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Manipulating the population behavior by manipulating goalposts seems to have been intentional the whole time. From the NYT in December titled How Much Herd Immu

Manipulating the population behavior by manipulating goalposts seems to have been intentional the whole time. From the NYT in December titled How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough? > In a telephone interview the next day, Dr. Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly but deliberately been moving the goal posts. He is doing so, he said, partly based on new science, and partly on his gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks. > "When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent," Fauci said. "Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, 'I can nudge this up a bit,' so I went to 80, 85." The rest of the interview doesn't make it sound any better. https://web.archive.org/web/20210212003533/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/24/health/herd-immunity-covid-coronavirus.html https://web.archive.org/web/20210212003533/https://www.nytim...

leetcrew 5y ago
that's incredible. how can a guy with such a high-level, public-facing position be so bad at interviews? I can understand why a public health official might be inclined to exaggerate, simplify, and/or mislead to get the general public to follow the program. I don't approve, but I understand why people might think that's justified. what I don't understand is how you can do all that and not have the common sense to refrain from admitting to it in plain english. isn't that public office 101?
harambae 5y ago
Yeah similar to how the US government (Fauci, surgeon general) initially pretended masks wouldn't work to prevent a run on the supply. Maybe government officials should just give the facts straight and not try to manipulate the public. Even if the lies work in the short run they have longer lasting effects on government trust (as I'd argue we're seeing now, a year later)

leetcrew 5y ago

that's incredible. how can a guy with such a high-level, public-facing position be so bad at interviews? I can understand why a public health official might be inclined to exaggerate, simplify, and/or mislead to get the general public to follow the program. I don't approve, but I understand why people might think that's justified. what I don't understand is how you can do all that and not have the common sense to refrain from admitting to it in plain english. isn't that public office 101?

harambae 5y ago

Yeah similar to how the US government (Fauci, surgeon general) initially pretended masks wouldn't work to prevent a run on the supply. Maybe government officials should just give the facts straight and not try to manipulate the public. Even if the lies work in the short run they have longer lasting effects on government trust (as I'd argue we're seeing now, a year later)