While in Masaya, Nicaragua four years ago, I saw a twilight pick-up basketball game involving young teens on an outdoor court next to the big, beige San Geronimo Cathedral. Ordinarily, I would jump into such a game. But I had walked about 20 miles the day before and my legs were beat. So l just sat on a park bench and watched. It was just as well; Nicaraguans are way better at
I saw it said somewhere recently, but I don't remember to whom it was attributed that "It's easier to fool a person than to convince them that they've been fooled."
So true and likely to be one of the biggest challenges we face right now.
Feb 18, 2022·edited Feb 18, 2022Liked by Mark Oshinskie
What a great account of being played for a chump! I've been in that role with homeless here in the States and finally learned to hand them a water bottle, not a $20, or arrange an Uber ride for them to where they say they need to go to get to their sick mother in the hospital, instead of giving them bus fare.
The feeling of being played for a sucker is what's so infuriating about the whole covid episode. The masks, the endless "stay safe!!" (Yeah, I'll stay home in my closet. Is that safe enough?), all the well intentioned self sacrifice. I think we were all too comfortable and welcomed the drama. Now it's obvious to anyone with critical faculties what's happened. And obvious not enough of us use our critical faculties.
All for what? To help Fauci frantically cover his ass for illegally unleashing this bat pox on us, then colluding in the suppression of treatments that might have saved a lot of fat, comorbid, aged people. It will be never again in my lifetime that I trust anything coming out of our federal or state government. CDC, FDA, NIH: at least I know now what they are.
Some days I go along and most everything is normal. Then there are those mornings I read a post like yours, Mark, and become so angry again. Within my family... husband, sisters, daughter and some friends, by May or June 2020, we had resumed normal life, as much as we could. We've even resumed entertaining by that Thanksgiving. I'm grateful my grandchildren are too young to have been adversely affected by all of this garbage, and hopefully with a move or of the Greater New York City area, won't be affected at all. Most of us are not vaccinated save for hubby and one sister, who harangues me to get it, despite her having been vaccinated and gotten sick with it at Thanksgiving and my not getting it! All that we've been through is the complete opposite of science and confirms the suspicions I've had for years that there are some who won't be happy until the days of feudalism return and we are all serfs once again.
One of the things I appreciate about you and your story is that you did not condemn or hold contempt for the 12 year old boy. It is not easy to listen to the vaxed condemn the un-vaxed to a terrible covid death. My 83 year old mother's friends do this regularly. I do not in turn wish them the same. If we are to maintain our humanity, I think it is important that we do not. I worry for all the people who have been fooled. My 85 year old father in law is peeing blood clots. He's been triple vaxed. The doctors told him it is normal. I am sick to my soul at was has been done to good people.
Fantastic illustration of basic human truths. When people eventually recognize what’s happened, there will be a global anger like nothing we've seen in our lifetime. It will be directed squarely at the US. Long way to go before it’s over.
I admit I was a “believer” for the first 2-3 months. I watched the daily briefs which of course matched company policy etc. By summer 2020 I had come around and felt like an island among coworkers, friends, and extended family.
I expect a lot more anger to follow as more red pills are taken.
Some people were scared and got jabbed. A fair number more were coerced, perhaps by the idea of going on a cruise again or not having to wear a mask or being able to visit Grandma in the nursing home or just being able to go back to normal, that they should just get it over with. And this was long before they made demands overt. The sad part is most were too psychologically invested to ever admit that they were both crushed and conned. You lost $7 and gained an interesting insight and lesson. People have lost two years of their lives, freedoms, jobs, reputation on social media, family and friends, their health, their future, their children's future...the list goes on and on. So a lot just went double or nothing but the bill is coming due...
Its why in medicine we used to say - above all else - do no harm. Unfortunately, the pandemic gives you an incite into what medicine is today. Its driven solely by financial reimbursement. Its a culture of billing, not one of outcome.
The most important sentence here: “But the scam wouldn’t have lasted unless a fearful, gullible population bought it” - Thank you for writing this. I believe we DO have the power to stop this disaster, by just saying no - to masks, shots, lockdowns, and all the rest. If every employee threatened with their job said no, rather than just a few, I think the employers would have to back down. If every business requiring masks wasn’t patronized by customers, they’d back down. If all the parents of students refused to have their kids wear masks to school, they’d back down. If everyone refused the injections, they’d finally stop manufacturing them.
I see comments daily on Twitter from people (many MDs) still pushing to mask, isolate with lockdowns and "social distancing" and vaccinating which indicates to me that they haven't followed any true data and still rely upon the CDC to do the thinking for them. They have many fawning followers who agree with the insanity. Pointing out to them simple things like masks are pure theater only gets you flagged as a troll. They live in a bubble that is comfortable and want no one injecting any reality into their safe room. Like finding out there's no Easter bunny.
The difference between you being scammed by that kid and the corona scam is that you had immediate and irrefutable proof that you were conned. You were FORCED to admit it. You may have engaged in some rationalization for HOW and WHY you fell for it but you had no doubt that you'd been had. With Corona, that will never be the case. The politicians are already pivoting and will banish all their previous pronouncements to the memory hole. They have already said "the science changed". People that were duped are thus spared that moment of shock and embarrassment that you suffered. I wish there was justice in this world, but there isn't. The people that conned some of us will get away with it and those who got conned will never recognize it. Too bad.
The damage is continuing and far from over. I believe a great percentage of the population will soon forget what "normal" is and then come to accept this way of living. I truly believe that some of the transformational behavior will remain regardless of how much time passes.
I saw it said somewhere recently, but I don't remember to whom it was attributed that "It's easier to fool a person than to convince them that they've been fooled."
So true and likely to be one of the biggest challenges we face right now.
It is 4:48 am for me and your essay has already made my day, most excellent writing. Fool me once...
What a great account of being played for a chump! I've been in that role with homeless here in the States and finally learned to hand them a water bottle, not a $20, or arrange an Uber ride for them to where they say they need to go to get to their sick mother in the hospital, instead of giving them bus fare.
The feeling of being played for a sucker is what's so infuriating about the whole covid episode. The masks, the endless "stay safe!!" (Yeah, I'll stay home in my closet. Is that safe enough?), all the well intentioned self sacrifice. I think we were all too comfortable and welcomed the drama. Now it's obvious to anyone with critical faculties what's happened. And obvious not enough of us use our critical faculties.
All for what? To help Fauci frantically cover his ass for illegally unleashing this bat pox on us, then colluding in the suppression of treatments that might have saved a lot of fat, comorbid, aged people. It will be never again in my lifetime that I trust anything coming out of our federal or state government. CDC, FDA, NIH: at least I know now what they are.
Some days I go along and most everything is normal. Then there are those mornings I read a post like yours, Mark, and become so angry again. Within my family... husband, sisters, daughter and some friends, by May or June 2020, we had resumed normal life, as much as we could. We've even resumed entertaining by that Thanksgiving. I'm grateful my grandchildren are too young to have been adversely affected by all of this garbage, and hopefully with a move or of the Greater New York City area, won't be affected at all. Most of us are not vaccinated save for hubby and one sister, who harangues me to get it, despite her having been vaccinated and gotten sick with it at Thanksgiving and my not getting it! All that we've been through is the complete opposite of science and confirms the suspicions I've had for years that there are some who won't be happy until the days of feudalism return and we are all serfs once again.
Yes, we've been scammed by the medical-industrial complex. Eisenhower was right.
One of the things I appreciate about you and your story is that you did not condemn or hold contempt for the 12 year old boy. It is not easy to listen to the vaxed condemn the un-vaxed to a terrible covid death. My 83 year old mother's friends do this regularly. I do not in turn wish them the same. If we are to maintain our humanity, I think it is important that we do not. I worry for all the people who have been fooled. My 85 year old father in law is peeing blood clots. He's been triple vaxed. The doctors told him it is normal. I am sick to my soul at was has been done to good people.
Fantastic illustration of basic human truths. When people eventually recognize what’s happened, there will be a global anger like nothing we've seen in our lifetime. It will be directed squarely at the US. Long way to go before it’s over.
Great story Mark.
I admit I was a “believer” for the first 2-3 months. I watched the daily briefs which of course matched company policy etc. By summer 2020 I had come around and felt like an island among coworkers, friends, and extended family.
I expect a lot more anger to follow as more red pills are taken.
Some people were scared and got jabbed. A fair number more were coerced, perhaps by the idea of going on a cruise again or not having to wear a mask or being able to visit Grandma in the nursing home or just being able to go back to normal, that they should just get it over with. And this was long before they made demands overt. The sad part is most were too psychologically invested to ever admit that they were both crushed and conned. You lost $7 and gained an interesting insight and lesson. People have lost two years of their lives, freedoms, jobs, reputation on social media, family and friends, their health, their future, their children's future...the list goes on and on. So a lot just went double or nothing but the bill is coming due...
Its why in medicine we used to say - above all else - do no harm. Unfortunately, the pandemic gives you an incite into what medicine is today. Its driven solely by financial reimbursement. Its a culture of billing, not one of outcome.
The most important sentence here: “But the scam wouldn’t have lasted unless a fearful, gullible population bought it” - Thank you for writing this. I believe we DO have the power to stop this disaster, by just saying no - to masks, shots, lockdowns, and all the rest. If every employee threatened with their job said no, rather than just a few, I think the employers would have to back down. If every business requiring masks wasn’t patronized by customers, they’d back down. If all the parents of students refused to have their kids wear masks to school, they’d back down. If everyone refused the injections, they’d finally stop manufacturing them.
Very good post. I don’t judge anyone falling for a scam, only if they refuse to admit or see that they were.
It’s time to end this:
https://newsa.substack.com/p/our-first-step-think-locally-impact?r=zdjvg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct
This is gold! Well said Mark.
I see comments daily on Twitter from people (many MDs) still pushing to mask, isolate with lockdowns and "social distancing" and vaccinating which indicates to me that they haven't followed any true data and still rely upon the CDC to do the thinking for them. They have many fawning followers who agree with the insanity. Pointing out to them simple things like masks are pure theater only gets you flagged as a troll. They live in a bubble that is comfortable and want no one injecting any reality into their safe room. Like finding out there's no Easter bunny.
The difference between you being scammed by that kid and the corona scam is that you had immediate and irrefutable proof that you were conned. You were FORCED to admit it. You may have engaged in some rationalization for HOW and WHY you fell for it but you had no doubt that you'd been had. With Corona, that will never be the case. The politicians are already pivoting and will banish all their previous pronouncements to the memory hole. They have already said "the science changed". People that were duped are thus spared that moment of shock and embarrassment that you suffered. I wish there was justice in this world, but there isn't. The people that conned some of us will get away with it and those who got conned will never recognize it. Too bad.
The damage is continuing and far from over. I believe a great percentage of the population will soon forget what "normal" is and then come to accept this way of living. I truly believe that some of the transformational behavior will remain regardless of how much time passes.