This reads like the constant refrain that we cannot blame individual weather events on climate change. Sure, you cannot trace direct causation. But the overall environment has changed, and that longer drought, stronger storm, or deranged shooter is an outcome the changed environment made more likely.
Agree with Mike's basic thesis, that we can't embrace a "misinformation made him do it" mindset. Besides not necessarily being true, it's also just another reason for every partisan side to try censoring everyone who disagrees with them.
Also, it troubles me that when various pundits and anonymous CDC officials blame misinformation for the CDC shooter, they don't specify *what* misinformation they mean.
I don't think they just mean the idea that mRNA vaccines had microchips in them. These are precisely the people who previously called "misinformation" on anyone who questioned claims which, as Mike points out, were later proved wrong.
Most prominently, these are the people who previously claimed natural Covid immunity didn't exist and that vaccines protected people from catching or spreading Covid. And they didn't want any discussion on the issue. Their unsubstantiated beliefs translated into public health policy calling for Covid mandates and shutdowns. That translated into a progressive attitude that anyone who didn't follow vaccine mandates and shutdowns was immoral. Talk about a corrosive belief, and all based on misinformation endorsed by people complaining that anyone who disagreed with them was spreading misinformation.
So when I hear the blame going to "Covid misinformation," it sounds a lot like the blame being placed on anyone who wanted to discuss and debate actual scientific evidence about Covid and Covid vaccines, and what policies would then work best.
I'd put it this way. Without crazy rightwing stuff, this guy would still have been suicidal, but he would not have attributed his suicidality to the vaccine. He would have blamed it on his mom, or microplastics, or some girl who broke up with him in 11th grade, or "late stage capitalism" or whatever. I think it's accurate to say that terrible rightwing ideas about vaccination are contributing to an environment where an unhappy person shoots up the CDC in response to his pain rather than some other response. Likewise, Czolgosz without anarchism would still have been in pain, but he might have been a morphine addict rather than a presidential assassin.
I realize we can't get stuck in some cycle of "I can't criticize X because maybe someone will read my remark and do violence", but one reason people shouldn't spread inflammatory wrong stuff is that others may act on such views.
As an aside, that's an interesting list of chronic pain assassins. Giuseppe Zangara also belongs on that list, and maybe Luigi Mangione. I'd never made the connection.
update: Kenneth stated his son has chronic joint/ back pain and has a history of suicidal thoughts,” the report says. “Kenneth stated that Patrick likes to go to parks in the area, and that could be where he is. Kenneth also stated Patrick said multiple times if he dissapeared in one of the parks no one could find him.”
The climate/severe weather link is a great analogy.
The us vs them bs that overrides all things - including the efforts of trying to get through a worldwide trauma together - is very much to blame for many many things. (Do we forget how confusing the that time was and to cherry-pick statements that seem to counter the facts later presented is a bit unfair. Nobody knew everything, and that’s scary. But what you do want is the people that probably know the most to show leadership to get the people through the fear. Sometimes that means making assertive statements that aren’t 100% sure. You don’t need people to stoke the fears. That’s not leadership that opportunism.)
I am not 100% sure any one thing caused the murdered to shoot (probably many things) but this is by no means an isolated incident. Just because you can’t prove causation - only correlation- doesn’t mean we should just ignore the environment the man decided to murder.
It’s ironic that the CDC also (tries to) treat gun violence and suicide deaths (including by guns) as epidemics, and is routinely discredited and/or barred from doing much of that work by the same right-wingers. The very group the murdered targeted was trying to save his life in two different ways.
This reads like the constant refrain that we cannot blame individual weather events on climate change. Sure, you cannot trace direct causation. But the overall environment has changed, and that longer drought, stronger storm, or deranged shooter is an outcome the changed environment made more likely.
Agree with Mike's basic thesis, that we can't embrace a "misinformation made him do it" mindset. Besides not necessarily being true, it's also just another reason for every partisan side to try censoring everyone who disagrees with them.
Also, it troubles me that when various pundits and anonymous CDC officials blame misinformation for the CDC shooter, they don't specify *what* misinformation they mean.
I don't think they just mean the idea that mRNA vaccines had microchips in them. These are precisely the people who previously called "misinformation" on anyone who questioned claims which, as Mike points out, were later proved wrong.
Most prominently, these are the people who previously claimed natural Covid immunity didn't exist and that vaccines protected people from catching or spreading Covid. And they didn't want any discussion on the issue. Their unsubstantiated beliefs translated into public health policy calling for Covid mandates and shutdowns. That translated into a progressive attitude that anyone who didn't follow vaccine mandates and shutdowns was immoral. Talk about a corrosive belief, and all based on misinformation endorsed by people complaining that anyone who disagreed with them was spreading misinformation.
So when I hear the blame going to "Covid misinformation," it sounds a lot like the blame being placed on anyone who wanted to discuss and debate actual scientific evidence about Covid and Covid vaccines, and what policies would then work best.
I'd put it this way. Without crazy rightwing stuff, this guy would still have been suicidal, but he would not have attributed his suicidality to the vaccine. He would have blamed it on his mom, or microplastics, or some girl who broke up with him in 11th grade, or "late stage capitalism" or whatever. I think it's accurate to say that terrible rightwing ideas about vaccination are contributing to an environment where an unhappy person shoots up the CDC in response to his pain rather than some other response. Likewise, Czolgosz without anarchism would still have been in pain, but he might have been a morphine addict rather than a presidential assassin.
I realize we can't get stuck in some cycle of "I can't criticize X because maybe someone will read my remark and do violence", but one reason people shouldn't spread inflammatory wrong stuff is that others may act on such views.
As an aside, that's an interesting list of chronic pain assassins. Giuseppe Zangara also belongs on that list, and maybe Luigi Mangione. I'd never made the connection.
Yes, but Zangara and Luigi were body pain sufferers. Gut and back. Maybe it's an Italian thing.
update: Kenneth stated his son has chronic joint/ back pain and has a history of suicidal thoughts,” the report says. “Kenneth stated that Patrick likes to go to parks in the area, and that could be where he is. Kenneth also stated Patrick said multiple times if he dissapeared in one of the parks no one could find him.”
Great perspective. I only wish we didn't have to mention the shooter's name. I also enjoyed reading
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/ perspective on the shooting at
https://open.substack.com/pub/yourlocalepidemiologist/p/bullets-in-the-windows
Again, thanks for sharing the level headed thinking we need now.
Katelyn Jetelina, the founder of Your Local Epidemiologist shared a text from a CDC colleague: Illegitimi non carborundum.
The climate/severe weather link is a great analogy.
The us vs them bs that overrides all things - including the efforts of trying to get through a worldwide trauma together - is very much to blame for many many things. (Do we forget how confusing the that time was and to cherry-pick statements that seem to counter the facts later presented is a bit unfair. Nobody knew everything, and that’s scary. But what you do want is the people that probably know the most to show leadership to get the people through the fear. Sometimes that means making assertive statements that aren’t 100% sure. You don’t need people to stoke the fears. That’s not leadership that opportunism.)
I am not 100% sure any one thing caused the murdered to shoot (probably many things) but this is by no means an isolated incident. Just because you can’t prove causation - only correlation- doesn’t mean we should just ignore the environment the man decided to murder.
It’s ironic that the CDC also (tries to) treat gun violence and suicide deaths (including by guns) as epidemics, and is routinely discredited and/or barred from doing much of that work by the same right-wingers. The very group the murdered targeted was trying to save his life in two different ways.