THE INFODEMIC, ALMOST AS DANGEROUS AS THE PANDEMIC ITSELF

 

I sent my son the above clipping from a Brownsville Herald article, written by Nubia Reyna, thinking it might be a useful lesson in my grandson's homeschooling. (Yes, Jack's parents withdrew Jack from BISD on Monday.)

The article, inappropriately titled "Waves of Exhaustion" (Writers don't determine their article's title or headline), featured the word infodemic, that is the flood of information, accurate and inaccurate, that confuses the general public about appropriate health decisions.

Disinformation fuels the anti-vaxxer thinking as well as politicizes  such a simple health safety measure as wearing a mask.

Quotes from politicians  politicizing masking or vaccinating are all over the internet.  Here's a recent one (August 10) from Republican Congressman Byron Donalds.  Mr. Donalds, a Black man, introduces racism into his false claim:

This is "dangerous rhetoric pushed by the Democrat party to get vaccinated.  For the Democrat party, resegregation over vaccines is acceptable if it means maintaining power."

That thinking is beyond dumb, but especially dangerous.