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In a 1941 essay that recently enjoyed a renewed surge of publicity, American journalist Dorothy Thompson wrote of an “interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi”.
Thompson, as she said in her own essay, ought to have known: she was on the Berlin bureau of the New York Post from 1927 and witnessed the rise of the Nazi party from just five years after its inception. She was also the first American journalist expelled from Nazi Germany, in 1934.
It’s perhaps no surprise that Thompson’s essay became suddenly popular again in the midst of the Covid pandemic – and the authoritarian grab for power and descent into Stasi-state snitching that accompanied it. As Thompson said, we “have come to know the types”.
In a recent Twitter thread, writer (among many other things) John W DeFeo listed the “12 Covid personas”, “from most lamentable to most contemptible”.
I’ll not go over them all, but there are a few types BFD readers will be all-too-familiar with. Sometimes, several of them incarnate in the same person. Consider, for instance, how many of the following boxes Siouxsie Wiles, Michael Baker or Marc Daalder ticks off.
The Green Journalist
This young journalist, who isn’t necessarily foolish, has been given a critically important task (like fact checking) without guidance or sources. A natural instinct is to seek official commentary, thereby allowing officials to avoid accountability.
Well, OK: when it comes to the NZ legacy media, that’s kind of shooting fish in a barrel. It’d be easier to name a Stuff or NZ Herald journalist who doesn’t fit that box.
Let’s try the “experts”.
The Good-Faith Huckster
This epidemiologist or biostatistician earned a certificate in public health despite having little- to no-background in science, medicine or ethics. He or she offers Covid-19 guidance in good faith, but lacks the experience to see possible harm.
Ooh, tick, tick. In fact, pretty much every “expert” touted by the Podium of Truth fills this description to a T. Except the “good faith” part, maybe.
After all, would you say an “expert” who finger-wags we plebs to do one thing, but is caught out doing quite another, themselves, is in “good faith”.
Or are they more like one or all three of the following?
The Stunted Academic
This is the accomplished doctor or scientist who has long-since been promoted to oversee others, and, as a result, is informed by narratives more so than hands-on experience. The bigger the team, the greater the chance to amplify a bogus narrative.
The Feckless Academic
The feckless academic is handcuffed by status or funding. He or she often remains on the sidelines, yet may occasionally amplify low-quality Covid-19 research that, in fact, can be objectively refuted using his or her own corpus of existing work.
The Credentialed Grifter
This doctor or scientist, who is ostensibly a well-compensated professional, uses social media to solicit tips, monetize Covid-19 content via affiliate links, or otherwise profit from newly earned “influencer” status.
The Charlatan
The charlatan is the bad faith version of the huckster, exploiting tenuous connections to Covid-19 in order to claim expertise and authority, while using hyperbole to maximize personal attention, influence and reach. A politician with a lab coat.
Now, when you hear the words “narcissist” and “opportunist”, who in the land of the long white cloud immediately springs to mind? Here’s a couple of Covidian hints:
The Esteemed Narcissist
The esteemed narcissist is intelligent and a high achiever, yet trapped in an early childhood emotional state (often a result of verbal abuse). He or she is too fragile to admit wrongs: blame-shifting, projection and gaslighting are the result.
The Partisan Opportunist
The partisan opportunist sees a crisis, then exploits it, extends it and amplifies it such as to enact powers and legislation that he or she has been eager to deploy. The nature of the crisis is not relevant, just a means to a desired end.
If those aren’t enough hints, I’ll add one more.
The Gleeful Abuser
The gleeful abuser, for lack of a better word, is a psychopath who uses the fear and chaos inherent in a crisis (pandemic, war, etc.) to cover for his or her intention of imposing harm on others. Uncommon, yet terrifying.
Yep, yep, that is what it is.
