When I was younger, I was told that learning history was important because “history repeats itself.” Then I heard a quote often attributed to Mark Twain… “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.” No matter how we look at it, we must use the past to help us guide our future. The reason we say hindsight is 20/20 is because things are not always so clear when we are in them, but upon looking back, we can see where we went wrong, what we could have done better, and how we can navigate better in the future.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic was so disruptive and damaging, I am amazed that we have not reflected more on all the mistakes that were made. It was such a time of divisiveness, judgement, and hostility, it warrants a deep review… to see what we did right during that time, as well as what we did wrong.
I remember the initial turmoil surrounding where the virus originated. I read information that supported the idea that a U.S.-based company was working with a Chinese-based lab on what is known as “gain-of-function” research, and that a lab leak likely occurred. As I casually shared some of the information I was finding, it was met with strong resistance and dismissed immediately as “conspiracy theory.” It was the first thing that caught my attention, how quickly people were to lump certain aspects of information so quickly into the “conspiracy theory” category without having done any digging themselves.
Next came all of the other controversial and heated topics… sheltering in place, quarantining, staying six feet apart, masks, and of course, the vaccine. There was a narrative, which most people just accepted as truth, but then there were questions with answers that just weren’t adding up. And because I had no vested interest or agenda, all I wanted was the truth. I wasn’t out to prove others wrong, wasn’t holding tightly to a belief or philosophy, or out to be right… I just wanted the truth.
In the search for truth, I delved into any resource I could find (not just resources supporting what I wanted to believe), and reached out to any expert and professional that I thought could shed light on these subjects (not just experts and professionals that I knew held the same beliefs as me). What struck me as so odd during this time, is that you were considered a heretic for merely asking questions. And history has showed me that when questions are met with strong resistance and hostility, somebody usually has something they are hiding. And even as a child, I never cared for my dad’s often-used response… “because I said so.”
I try to keep these blogs short, so I am not going to break down every detail that has boggled my mind regarding the pandemic, how it was handled, and what was true or false. The biggest point I want to make is that huge mistakes were made, and that people were persecuted for speaking out about inconsistencies, suspicious decision-making, and injustices that were occurring. We now know that these were mistakes. A lot of what people were questioning was valid. And many, many of the so-called “conspiracy theories” have turned out to be truths.
I am not patting myself on the back (I promise!), but almost all of the things that I wrote about or spoke about that were initially looked upon as “misinformation” have now been shown to be true. And I’ll say it again… I had no vested interest or agenda… I was just looking for the truth.
These blogs used to be in three local papers, but I pulled those when my articles were censored by the paper. They changed the title of an article and altered my content. I wasn’t writing about extreme stuff, wasn’t giving medical advice, and the content wasn’t even very controversial. But watching high-level experts, colleagues, and even myself have content censored, and have social media accounts frozen, and get blocked from participating with the mainstream media conversation was shocking, scary, and eye-opening. We knew censorship was occurring, yet it was being denied. Even now, few have heard about Mark Zuckerberg’s recent letter stating that Facebook was repeatedly pressured from the Administration to censor COVID-19 content, and that he regrets not being more outspoken about it. Political affiliations and sensitivities aside, this should be upsetting to everyone.
We made a lot of mistakes during the pandemic. I believe these mistakes need to be highlighted and talked about. While many medical professionals have admitted the futility of how we handled things, and many have apologized for how they acted during that time, very little emphasis has been placed on the bigness of the mistakes that were made. This is concerning because, if we are not honest and careful, we will likely make many of the same mistakes in the future.
Reflect on how you responded. Think about who you listened to. Remember how you thought and behaved during that time. And open your mind to the truth. It’s not about being right… it’s not about clinging to an ideology… and it’s not about falling in line behind whatever group you follow… it’s about discovering the truth.
