7 ms·

That was a fascinating read - there’s even a great villain in Eugene Bircher (not to get into politics, but he definitely seems to have trailblazer the “right w

That was a fascinating read - there’s even a great villain in Eugene Bircher (not to get into politics, but he definitely seems to have trailblazer the “right wing populist attacks successful public health measures” strategy).

karmakurtisaani 3y ago
Not to be confused with Max Bircher-Benner, the inventor of Birchermuesli.
rdevsrex 3y ago
It's so sad how many people's heath is affected by assholes trying to protect their ego.
Shacklz 3y ago
I always find it fascinating that we don't "anti-celebrate" such obvious failures in history more. I remember reading the original article of the author (linked in another comment in here) in German and I haven't ever heard of Bircher before. Peddling nonsense against better knowledge that causes this amount of suffering deserves ridicule in posterity. We shouldn't just celebrate those who do great things for humanity, but also "anti-celebrate" those who do great harm.
- throwaway8877 3y ago
  National shaming day.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    I am affraid some people would take this and turn it into a day of celibration...
- lostlogin 3y ago
  If be more in favour of anti-celebrating the bad idea than of pillorying the individual. Though there is the odd individual who needs more criticism.
hef19898 3y ago
My first thought when Bircher's political, and other, actiobs where mentioned in the article, was: Why am I not surprised?
- lostlogin 3y ago
  Opposition to public health measures doesn’t seem to be related to left or right politics as far as I can tell - there are numerous examples in both directions and the history is long. Early examples that come to mind include opposition to sewers and small pox vaccines.
arlcode 3y ago
It feels like occasional people have to be reminded of consequences. Otherwise polio, measles and the like are still as dangerous as they ever were and are ready to make their big return if vaccination rates drop too much. I'm certain even small pox is lurking somewhere out there. It seems like, unfortunately, humanities book of learned lessons gets reprinted in pain and suffering once in a while.
- catgary 3y ago
  He was reminded every day as his home canton still had high rates of gout and children being born deaf/mute.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    Since he offered treatment packages, that meant a larger customer base?
    - catgary 3y ago
      Like dentists who are against fluoride in water, I guess.
      - hef19898 3y ago
        Fluoride in water is different so, as the better alternative is adding it to tooth paste.
k33n 3y ago
[flagged]
- hef19898 3y ago
  In which regard? And please, please don't say masks...
  - k33n 3y ago
    Why don't you want me to say masks? That's probably the best example of a failed public health policy that was more about tribalism than science. Forcing restaurant owners to impose masking guidelines that did nothing to prevent disease or shut down was quite the failure. The public health "experts" also made very bold claims about the vaccine which turned out not to be true as well. Then there was the media (who claimed to be the standard bearer for declaring who the experts were and weren't) who claimed Trump said to inject bleach -- when in reality he was making the public aware of a very promising UV-based technology that can in fact "cleanse" the body during dangerous infections. If all of that is too politically charged for you, then we can just talk about how the "public health experts" robbed the entire country of Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for no discernable reason.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      Masks were a case of bad communication, they absolutely do work. For others around you more than for yourself so. And vaccines worked wonders, everybody who got two, or three, shots allowed anti-vaxxers to not get theirs and not catch a hard Covid strain regardless of that decision. But please, tell me more about the "UV-based cleaning thearapy" and Monoclonal Antibody Therapy. Or, on second thought, don't. Edit: Monoclonal Antibody therapy doesn't work with Covid: >> Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have been shown to have clinical benefits in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, laboratory studies have found that the activity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs against specific variants and subvariants can vary dramatically. Because of this, these products are not expected to be effective treatments or preventives for COVID-19 in areas where the circulating variants and subvariants are resistant to mAbs. Source: https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/antivirals-including-antibody-products/anti-sars-cov-2-monoclonal-antibodies/ https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/ant...
btbuildem 3y ago
That jumped out at me as well -- the parallels (and political alignments) are unmistakeable. We see the same today with the current plague.
k33n 3y ago
I don't understand why tacit support of leftism is allowed but if I counter it, I am immediately flagged. Very unfair that this is still happening on a site with so many smart people on it.

karmakurtisaani 3y ago

Not to be confused with Max Bircher-Benner, the inventor of Birchermuesli.

rdevsrex 3y ago

It's so sad how many people's heath is affected by assholes trying to protect their ego.

Shacklz 3y ago

I always find it fascinating that we don't "anti-celebrate" such obvious failures in history more. I remember reading the original article of the author (linked in another comment in here) in German and I haven't ever heard of Bircher before. Peddling nonsense against better knowledge that causes this amount of suffering deserves ridicule in posterity. We shouldn't just celebrate those who do great things for humanity, but also "anti-celebrate" those who do great harm.

throwaway8877 3y ago
National shaming day.
- hef19898 3y ago
  I am affraid some people would take this and turn it into a day of celibration...
lostlogin 3y ago
If be more in favour of anti-celebrating the bad idea than of pillorying the individual. Though there is the odd individual who needs more criticism.

hef19898 3y ago

My first thought when Bircher's political, and other, actiobs where mentioned in the article, was: Why am I not surprised?

lostlogin 3y ago
Opposition to public health measures doesn’t seem to be related to left or right politics as far as I can tell - there are numerous examples in both directions and the history is long. Early examples that come to mind include opposition to sewers and small pox vaccines.

arlcode 3y ago

It feels like occasional people have to be reminded of consequences. Otherwise polio, measles and the like are still as dangerous as they ever were and are ready to make their big return if vaccination rates drop too much. I'm certain even small pox is lurking somewhere out there. It seems like, unfortunately, humanities book of learned lessons gets reprinted in pain and suffering once in a while.

catgary 3y ago
He was reminded every day as his home canton still had high rates of gout and children being born deaf/mute.
- hef19898 3y ago
  Since he offered treatment packages, that meant a larger customer base?
  - catgary 3y ago
    Like dentists who are against fluoride in water, I guess.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      Fluoride in water is different so, as the better alternative is adding it to tooth paste.

k33n 3y ago

[flagged]

hef19898 3y ago
In which regard? And please, please don't say masks...
- k33n 3y ago
  Why don't you want me to say masks? That's probably the best example of a failed public health policy that was more about tribalism than science. Forcing restaurant owners to impose masking guidelines that did nothing to prevent disease or shut down was quite the failure. The public health "experts" also made very bold claims about the vaccine which turned out not to be true as well. Then there was the media (who claimed to be the standard bearer for declaring who the experts were and weren't) who claimed Trump said to inject bleach -- when in reality he was making the public aware of a very promising UV-based technology that can in fact "cleanse" the body during dangerous infections. If all of that is too politically charged for you, then we can just talk about how the "public health experts" robbed the entire country of Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for no discernable reason.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    Masks were a case of bad communication, they absolutely do work. For others around you more than for yourself so. And vaccines worked wonders, everybody who got two, or three, shots allowed anti-vaxxers to not get theirs and not catch a hard Covid strain regardless of that decision. But please, tell me more about the "UV-based cleaning thearapy" and Monoclonal Antibody Therapy. Or, on second thought, don't. Edit: Monoclonal Antibody therapy doesn't work with Covid: >> Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that target the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have been shown to have clinical benefits in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, laboratory studies have found that the activity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs against specific variants and subvariants can vary dramatically. Because of this, these products are not expected to be effective treatments or preventives for COVID-19 in areas where the circulating variants and subvariants are resistant to mAbs. Source: https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/antivirals-including-antibody-products/anti-sars-cov-2-monoclonal-antibodies/ https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/ant...

btbuildem 3y ago

That jumped out at me as well -- the parallels (and political alignments) are unmistakeable. We see the same today with the current plague.

k33n 3y ago

I don't understand why tacit support of leftism is allowed but if I counter it, I am immediately flagged. Very unfair that this is still happening on a site with so many smart people on it.