. How many people lost weight, got healthier, and started eating right, exercising, and sleeping better? We argue against authority figures, but we don't do things for ourselves we put ourselves in a position in which the government makes decisions for us. Remember that Former NYC mayor Bloomberg wanted to tax soda so that people would stop drinking it. We tax cigarettes to disincentivize people. We argue about the government taking control of our lives and yet we provide the government all the reasons to do so. Take those reigns away from them, get our own affairs in order and then we can argue against the government try to meddle in our own affairs.
That's why your voice is so important. You provide the facts, without trying to influence anyone either way. If a person is looking for information upon which to base a decision about their choices, your substack is a great resource. Keep doing you, it works!
Thanks. There exists research showing that reading/watching the news is as stressful as being there, so to speak, as most "news" is negative, violent etc.
Balance it out by taking a walk and smelling the roses.
Also subscribe to something like David Byrne's Reasons To Be Cheerful https://reasonstobecheerful.world and see that cool stuff is happening skill over the globe. F#ck covid
I tried reading Steven Pinker's book Apocalypse Now (I believe it was called) but it kind of came about in an era where Trump was in office and it was really kind of hard to read any books that didn't feel the need to reference Charlottesville for some reason. But anyways, he makes comments about how the news could talk about all the lives saved from modern medicine, the number of babies being born or the number of people surviving cancer, but that doesn't get the same message as thinking that we are all going to die or that there is a need for urgency. It's amazing that you can spend all day online and feel like the sky is crumbling, but then walk outside and experience nature and feel as if everything (or mostly everything) is right in the world.
Helpful and encouraging thoughts about moderation and “checking yourself” (my words). One of the things I like about Substack in contrast to other platforms is that it lends itself to more well developed commentary rather than simple fear mongering. I do think that there are very real issues at play in our culture that pose substantive threats to our way of life.
It’s also true that we can’t solve them by competing with increasingly emphatic rallying cries to “be afraid.” Neither is silence the answer. Your post is a welcome reminder to moderate, be thoughtful, and remember what’s important. Thank you.
Substack is great in that there are so many voices and on topics that are so varied. Stephanie Brail talks about random stuff such as those gaudy signs or watching holiday movies in July but she does so because that's what she wants to write about. Peter from All Facts Matter writes about a lot of the inflation stuff, and although I'm not that interested in economics (although I should be) it's interesting seeing him write those things. Substack allows for a place for people to be exposed to new ideas and challenge their own.
HOWEVER, Substack is itself a social media platform, with all of the woes of social media i.e. the cancer that can be found on Twitter. As such, it's not too difficult to feel like everything is going to hell in a handbasket sometimes. I think one thing that people should consider with Substack is finding ways to engage in a more meaningful way. When presented with ideas engage the ideas and ask questions and provide insights rather than fall back into clapbacks that people go for on Twitter. People comment they don't like posting long comments, but I think it's welcomed as long as it stays somewhat relevant.
Indeed! Make sure your thoughts are your own-this is sage advice.
Typo: On the contrary, it just seems like more reasons to be cared.
I assume you mean scared
Ironically, I think Monsters Inc. was providing some social commentary on the media with their phrase, "We scare because we care". I always thought it would be fitting on a shirt!.
Dang, thanks Paul I'll correct that!