Stupid Old Men With Conspiracy Theories

Stupid Old Men With Conspiracy Theories

With this self-isolation we are all suffering, I am spending too much time on Facebook. I purposefully do not have the app on my phone, nor do I subscribe to getting notifications from the site when I am not directly accessing it. Up until a few weeks ago I accessed the site for only a couple of times each day, but recently I have found myself perusing the site more often and for longer. I have put this down to being locked up inside more than I used to be, but it is a trend I must try to diminish.

With regard to the title I have given here, “stupid old men with conspiracy theories”, well, I am one of them. Old man, that is, “stupid” I will leave it up to others to decide. But, I certainly do not place myself in the believer of conspiracy theories category.

My evidence is only anecdotal, but it seems to me that there is a disproportionate number in my generation who are promoting this garbage. There are a few who I know personally, and some are even supporters of that buffoon who is supposedly in charge of things in the United States, so they having these other crazy ideas should not surprise me.

Women and younger people of both* genders are also involved, so perhaps I should not discriminate. (*With regard to discrimination, is it alright for me to say “both genders”, or should I be saying “all genders and others”?)

I will not be posting any links to any of the videos or other sites I have visited. Firstly you have probably been to many of them yourself, and secondly, if the sites still exist, they shouldn’t.

One video which I struggled through was of a fellow, I think called Max, who was wondering through a National Park in south-east Queensland whilst videoing himself spewing out a whole lot of complete verbal garbage. At the time of his filming, he was flouting the law because all parks at the time had been closed. But, what he was saying was beyond belief. He claimed that this whole Covid-19 thing was a hoax. People were not dying or even getting sick. Hospitals were not being inundated with patients. It was all a part of some global conspiracy to keep us all under control.

I did watch and listen to the whole twenty or so minutes of the video. I was under the same sort of duress I placed myself under on another occasion years ago when I endured a complete episode of “Big Brother”, just to see what the show was all about.

It was difficult to believe that anyone could possibly be so stupid to believe what this guy was saying. But, he did seem to genuinely believe what he was espousing. And, I have little doubt that there are others who are naive enough to believe it also. In fact I was directed by one of them to his video link.

Then there are those who claim that Bill Gates has conspired with pharmaceutical companies who had applied for a patent for coronavirus back in 1915. Once again these people are showing their stupidity. Covid-19 is a novel coronavirus which was not known about prior to 2019. Coronavirus is a generic name for a group of viruses. The patent applied for was for an avian coronvirus found in chickens for the development for a vaccine for the chickens.

Bill Gates was once the world’s richest person who is willingly spending his fortune to assist in helping solve global health issues. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is a philanthropic organisation to be admired. I wonder how many of Gates conspiratorial accusers have been involved in any charities, or spent any of their own money on them?

Others are blaming the roll out of the 5 G network as a cause of the illness. They believe that the illness is real, but it is not a virus. They claim it is coming directly from the 5 G cellular network. In Britain there has even been attacks on cellular towers.

As disturbing as the many conspiracy theories around this virus is the number of remedies that people are suggesting.

Earlier I mentioned Facebook. I don’t use Instagram or Twitter, so I assume the same thing happens on those sites. The number of people seeking and giving advice to family and friends on Facebook, astounds me.

Why this mistrust in doctors, medicine and science?

Remedy suggestions have included taking regular sips of warm water. Apparently these people believe that the virus sits and the mouth and will be washed down to the stomach where stomach acids will destroy it. There is zero evidence to support this claim and one would have to be incredibly naive to believe it. But, unfortunately there are those that do.

Even more dangerous than these well-meaning people giving advice on Facebook is the president of the United States who recently promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine as a remedy for Covid-19. Its use for this purpose is unproven. And by promoting it, Trump is now involved in quackery. He even posed the question, “what have you go to lose”? The answer to that is potentially your life.

Another result of his gross irresponsibility is that a world-wide shortage of this medication has now been created. The medication is used for the treatment of several conditions including malaria and lupus. Some sufferers are experiencing difficulty obtaining supplies.

Most world governments rely on scientists who have the knowledge from research in various relevant areas. Not on what someone thinks because of a gut feeling or whatever.

Listen to and act on the advice of the experts. And, if we all do that perhaps we will come out at the end of this global crisis with as little death, damage and despair as possible.