Darryl Betts
Recently I made some new acquaintances and had the opportunity to spend some time talking with them on a rainy Saturday. Three intelligent, successful women who love their children, and also care about other people and their children. Like millions more throughout New Zealand – with strong ties to their communities in which their children grow up. Willing to welcome strangers like me into their homes.
Of course, everyone has a different set of beliefs and everyone follows a unique path through life along which their beliefs change. So too with these women – not cartoon characters drawn with a stencil – real individuals who agree and differ on a wide range of topics.
Are they “anti-vaxxers”? One, maybe two of them, think of themselves that way. The other seemed to be more like me – pro-vaccine. But they all shared great concerns about these new vaccines.
Why the concerns? The story has been told so many times we are all tired of it – and I won’t bore you with it here. Not from Facebook. Not from the Kardashians. Not from Woman’s Day magazine (does that still exist?). Not from Whoopi Goldberg on The View.
Instead from people like Dr Peter McCullough, Dr Pierre Kory, Dr Bret Weinstein, Dr Geert Vanden Bossche, Dr Byrum Bridle, Dr Mike Yeadon, Dr Tess Lawrie, Emeritus Professor Robert Clancy, and many many more. I could list their credentials and accomplishments, but I don’t have the word count.
Strange that eh? Suburban mothers listening to long calm discussions with highly experienced and highly qualified scientists and doctors. Maybe not strange at all – more a reflection of how we might under-estimate suburban mothers – or just average New Zealanders for that matter. If there is a silver lining in what many see as New Zealand’s slide toward pre-war Nazi Germany, it is that large numbers of New Zealanders are discovering these things about each other.
Of course, not everyone who opposes what the New Zealand government is doing has the same set of beliefs – but then they are all individuals with their own puzzle pieces which, for all we know, might be true. Not everyone is a brilliant explainer of science or a brilliant orator. But deep within them all is a sense of what is right and what is not right. They share a belief that there are certain lines that must not be crossed. The rights and freedoms on which Western civilisation rests – paid for with the blood and sweat (both physical and mental) of millions before us. They show that they care for themselves – and I think that shows in the way that they care for others.
One thing is clear – the internet works. It might bring us inane dances and cats chasing balls of wool but it also brings world-class scientists to the masses. If you doubt me, read the comments on some of these long and very in-depth scientific discussions. As people like Bret Weinstein and Jordan Peterson have often commented, there is a thirst for this. Once you discover these you truly understand why people are turning away from what passes for journalism on mainstream media.
My new friends know this. Sadly Jacinda Ardern does not – nor, I suspect, do the advisers who surround her. Whatever else is cooking in the mind of Jacinda Ardern, it seems unlikely that she is aware that such conversations exist, and even more unlikely that she has ever taken the time to actually listen to one.
And this is not just about science discussions – people here are seeing statistics on vaccine efficacy and transmission rates, on vaccine injuries (here and elsewhere in the world), and seeing things in their local communities which understandably raise concerns.
They wonder why, with all this happening, the government is still insisting that these new vaccines are safe and effective and, with few exceptions, everyone must have them, including pregnant women and even very young children who are at no significant risk from Covid-19.
They wonder why, when vaccinated people can just as easily catch and transmit the virus, does there need to be different treatment of those who choose not to be vaccinated and why anyone who refuses to subject themselves to this medical procedure must be denied access to society.
They wonder why, when so many scientists point out the overwhelming evidence for the effectiveness of ivermectin, is the New Zealand government still stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that fact – and adopting a threatening stance toward doctors who might wish to prescribe it.
They wonder why a virus that is preventable and treatable and which poses little threat to the majority of people should destroy businesses and jobs, disrupt childhoods, separate families and friends, require escalating authoritarianism, and cause economic damage that will last for decades, maybe much longer.
They wonder why fathers are not allowed to see their newborn babies and they wonder why people must die alone and whether some of those who did could have been saved.
There is no sign that Ardern has taken the time to understand the growing opposition she faces and she seems oblivious to the loss of trust she and other leaders around the world have presided over. For her, this is largely about misinformation – the ultimate case of projection.
Within the echo chamber which encompasses our government, institutions, and mainstream media, I doubt whether anyone has dared to seriously challenge any of the assumptions on which they are acting. Such is the power of that echo chamber and so sure of their rightness are they, that anyone who challenges the truth about Covid-19 will be figuratively if not literally expelled.
To make matters worse, Jacinda and others in that circle (which includes most of her political opposition) may also be suffering the effects of their own fearmongering. Psychologists know well that fear can adversely affect decision-making capability, leading to illogical decisions – and we are indeed seeing illogical decisions.
And whether or not Jacinda is acting out some larger political agenda, there is also the question of whether she has the necessary understanding of what she is doing. One thing she cannot really be blamed for is that she is the product of a dangerously off-kilter progressive-left university system and she may not have stayed awake long enough to learn that some of the political theories which sounded good to her 18-year-old self actually do have serious problems.
To me, there are strong signs she lacks the critical thinking skills and philosophical understanding one would like to see in a leader. Even the virtuously masked sycophants who surround her probably winced inwardly when she declared that the government would be our “single source of truth” and told us to “dismiss all else”. And winced again when she announced a system of segregation while smiling like a naughty toddler – with body language a psychologist could write a book on. Unfortunately, principles and critical thinking are the very things this situation needs – and a sense of proportion.
Committed anti-vaxxers may or may not have the facts on their side, but I for one will be a little less quick to judge given the behaviour we have seen in governments, medical authorities, and pharmaceutical companies over the past 18 months. And “anti-vaxxer” is not an immutable characteristic of a person – it is merely what that person currently believes based on the balance of evidence as they see it. One thing is certain: No amount of bullying by the government and the simple-minded mainstream media will change their minds or mine.
Of course, this is much less about hardcore anti-vaxxers than Jacinda and her mainstream media lackeys make it out to be. Those of us who have never seriously questioned vaccines previously now find ourselves instantly labelled as anti-vaxxers – which shows that those doing the labelling have not educated themselves on why people have concerns, or they are just using it as a tactical weapon – most likely both.
On Auckland’s motorway on Saturday there were at least two instances that I am aware of in which hard objects were thrown at moving cars. Jacinda declares smarmily to people who will be forced to take the vaccination or lose their jobs that there will be time “to have those conversations”.
Dear Jacinda, shall we have a conversation about why some people in New Zealand now want to throw hard objects from moving cars at mothers whose only crime is wanting to live in freedom and protect their families?
