While AOC's revolutionary and subversive socialist gown generated buzz, the normalization of maskless elites attended to by faceless servants is grotesque.
And tax the lower-upper class. The mega-wealthy will always be able to plan around these taxes. This will be welfare for tax lawyers and accountants; there will be a whole new category of people who need to make aggressive tax avoidance plans to avoid income taxation of their capital gains on their death.
The Estate and Gift Tax is separate from the Income Tax. Right now, you really don't have to worry about fed taxation (Estate and Gift Tax) of your estate on your death if it is under $10 million (there is an exemption for estates up to $11.6 million but you have to start worrying about reporting, compliance, and possible enforcement as you estate gets close to that amount). Many states tax estates at a lower level. But under Biden's proposed plan, when you die, your estate will have to pay INCOME TAX on the property in your estate if your estate is over $1 million (married couples over $2 million). This means that tens of thousands (perhaps millions) of moderately well off people will have to worry about their heirs getting a hefty income tax bill.
it means that when family farms are passed on, most likely, it will result in them being sold to cover the tax bill (thus incurring more taxes), and guess who's going to be buying... blackrock. there's around 35 trillion dollars in inheritance destined to be transferred to millenials over the next couple decades. it's no coincidence democrats are seeding these kids to vote away their parents inheritance.
You would not believe the number of younger people who voted Biden and potentially voted away their future prosperity should this legislation pass. Best to get on the horn to Manchin and Sinema, the only two Dems that can stop it.
The real issue is that Biden campaigned on doing this, and most had no idea prior to voting or even know now.
And Blackrock will never "die" and have to pay these taxes, only farmers, their families and other small business owners. Whoever Blackrock's lobbyist is apparently is doing an amazing job getting Biden to do everything possible to hurt small businesses and benefit very, very big business. Related this the Dems who want to "tax the rich" yet are trying to give a tax break to the rich by getting rid of the $10K state and local tax deduction limit. People at that level of SALT taxes are basically rich, or darn close to it. Yet they are spending their time trying to figure out how to give them a tax break. You can't make this stuff up.
Bill Gates is the number one owner if farm land in the US..
You know, the eugenicist who wants all the slaves vaxxed, his depopulation plans realized and for the rest of us to NEVER eat meat but learn to love plant based meats (filled with nasty chemicals) and BUGS.
In any case, this is easily taken care of by exempting farms under certain conditions. They were, in the past, and might still be. Incidentally, it brings up an awkward point: farmers are capitalists - even though a family-operated farm is worker owned and therefore an example of socialism. Categories get complicated. (Full disclosure: I grew up with a "family farm" my family hadn't operated in 3 generations. It was ultimately sold to a corporation. Nobody was real happy with that.)
Actually there are. Some of them quite large, some more a hobby with the farmer also having a "day job" in a nearby town or city. (I write from Kansas.)
Which "industry"? Do you work in industrial agriculture, or in tax evasion?
In any case, you're wrong in saying that the talking point is "describing reality". The talking point is, in fact, designed to keep people from seeing the optimal solution, which (as several of us have pointed out) is to tax heavy inherited wealth while exempting family farms.
I worked on a family farm, and now I work to sell seed to farmers. The taxation you propose is what has destroyed small businesses (including family farms), and is supported by the corporations you lament. However, this isn't just for farms, you would prefer AOC, Donald Trump, and Biden to get the family restaurant, the family house, and whatever family business, rather than allow the children to keep their parents possessions and businesses running. Shame on you.
And smallish family owned businesses as well. It isn't only farms that get destroyed by this. People will try to find ways around this. Any number of people will be hurt by this. There will be no point in working hard to help provide for your children. That will cripple American ingenuity and innovation. These people have a complete inability to think in a logical, rational way, and apparently never ask "What happens next?" when they propose these things.
Oh, but they won't do that. The current Left hates small business: they want everyone to be employed by oligarchs so they can be the protectors of the populace, rather than impediments to people getting ahead by their own efforts.
That was made clear during the pandemic. This would just help hasten the monopolization of business, and eliminate competition and innovation. The Deep State has been helping to enable the big corporations for years.
Yeah, that "family farm" stuff is largely a fake talking point from lobbyists for a small elite that fears the estate tax and wants to protect their hereditary class privilege.
Exactly this. This will literally eliminate class mobility in this country, probably exactly what they want. I work with this class of people, most of us came from upper lower and lower middle class, played by the rules, studied and worked hard, went into growing fields like tech and started to amass a small amount of family wealth (this spans multiple races too). And now it is all gone. People are starting to wake up, but tragically it is too late.
It's awfully ironically ironic. Leftists democrats complain that blacks and minorities should get reparations for missing the opportunities afforded whites throughout history, while simultaneously voting to keep those benefits from being passed on to their children. It is exactly what they want. Leftists don't educate, inspire, or persuade, they humiliate. This way, truth doesn't actually matter, the only thing that matters is that *you* shut up when *they* say you're wrong. It's a communist propaganda technique.
And that is the only solution if the progressives want to fund their welfare wish list, which can't be done by taxing the rich and corporations alone. Scandinavia does provide many more welfare benefits to its citizens; but their citizens are taxed far more than Americans.
Basically 50% of Americans don't pay any taxes. That isn't sustainable for a growing welfare society.
50 percent of Americans do not 'pay any taxes". They don' t pay federal income tax. They still pay sales tax (a regressive tax on the poor Btw) and payroll taxes. They are also possibly paying property taxes or other government fees.
It's true that our tax system is extremely dumb and unsustainable, but let's not make up stuff about it.
There is no federal sales tax. Payroll taxes generate eligibility for future SSI payments and people that don't reach the AGI threshold for payroll taxes are (unless they die early) net receivers of SSI payments. He's right. 50% of Americans largely do not pay federal income tax or fund federal government services, though they contribute a portion of the funds they will themselves receive back in SSI payments.
He didn't say "federal taxes", and if he had I would not have replied. He said "50% of Americans don't pay any taxes." It's right there in the post I'm replying to. Which is manifestly untrue, and hence the clarification.
Absolutely not true. If you are a w-2 wage earning married couple living in a major metro area after 20 years of working in a corporate job or medical/legal profession, it's not that hard to hit $450k / year. Outside of a small mortgage interest and charitable deductions, there are NO loopholes. And god forbid your company give you stock options as part of your compensation, I can't tell you how many people I know that were wiped out financially paying AMT on exercised stock options that were later on worth nothing due to market volatility.
They also receive money for nothing via earned income, child tax and other credits. Many of those not paying income tax receive many other benefits like housing assistance and food stamps. Whatever small amount they kick in on state and local sales tax is more than offset by other mechanisms.
Only 11 percent of people ages 25 - 55 don't pay federal income taxes. The non-paying people we are talking about are the old and the very young - the vast vast majority of working age people are paying federal income taxes. And btw, that 11 percent that doesn't pay federal taxes? Nearly one-third will do so for only one year, and almost 6 in 10 will be paying income tax within three years, and just one-in-eight are non-payers for a decade or more. The idea that there's this huge segment of working people who are laying around for years on end getting government services while paying nothing in return is a Reaganite fantasy.
It isn't going to be a social society. That is just the reset PR. It is going to be a two tiered humanity. The vaccinated are going to end up being enslaved and genome programed to be able to survive in a hostile environment. The unvacced will be in camps if they cant escape to nether regions which drones will probably make impossible.
Not "far" more. A very little more, and they (and we in Central Europe as well) get a lot more for our pooled purchasing power than my countrymen back in the US. Why did Sam's Club and Costco grow? Because people saved by buying in bulk. That is all social democracy is: buying in bulk. We pool our resources for health care. Ergo health care is cheaper and better because we the customer control the market. Same with education, housing markets, etc., etc. You can live much better on a lower income and save money by pooling your resources better (i.e. paying higher taxes).
That being said, the social contract above only works if you don't have legalized political corruption like in the US, where then the rich and big corporations don't pay like they did from the 30's to the 70's before political corruption became legal.
Tax the rich bs only works on morons. Basic math shows there aren’t enough rich people to give everyone cradle to grave everything. You have to tax the middle class to even come close to getting there. And as you do that you siphon away the thing necessary to produce future growth.
We had very high taxes then. And a huge pent up demand from WWII limited consumer items. No ice cream, no bubble gum, no no no no.................... Clothes were far more expensive then than now. But we hadn't yet fought all those wars in Asia to get access to cheap labor.
Yes, you will have to tax the "real" middle classes more too. You need to shut down the "offshore" systems. You need to reduce Wall Street to less than 10% of it's current size. You need to have a Public banking; currently private banksters conjure up the money supply and charge you and even your governments interest on the money they didn't have until you borrowed it and created an asset for them and a debt for you. I could go on but basically the people need to disregard the indoctrination and propaganda and read. YES, I know it's hard but you gotta do it.
The national and or state government's. There's been one in North Dakota for a century and it's worked and is working well. From the Fed which is a consortium of private banksters to your local branch; money is created/conjured up from nothing. When you get a mortgage from your bankster; they have about 10% of the money they loan you in reserves (also conjured but that's another lesson); the rest of your mortgage is typed into their computer and your money is created. Your loan becoming an asset for them and a liability for you. To top it off, they charge you interest on the money they didn't have until you had the debt. Now, this sounds fantastical but it's the way " fractional reserve banking work's" somewhat simplified. Now, tell me why the government pays private interest to private banksters when it as a sovereign state could create the money itself. Note the trillions created lately out of nothing but debt obligations.
In China they were introducing capitalism into a stagnant communist system so even a drop of capitalism performed miracles. When you do the reverse it’s all downhill from there because communism does not work. Even the Scandinavian countries the left raves about are lackluster. Self inflicted drag on the system.
I am advocating freedom and democracy -- not communism. We need to agitate for freedom and democracy in – our beloved USA. Although near term hopeless -- I believe in multi-party system, unlike current one party monopoly with two right wings.
China raised 800 million of its citizens - from periodic mass starvation into middle class -- an unprecedented success in human history -- while DNC and GOP oligarchs essentially eliminated middle class in the US.
"53K US contractors in the Middle East versus -- for 35K troops" !!! What a lucrative business and worth unlimited donations to both DNC and GOP politicians. Highlighting just that "detail" -- tells it all....
A 1%-er War party with two right (DNC and GOP) wings -- gay marriage, abortion, "woke", and other imposed topics are just distractions to divide 99% of population into "red" and "blue" camps while 1% happily grunt together at same donors' feeding throughs.
But brainwashed US citizen agitate "freeing" China and increasing hate of Moslems, Russians, Chinese, Martians - just to avoid thinking about our own beloved country. 1%-er overlords are playing us like a violin...
A brilliantly executed divide and conquer strategy by the bi-partisan political elites. It is just mindblowing to me that smart people with some modicum of critical thinking skills can't see this, and continue to applaud our celebrated leaders while they literally take the little we have away from us.
You will absolutely love Veroufakis on this subject. He recent book is #AnotherNow. Many of his interiews are on youtube about it. He proposes a MARKET ECONOMY. Our capitalism is not a market economy. There are endless commodities we dont need at all. We have FINANCIAL CAPITALISM which came into being as Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. (I learned this from Varoufakis.) When the East India Co wanted to grow BIG BIG BIG so the idea of selling shares came into being. Take shares away and restructure and you can get market capitalism with real products or real quality that people can treasure for generations.
Lenin knew that you CANT introduce communism from the top down. It must come form the people, from the bottom up.When Lenin went against what he knew was correct he sealed its doom. The form in Cuba was great in the beginning. Then like all good beginnings it metastasized into bureaucracy. And wonderful little hippie businesses do this. If you want to really understand the possible beauty of communism consider Jesus and his disciples. Or the movie Ema as she begins it. IT CANNOT COME FROM THE TOP DOWN AND BE IMPOSED.
China is far more capitalist than the US, Russia has not been Communist for 30+ years, while the US is a corporate socialism (more polite term for fascism)
Have you ever been in China? You have dated imagination...
Paradoxical past, present and future of China's "socialist market" -- Scheer Intelligence
Robert Scheer discusses the paradoxical past, present and future of China's "socialist market" economic model with Nathan Gardels, author of "It Is No Longer Glorious to Get Rich in China," published this week by Noema, a magazine of the Berggruen Institute.
When I was in China in the early 90's I could have secured a virgin beach on the south China Sea. Did you ever see one. Nothing there but beach and water and so incredibly beautiful. The hitch was it was $100,000 and you had to put a hotel there in 5 years. I took a look and so what it would turn into and decided I would not tell my Chinese friend how we could do this as I could not bear to know I was partner to ruining it. The second offer was a meat packing plant. You know like Swift, Armour et al for $90,000. I know nothing about that business but we had driven up Hainen Island and eaten at a number of restaurants. One had a tourist shop a little ways off from the restaurant. As we walked there, pigs came up to walk with us on the dirt path. Sweet creatures that we let lick our plates and petted. We had pork for dinner and I have never tasted anything like it before or since. But oh those sweet young pigs on our walk were like the ones we ate. Put them on an assemblyb line of murder?b And I see the cruelness in my mind. So no thanks. Not me. I should have opened an English school with a young Chinese woman I met there that I loved. And she loved me. I came home to help my family. A big mistake. I am excellent at teaching bAsians especially Englishb writing and conversation. We should have done that. My Vietnamese students did so wonderful in Philadelphia.bNow you must teach it Topfl style. ROTE LEARNING. No thanks.
The higher you tax the rich, the more shelters they search out and use. Lower taxes and they dont bother so much. Paying a tax accountant to do it is not worth it anymore. Time, money and energy gt blown off.
You gotta quit drinking the Kool aid the rich are feeding you. Of course, now your governments are actually their governments. It's the lobbying by the rich and corporations that literally write the law's that make this stuff legal. People make the law's including the constitution and they can change them. The rule of law is a crock; law's didn't come down from the mountains carved in stone by god; they came from the lobbyists of the rich actually writing them and they still do. If you stopped taxing them completely, they would be looking for cash back; Oh wait, they do get cash back now. China, yes the commie's in China are actually making it easier to organize the gig economy and mandating tutoring to be public so everyone gets a chance. Can you imagine that happening in the USA? People need to stop believing the narrative because it's controlled by the Rich. As an old Dutchman once said to me.."think; I know it's hard but try it!"
AynRand had it right. But she didn't know she did. So her disciples are hysterics about unfettered capitalism. IF you had direct elections and voting and only one term for ALL elected offices that would immediately take the money out. Who wants to buy a dead horse in congress who will be gone at the end of her term?
Term limits would be mere panacea, if they weren't so Statist, anti-freedom, and therefore immoral. The People, at all times must be free and un-fettered to choose their representatives, lest they be absolved of responsibility, and not required to be invested and learn from their errors.
Think? Now we have a few generations who have been educated by No Child Left Behind. ALLOF THEM WERE LEFT BEHIND so now left behind is the new NORMAL and it is now INSTITUTIONALIZED. No that Dutchman was wrong. Thinking is not hard, it is now impossible for most.
They only care about shrinking the overall number of taxpayers as much as possible. If they do that, then the number of people who care about any of their socialist programs shrinks and they can do whatever they want. Our goal should be to have everyone pay something if they can - even if it's a small amount - then, and maybe then, can we get back to some sort of fiscal discipline because more people have some skin in the game.
There is nothing, NOTHING I hate more than hypocrisy. And this is the best example of why the public doesn't believe anything the ruling class says on the subject. If they are ok not to follow their own edicts, then why aren't we? Something has been bothering me about the whole thing, and Glenn just summed it up beautifully. ❤️
What about hypocrisy pertaining to rape -- e.g. women who accuse Kavanaugh must be believed without question, but women accusing Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, etc... are part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".
"Masks" do NOT prevent the transfer of respiratory viruses.
Putting aside the fact that common masks are not medical devices or treatment, they are engineered devices - meaning they have design tolerances and specifications that do not include filtering out viruses as small as the SARS-Covid 2 virus (of any variant.) Why this is so hard for people to conceptualize is confusing. Imagine, a glass of salt water. Imagine putting one of these masks loosely around a straw and putting it into the glass. When you draw up on the straw, what will the water taste like - Distilled water or salt water?
But, that said, ask yourself this about the typical mask you see someone wear:
1) What percent of the air they are breathing in is coming around the mask?
2) Where do the viruses go if they are stopped by the mask?
Like most everything else in this Covid Shitshow, masks are just a compliance exercise of the elites to see who they can control.
You're essentially right about the general function that masks serve particularly as described in this article, but the idea that "masks do NOT prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses" based on my understanding evinces the same fundamental misunderstanding of how a virus causes diseases that underlies much of what's gone wrong in this pandemic. Becoming "infected" with a respiratory virus is not the same thing as being exposed to it. Nearly everyone's immune system is capable of fighting off low-level assaults by any kind of pathogenic virus, but by the same token, there is a threshold beyond which nearly everyone's immune system will succumb to that same virus. So preventing infection is not a binary "1/0" question; it's more like a sliding scale that goes from 1 to 1M, and at "1", you don't even notice that you've fought it off and at "1M", your immune system is overwhelmed and you're on your way to the ICU and a vent.
The function of the masks is to keep the exposure level closer to "1" than "1M". Yes, there is presumably quite a bit of leakage through and around the mask, but if you are in an enclosed space for a limited period of time (a grocery store for example) and everyone is in a mask there, the amount of virus in the air will be significantly less than if everyone was unmasked. Much of the time the difference may not be significant enough to matter, but theoretically sometimes it will. But again, this only applies in densely populated enclosed spaces where people are there for limited periods of time. It would be very unlikely to work, for example, to prevent household transmission. And it should be obvious, that it's not going to make a difference outdoors, except possibly in the most extremely crowded situations imaginable.
All that said, to have a gala where the guests are unmasked but the server are masked obviously makes no sense whatsoever from a public health standpoint, and that's why Glenn has correctly pegged it as a "grotesque" display of symbolic power and humiliation.
As it turns out, if this virus were transmitted by droplet, masks might have some efficacy. However, they have now discovered that this virus is not droplet borne but goes out as separate virions, much too small for the mask to do much. So they are pretty much useless, and actual scientific evidence supports this. But our betters ignore that science because it doesn't help their cause.
Yes, it's mostly aerosols against which non-N95 masks are not super-protective, but again, it's a cumulative set of factors: ventilation, amount of time spent in the space, how many people are in the space, how much virus is being put out by the infected person(s) in question, how robust is the immunity of the people being exposed. Universal masking is to me just one factor that in some situations probably reduce the total amount of virus in a given airspace, and so could reduce the chances of an exposure becoming an infection. The thing I don't understand is that it's not all or nothing, it's relative, and given that it's relative, there's no reason to worry about whether everyone is wearing a mask. If there are 50 people there, and 2 or 3 aren't wearing a mask, it's not likely to make an appreciable difference in the overall level of risks, therefore no need to "mandate" masks anywhere, just put out a recommendation and let adults decide for themselves. I say the same thing about everything else relative to COVID, nothing should've ever been mandated because nothing offered absolute protection, it was always just generally reducing the overall risks within reasonable bounds.
Yes, there are already several other coronaviruses in circulation that we call the common cold. I believe that unfortunately CV-19 was created in a lab by altering a bat coronavirus that wouldn't normally be capable of infecting humans and making it into one that can. Bats, living in dank caves as they do, have way stronger natural immune systems compared to humans. I'm not sure that CV-19 will ever regress to become like the other presumably naturally-occuring coronaviruses.
A cumulative set of factors. Like all those plexiglass barriers between tables at restaurants that interrupt the air filtration system and keep viral clouds close to diners?
And now let's consider how people wear masks. I see masks dangling off of car rear view mirrors all the time. I see people pulling them out of their pockets. Are they freshly laundered? That's anyone's guess.
Do people really keep a little bucket of isopropyl alcohol by the door and toss their cloth mask in, then pull it out an hour later and hang it to dry for tomorrow? Or are most people just using the same cloth mask over and over, and sticking it back in the pocket of their unwashed pants?
My sleeve is just as good at blocking droplets from a cough or a sneeze. I've learned to dab my perpetually drippy nose (a curse since childhood) with the back of my wrist.
Meanwhile, I'm being accosted in grocery stores by male Karens who claim my medical exemption puts them at risk, while they agitatedly squeeze a dozen oranges and put them back. And my response to them is, "have you touched your mask since you last sanitized your hands? Just wondering if I want to buy any oranges today."
Yeah, as I say, the protective effect of masks at best in no way warrants anyone getting upset because a particular person isn't wearing a mask in a particular place. It's not that kind of thing, if lots of people wear masks in lots of places, the general rate of transmission in that particular community will likely slow. But any one person doesn't much matter, and it doesn't much matter if everyone wears a mask or if just most people or even a lot of people do.
In my city, when they first mandated masks, they put someone on the radio asking people to be considerate and compassionate to people who were not wearing masks.
Roughly 10% adults, the spokesperson said, have a legitimate health reason to not mask up. Might be a pulmonary or vascular condition, or a mental health condition, but if you see someone without a mask, please don't automatically jump down their throat.
As someone in that category, I was grateful. For that one, never to be repeated, public service announcement.
And don't get me wrong. Staff at most of our local shops were not allowed to enforce a mask mandate. Corporate was like, "ehhhh, don't want to touch this. It's legally dubious. Someone comes in without a mask, offer them one. If they say no, that's the end of the conversation."
Why? Because if you basically force someone to put one on and they brain themselves on a display of dill pickles, you're going to get sued. If you demand proof that they have a medical reason to not wear one, you can get sued for invading their medical privacy. If you refuse them service, you can get sued for discrimination based on disability.
There is literally no way to win for a business. They didn't advertise the policy. If they did, only the people who wanted to wear a mask would wear one. Which is basically fewer than 50% of the customers. Maybe fewer than 30% (which is about the percentage of people who kept wearing after they lifted the mandate over summer).
So there I am in the store, and I'm looking around and I'm literally the only one without a mask. So I'm wondering are there 8 or 10 people in the store wearing masks even though it harms their health, or are the people who can't mask up just under a self-imposed house arrest?
I don't get harassed often, but when I do I just take it in stride.
Incidentally, my city tried to do a "no mask passport" thing. An exemption card. Within 2 weeks, there was a thriving black market for them and they scrapped the program.
You do know that most viruses that we catch are at HOME, right?
When I had cancer and was doing chemo I got sick with a horrifying cold. It went into my chest and I was coughing and hacking like a sick horse.
So I had to wear a mask when I went to chemo while sick. But at NO TIME did they demand that others wear one too. I am very grateful my treatment ended just months before the Rona nonsense started because PROTOCOL would have had me on a vent.
Most people do NOT need a vent. But they are doing it because it kills.
Masks do nothing to stop the spread of a virus. It will stop your sputum from flying out of your mouth of you're sick and coughing but otherwise it is virtue signaling nonsense.
There was an interesting study from some time back where 12 British scientists were overwintering at the British base in Antarctica. That means that for some 6 months or longer, they will have no contact with anyone outside the group there because the planes that supply the base can't get in due to the temperatures and the weather. About three months in one of them contracted a cold which got passed on to some of the others (not all, as I recall.) So the question is, since these people were in good health at the beginning of what one might call the "lock-in," where did this cold virus come from three months later? It calls into question all the accepted ideas about how colds are transmitted.
I agree with you completely about the efficacy of masks - of the right kind, including multi layered cloth ones, properly fitted - there have been multiple studies on this ... The point is to reduce the "dose" of virus one gets. The analogy I have used is a person walking next to a beehive - if a few bees sting you you will be no more than sore (unless you are allergic to the bee venom) but if a whole bunch sting you, you can get really sick.
And you can be infected, and hence be a transmitter, without being sick yourself (remember Typhoid Mary)
But the question is what hypocrisy was Glenn pointing out? Was he saying that the guests didn't believe in masks and saw no need to wear them, so getting the "servants" to wear them was a display of dominance, or did they indeed believe in them and refusing to wear them was a display of total lack of concern for their "inferiors", the ones they purported to care about?
I would like to know if Glenn wears a mask, and if so under what conditions? And if not, why not? Does he believe they work? Has he been vaccinated? And you might say, what does it matter if he does/has or not? It matters because he sets the tone in these posts - is he afraid that if he answers yes, to one or both, he will lose a lot of his supporters who are clearly anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. And if he answers no - would he say why .... if not, he is feeding fuel to this pandemic fire ...
Yes, I think the bee analogy is spot on. I think the issue the Glenn is pointing out is that we're now into this visibly unequal enforcement of masking requirements based pretty much on social class. I've noticed it myself, I've been to a number of places in the affluent parts of California over the past couple of months, and it's just generally the rule now in these places that the workers wear masks, and the "customers", i.e. those attending a wedding, or dining at a restaurant, etc., do not. It doesn't make much sense from a public health standpoint, if the workers need to be masked, why don't the customers? But the reality is that the customers are paying and so call the shots, and the workers are being paid, and so must follow orders. But it has a very, "rules for thee, but not for me" kind of feel to it, and to me, it's gross.
The hypocrisy is the "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude and it has existed for millennia between the peasantry and the aristocracy. The Dems keep preaching that we have moved beyond that yet they behave in the same old ways.
Next the fascist lunatics come with the argument that there was no flu last winter so masks must work. Nevermind that voluntary behavior changes were huge while all scientific tests of masks show no significant benefit.
I thought % positive for PCR flu tests was abnormally low, but could be mistaken. Anyway, I'm still bitter about the flu-shot mandate for schools last year in MA, which was later retracted after the vax deadline.
The first test performed in the winter of 2020/2021 was a COVID test. As we now know, that test did not distinguish between flu and COVID. If it was positive, they had a diagnosis, and no further testing was done. And generally of the 60 or 70 million people "diagnosed" with flu every year. the diagnosis is only confirmed by laboratory testing in not more than 1.5 million cases. All the rest are "diagnosed" by time of year and symptomology, not by lab testing.
I've already had this conversation with an MD family member. There is no evidence so now we must believe her readings of the tea leaves of life and call them science.
Of course any test that showed results must, by your definition, be "unscientific", or not replicated umpteen times or not sufficiently peer reviewed, or in "respected journals" as i am sure all yours were ... care to share them?
Sorry, what does your citation have to do with any of this?
The only RCT to test mask-wearing’s specific effectiveness against Covid-19 was a 2020 study by Bundgaard, et al. in Denmark. This large (4,862 participants) RCT divided people between a mask-wearing group (providing “high-quality” three-layer surgical masks) and a control group. It took place at a time (spring 2020) when Denmark was encouraging social distancing but not mask use, and 93 percent of those in the mask group wore the masks at least “predominately as recommended.” The study found that 1.8 percent of those in the mask group and 2.1 percent of those in the control group became infected with Covid-19 within a month, with this 0.3-point difference not being statistically significant.
The scientific data supporting mask mandates is pretty weak.
The CDC has found that a mask mandates reduce the growth rate of new COVID-19 infections by 1.8% after they have been in effect for 100 days.
I'm not sure what a slight reduction in the case growth rate is supposed to accomplish. All it does is cause the wave to peak a day or two later than it otherwise would have. CDC never said that mask mandates reduced the overall number of infections -- only that they slowed the case growth rate by 1.8% after 100 days.
"During March 1–December 31, 2020, state-issued mask mandates applied in 2,313 (73.6%) of the 3,142 U.S. counties. Mask mandates were associated with a 0.5 percentage point decrease (p = 0.02) in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 1–20 days after implementation and decreases of 1.1, 1.5, 1.7, and 1.8 percentage points 21–40, 41–60, 61–80, and 81–100 days, respectively, after implementation (p<0.01 for all)."]
Another study published last month found that "There was no reduction in per-population daily mortality, hospital bed, ICU bed, or ventilator occupancy of COVID-19-positive patients attributable to the implementation of a mask-wearing mandate."
Unfortunately, the CDC were too lame to make a randomized study, so we have to rely on the Danish data. That MMWR paper doesn't account for seasonality and intrinsic dynamics of the epidemic, which are the biggest drivers of case growth vs. time, and its main purpose is to highlight the CDC's incompetence.
Instead of at least mentioning this huge limitation, something any self-respecting scientist would do, they just sweep it under the rug. But I'm sure their guidance is totally solid.
To start with, I've been vaccinated. Since vaccines do save live, I'm hoping that our bought-and-paid-for government won't pull another Tuskegee experiment on us. Time will tell.
Later in July, as the number of coronavirus cases continue to grow, some conservative influencers (politicians and media) begin to show more support for the vaccine, while some liberal influencers blame the anti-vaxxers.
Yeah, I think I read that study - it's description as a RCT is highly suspect - what, precisely, was controlled? 3 layer surgical masks - worn how? Studies have shown that if they leak, around the edges, that is, they don't work so well at all ....
Masks don't have to filter out particles as small as viruses. Viruses don't just float around in the air all by themselves, they're in water vapor droplets that people breathe, cough, or sneeze out. You'd know that if you weren't so arrogant that you think you already know it all.
And what is the size of these water droplets? And when they dry out on the mask what happens to the nanoparticle of the "virus"? The next breath you take sucks it into your nose or throat.
Look at COVID deaths vs. cases for the current US wave. The ratio is 1% and rising, about the same as the winter wave, even though an overwhelming fraction of the most vulnerable are now vaxxed.
A coupla things - the Delta variant has changed the game - much more transmissible, and shows evidence that degree of vaccine efficacy against it vs "the original" is a bit less, the most vulnerable were vaccinated first, and immunity wanes over time ... And the cohort getting sicker and dying is getting younger .... proving more "vulnerable" than first thought
We need better vaccines - in the meantime these are better than nothing. And, in the meantime, sorry, we need to wear masks ....
"the most vulnerable were vaccinated first, and immunity wanes over time"
This is not necessarily the case. I mean, sure, over the course of years or decades, but I don't know of any virus that requires boosters every six months for the rest of your life.
Reinfections are still extremely rare. Breakthrough cases, less rare but still rare.
Is this because immunity is waning?
The spike protein (the sole target of the most popular vaccines) mutated. It's a different protein. And while the antibodies are still able to neutralize it, if your body can't recognize it right away, you're going to have a delayed immune response.
Imagine some guy with long hair and a beard robs your store. A month later, same guy shows up clean shaven with a flat-top. Are you going to recognize him before he's at the register with his gun out? Maybe. Maybe not.
This isn't about immunological memory loss. Your immune system still remembers that guy with the long hair and beard. It's just he doesn't have long hair and a beard now.
They're promoting boosters because the antibodies still work (for now, and probably less well, but well enough-ish) and a booster will make your body generate another batch. After 6 months, they'll be out of circulation, and you'll need another booster.
Now consider this. These vaccines are being paid for by governments, who never run out of other people's money. They're being marked up 2400%, which means every shot is about $50 of pure profit.
And when I say pure profit, I mean pure profit. I'm a fan of limited patent protection for new drugs. Why? Because drug companies invest hideous amounts of money in research and development, and they deserve a temporary monopoly to earn that investment back. But these companies were given billions in grants by the very governments they're now gouging to the tune of 24 times the cost of production.
Of course they're pushing boosters. Of course they're claiming with no evidence that the problem is waning immunity, something that generally takes years or decades to occur. Of course they're falsely saying that if you have no serum antibodies anymore, you're no longer immune. You're a $50 bill if they can convince you, and they don't even have to worry about whether you can afford it, because hey, the well of taxpayer money is bottomless.
And they'll play with statistics to trick you, too. The cohort of people getting sicker and dying is getting younger. Sure. Because they're the least likely to be vaccinated, and all the old people were either vaccinated or had it and recovered or died. 50% of deaths are now in people 50 and younger! How horrifying!
When you look at the raw numbers, what do you see? Young people are increasing as a proportion of hospitalizations and deaths, but they're not increasing in raw numbers.
I just went and checked the data for my province. There were more cases during our April/May 2021 surge than during our November/December 2020 surge. But accounting for lag, in April/May, there were 1/3 the deaths. This most recent surge everyone is panicking about? About the same as April/May.
We have "free" health care here. Our hospitals generally run at 95-99% capacity. 88% of our ICU beds are currently occupied, and everyone's losing their minds.
Why would you trust the drug companies who are price gouging the very taxpayers who underwrote their research?
What is so cool is that all the fricking morons that buy into the official narrative this time are going to the ones who get terribly ill and die. And it is their own fault. Karma is a bitch that's gonna make you twitch.
Willie "The Demented One" Wonka seems to have been doing the early trials of an experimental love potion and volunteered his testicle instead of a deltoid thinking it'd swell his deflowerer.
Since then Billie has been a practitioner of the "woowoo dance of masturbatory ulations" of which he owes me and the forum a demo link.
100%. And as someone with emphysema the fucking things make breathing very uncomfortable. I wish I had the money to move. I would have left this Dem shit hole long ago
Masked sheep everywhere. Walk down the street and people LITERALLY walk in the street off the side walk to avoid you.
Worse, the standard white masks sold in pharmacies has Graphene Oxide imbedded in the cloth. Graphene Oxide is a poison heavy metal. That is also in these mRNA gene therapy solutions fraudulently called vaccines.
In Quebec, they had to recall thousands of masks they'd been forcing school children and teachers to wear for months. Why? Because graphene fibers were shedding from them.
These people said it felt like they were swallowing cat hair all day.
Next you'll be claiming submarines don't have screen doors. Even nuclear subs must comply with the mask mandate. Water is deadly to our sailors. Even if the screen door has leaks, it does slow the entry of water.
The fact that AOC even showed up (regardless of what her $10K gown said) proves that she is just like the rest of the elitists and elected representative sell outs. This was a marketing opportunity for her to build her brand's equity, she is a gluttonous opportunist after all (oh, but I was there to get my message out). AOC does believe in the socialist policies that she claims to care about, but only because they will get her re-elected, and because they help her build her brand. She will get rich and famous off earned media and maybe leave some more crumbs for the serfs.....maybe.
The only thing you can be sure AOC can be counted on to do is excel in a blatant publicity stunt. Nice to know this is how she spends her time while drawing a salary from US taxpayers. She would never put "universal health care" or "support the return of family farms" inked over her lazy ass.
Nah, AOC is just the flavor of the moment playing a role. A person with "star power" who is being fed what to say, what to do etc. The crash and burn will be spectacular.
AOC is an active and enthusiastic participant in this hypocritical performance. She's an adult and responsible for her own actions. It took time, effort and cash to design that gown and plan to attend the gala for self-advancement. She mouths socialist slogans but is as interested in the welfare of people as Czar Nicholas II. I hope you're correct about the spectacular end of her career.
She's been a disappointment, from a lefty point of view, a perfect example of position and party corrupting. Nonetheless, as someone who's helped pick candidates, I can tell you she's a dream candidate, certainly for anywhere on the left. She's smart and has charisma to burn, and cameras love her.
She'll probably be the first woman President. Better than Hillary, anyway.
She sounds like a 13 year old, think like a 10 year old, and she’s never had an original thought in in her entire life. If that’s a dream candidate it is because morons appeal to the DNC electorate.
Sorry Chuck, for me anyone who ties his/her political cart to the D donkey, or the R elephant, for that matter could never, IMO, be a "dream candidate" - they are allowed to run as Ds to keep lefties in the D tent and away from 3rd parties - running with the Ds is dancing with the Devil - you can boogie a bit, but step on his toes and there is hell to pay ... ask Kucinich ....
Having a MSM political propaganda apparatus working in one’s favor at every step - is quite separate from political aptitude.
She’s a profoundly ignorant imbecile, she’s never held an original thought in her life, and has never progressed beyond first order thinking. Not unlike pop music stars with no talent, she’s a product with a brand and never has to be accountable for her dipshittery.
Remember, repulsive Sinema was like AOC -- before she became a fascist - what she is now.
China is far more capitalist than the US, Russia has not been Communist for 30+ years, while the US is a corporate socialism (more polite term for fascism)
Oh, it seems she doesn't really believe in that stuff - but it is useful rhetoric these days, any more than Trump believed SARS Cov-2 was a harmless virus when he was helicoptered to a top military hospital, and had the sink of treatments thrown at him ...
NTM that after March, 2020, true N95 masks were reserved for health care professionals, and what was sold to the general public on Amazon, et al, were KN95 masks, made in China, and manufactured with no real measuremen against the N95 standard. What few 3rd party tests were done seemed to indicated that some, probably most, possibly all KN95 masks were vastly inferior to the real thing. When I couldn't get away without a mask last year, I wore a 3M half-face respirator (that I already owned) equipped with P100 cartridges. That combination probably afforded me at least a little bit of protection. The real joke on the autocrats is that such respirators only filter incoming air, there is an exhalation valve to minimize breathing effort...
Most of them were elderly and with four underlying conditions. Very few died OF covid. The numbers have been distorted to manipulate people like you to follow the mandates and get vaxxed. Sadly, people die every day and the best defense against any disease is a healthy lifestyle which is hardly ever mentioned by the "experts."
Both N95 and KN95 masks are designed the filter out 95% of particles. The difference is what SIZE particles the filter. N95 will filter particles as small as viruses, but KN95 allow viruses to pass through. KN95 are greated for industrial uses to filter dusted; coronavirus, not so much.
Well. Fucking. Done. Thank you for continuing to shed light on the enormous amount of disturbing societal shifts we've seen since March 2020. We truly need your voice along with the select few other journalists, who are courageous enough to push back against the groupthink and expose this gross hypocrisy.
I've always thought that no one writes a better "takedown piece" than Mark Steyn. That may still be true, but Mark now has competition. Glenn's piece is brilliant and savage in equal measure, a tour de force of prose. If you wonder why so many of us pay little or no attention to our alleged 'leaders', this essay is a great place to start.
Many of the servers visible in the video Glenn embedded seem to be white (some may be from "south of the border"). That doesn't negate Glenn's overall point, but his use of the phrase "masked servants of color" may be inaccurate.
I was honestly hoping Glenn's use of it was a little dig at the Newspeak of these times - BIPOC, Latinx, et al. I assume Mitch's use is exactly that. And of course, white is also a color. Not intending any snark here.
Masks are fascist symbols. Please point out the fascism of their advocates. The science behind masks is weak, and they may make the pandemic worse because of confounding factors where people engage in riskier behavior because they overestimate effectiveness. https://www.city-journal.org/do-masks-work-a-review-of-the-evidence
I was never one to be drawn towards AOC, however, at this moment I do feel empathy for those who not only voted for her, but trusted her to lead any sort of movement or challenge real power dynamics. I am quick to notice in this imagery the similarities to the animals of Orwell's Animal Farm:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
How can anyone observe this and not only see the blatant hypocrisy, but also betrayal? It is rather insulting for her to not only attend, but then give such an obviously myopic and absurd justification for doing so. I don't know if a better juxtaposition of imagery exists today that better exemplifies the current environment: attending a decadent gathering of the mega-elite while wearing a preposterously extravagant dress with clearly empty sanctimony.
This is beautiful Glenn, thank you for writing such a complete take down of this insanity.
The fact that many cannot see the oligarchic dystopia of mask wearing is so deeply saddening. Many are in denial about how far along the road to serfdom we are.
I've often lamented that Tom Wolfe is no longer around when we need him the most but Glenn has admirably risen to the occasion. All this reminds me of the Bernstein Black Panther soiree. Those who haven't done so should read "Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catcher". Felicia, clever hostess that she was, solved what could have been a source of embarrassment by ensuring all the servants were Hispanic.
"I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I am a conspiracy analyst"--Gore Vidal
Did you see him with William F. Buckley's show when Vidal called Buckley a Crypto-Nazi? Buckley responded that he would break Vidal's nose if he didn't take it back. Vidal said, "that would prove my point".
Buckley did not hit Vidal ... at least not on camera.
David Foster Wallace (April 9, 1996). "Feodor's Guide: Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky". The Village Voice. . If you want to get some idea of how Dostoevskian irony might translate into modern U.S. culture, try reading House of the Dead and Tom Wolfe’s “Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers” at the same time.
Totally agree that Greenwald can channel Wolfe, and love that piece. I taught it for many years in a literary journalism class but stopped when social media became so pervasive that my students could no longer focus their attention long enough to get through it. #sad
This revolting Met gala circle jerk perfectly illustrates Adolph Reed's critique of the CRT movement: a huge proportion of the elite attendees are POC -- especially black celebrities. Meanwhile, the handmaidens and butlers are people of every stripe. So racism is solved, right? Because we have proportional representation within each social caste. Now ask the average person growing up in coal miner Appalachia or inner-city Detroit or Los Angeles, black or white or brown, if life is good.
The only silver lining that I can see in this entire disgusting display is that the hyena pack of paparrazzi are also relegated to servant class status.
I wear a mask indoors, for my own protection (or so I hope) and out of courtesy to others. I don't let the hypocrisy of the elite affect my personal choice about wearing masks.
I guess that "Tax the Middle and Upper Middle Class but Definitely Not the Truly Rich" would not have fit on her dress.
“This shit worked for Barack” would’ve been a bit gauche. Maybe next year.
Barack is much taller.
LOL
Very nice comment
And tax the lower-upper class. The mega-wealthy will always be able to plan around these taxes. This will be welfare for tax lawyers and accountants; there will be a whole new category of people who need to make aggressive tax avoidance plans to avoid income taxation of their capital gains on their death.
The Estate and Gift Tax is separate from the Income Tax. Right now, you really don't have to worry about fed taxation (Estate and Gift Tax) of your estate on your death if it is under $10 million (there is an exemption for estates up to $11.6 million but you have to start worrying about reporting, compliance, and possible enforcement as you estate gets close to that amount). Many states tax estates at a lower level. But under Biden's proposed plan, when you die, your estate will have to pay INCOME TAX on the property in your estate if your estate is over $1 million (married couples over $2 million). This means that tens of thousands (perhaps millions) of moderately well off people will have to worry about their heirs getting a hefty income tax bill.
it means that when family farms are passed on, most likely, it will result in them being sold to cover the tax bill (thus incurring more taxes), and guess who's going to be buying... blackrock. there's around 35 trillion dollars in inheritance destined to be transferred to millenials over the next couple decades. it's no coincidence democrats are seeding these kids to vote away their parents inheritance.
You would not believe the number of younger people who voted Biden and potentially voted away their future prosperity should this legislation pass. Best to get on the horn to Manchin and Sinema, the only two Dems that can stop it.
The real issue is that Biden campaigned on doing this, and most had no idea prior to voting or even know now.
And Blackrock will never "die" and have to pay these taxes, only farmers, their families and other small business owners. Whoever Blackrock's lobbyist is apparently is doing an amazing job getting Biden to do everything possible to hurt small businesses and benefit very, very big business. Related this the Dems who want to "tax the rich" yet are trying to give a tax break to the rich by getting rid of the $10K state and local tax deduction limit. People at that level of SALT taxes are basically rich, or darn close to it. Yet they are spending their time trying to figure out how to give them a tax break. You can't make this stuff up.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Bill Gates is the number one owner if farm land in the US..
You know, the eugenicist who wants all the slaves vaxxed, his depopulation plans realized and for the rest of us to NEVER eat meat but learn to love plant based meats (filled with nasty chemicals) and BUGS.
There are still family farms?
In any case, this is easily taken care of by exempting farms under certain conditions. They were, in the past, and might still be. Incidentally, it brings up an awkward point: farmers are capitalists - even though a family-operated farm is worker owned and therefore an example of socialism. Categories get complicated. (Full disclosure: I grew up with a "family farm" my family hadn't operated in 3 generations. It was ultimately sold to a corporation. Nobody was real happy with that.)
Actually there are. Some of them quite large, some more a hobby with the farmer also having a "day job" in a nearby town or city. (I write from Kansas.)
Drivel. My god shut up with this shit. It’s a literal Koch talking point
As someone in the industry, I can tell you the talking point is describing reality. Believe what you want, though.
Which "industry"? Do you work in industrial agriculture, or in tax evasion?
In any case, you're wrong in saying that the talking point is "describing reality". The talking point is, in fact, designed to keep people from seeing the optimal solution, which (as several of us have pointed out) is to tax heavy inherited wealth while exempting family farms.
I worked on a family farm, and now I work to sell seed to farmers. The taxation you propose is what has destroyed small businesses (including family farms), and is supported by the corporations you lament. However, this isn't just for farms, you would prefer AOC, Donald Trump, and Biden to get the family restaurant, the family house, and whatever family business, rather than allow the children to keep their parents possessions and businesses running. Shame on you.
Family Farms can be limited by acreage. Too sensible so it will nevr happen
calling arguments drivel and telling people to shut up is a literal soros talking point.
And smallish family owned businesses as well. It isn't only farms that get destroyed by this. People will try to find ways around this. Any number of people will be hurt by this. There will be no point in working hard to help provide for your children. That will cripple American ingenuity and innovation. These people have a complete inability to think in a logical, rational way, and apparently never ask "What happens next?" when they propose these things.
Oh, but they won't do that. The current Left hates small business: they want everyone to be employed by oligarchs so they can be the protectors of the populace, rather than impediments to people getting ahead by their own efforts.
That was made clear during the pandemic. This would just help hasten the monopolization of business, and eliminate competition and innovation. The Deep State has been helping to enable the big corporations for years.
Yeah, that "family farm" stuff is largely a fake talking point from lobbyists for a small elite that fears the estate tax and wants to protect their hereditary class privilege.
I posted an older receipt. Heritage has a report from 2004...
Statist bullshit.
They want to protect their hard-earned and well-preserved Capital for those they choose, in their own judgment, as deserving.
You want to decide that for them. That is immoral, as is ALL wealth transfer FORCED by Statist leeches like yourself.
The *family* farm nonsense is utter bullshit, Timothy.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/ten-facts-you-should-know-about-the-federal-estate-tax
democrats like to say things like this, then wash their hands while the politicians they vote for do the opposite.
Exactly this. This will literally eliminate class mobility in this country, probably exactly what they want. I work with this class of people, most of us came from upper lower and lower middle class, played by the rules, studied and worked hard, went into growing fields like tech and started to amass a small amount of family wealth (this spans multiple races too). And now it is all gone. People are starting to wake up, but tragically it is too late.
It's awfully ironically ironic. Leftists democrats complain that blacks and minorities should get reparations for missing the opportunities afforded whites throughout history, while simultaneously voting to keep those benefits from being passed on to their children. It is exactly what they want. Leftists don't educate, inspire, or persuade, they humiliate. This way, truth doesn't actually matter, the only thing that matters is that *you* shut up when *they* say you're wrong. It's a communist propaganda technique.
And that is the only solution if the progressives want to fund their welfare wish list, which can't be done by taxing the rich and corporations alone. Scandinavia does provide many more welfare benefits to its citizens; but their citizens are taxed far more than Americans.
Basically 50% of Americans don't pay any taxes. That isn't sustainable for a growing welfare society.
50 percent of Americans do not 'pay any taxes". They don' t pay federal income tax. They still pay sales tax (a regressive tax on the poor Btw) and payroll taxes. They are also possibly paying property taxes or other government fees.
It's true that our tax system is extremely dumb and unsustainable, but let's not make up stuff about it.
There is no federal sales tax. Payroll taxes generate eligibility for future SSI payments and people that don't reach the AGI threshold for payroll taxes are (unless they die early) net receivers of SSI payments. He's right. 50% of Americans largely do not pay federal income tax or fund federal government services, though they contribute a portion of the funds they will themselves receive back in SSI payments.
He didn't say "federal taxes", and if he had I would not have replied. He said "50% of Americans don't pay any taxes." It's right there in the post I'm replying to. Which is manifestly untrue, and hence the clarification.
IF you pay more then you are not using the loopholes available to you. Trump did and they hated him for doing what they did and exposing it.
Absolutely not true. If you are a w-2 wage earning married couple living in a major metro area after 20 years of working in a corporate job or medical/legal profession, it's not that hard to hit $450k / year. Outside of a small mortgage interest and charitable deductions, there are NO loopholes. And god forbid your company give you stock options as part of your compensation, I can't tell you how many people I know that were wiped out financially paying AMT on exercised stock options that were later on worth nothing due to market volatility.
They also receive money for nothing via earned income, child tax and other credits. Many of those not paying income tax receive many other benefits like housing assistance and food stamps. Whatever small amount they kick in on state and local sales tax is more than offset by other mechanisms.
Only 11 percent of people ages 25 - 55 don't pay federal income taxes. The non-paying people we are talking about are the old and the very young - the vast vast majority of working age people are paying federal income taxes. And btw, that 11 percent that doesn't pay federal taxes? Nearly one-third will do so for only one year, and almost 6 in 10 will be paying income tax within three years, and just one-in-eight are non-payers for a decade or more. The idea that there's this huge segment of working people who are laying around for years on end getting government services while paying nothing in return is a Reaganite fantasy.
It isn't going to be a social society. That is just the reset PR. It is going to be a two tiered humanity. The vaccinated are going to end up being enslaved and genome programed to be able to survive in a hostile environment. The unvacced will be in camps if they cant escape to nether regions which drones will probably make impossible.
Not "far" more. A very little more, and they (and we in Central Europe as well) get a lot more for our pooled purchasing power than my countrymen back in the US. Why did Sam's Club and Costco grow? Because people saved by buying in bulk. That is all social democracy is: buying in bulk. We pool our resources for health care. Ergo health care is cheaper and better because we the customer control the market. Same with education, housing markets, etc., etc. You can live much better on a lower income and save money by pooling your resources better (i.e. paying higher taxes).
That being said, the social contract above only works if you don't have legalized political corruption like in the US, where then the rich and big corporations don't pay like they did from the 30's to the 70's before political corruption became legal.
It's over 60% now, actually.
Tax the rich bs only works on morons. Basic math shows there aren’t enough rich people to give everyone cradle to grave everything. You have to tax the middle class to even come close to getting there. And as you do that you siphon away the thing necessary to produce future growth.
Seemed to work OK during the Eisenhower era.
We had very high taxes then. And a huge pent up demand from WWII limited consumer items. No ice cream, no bubble gum, no no no no.................... Clothes were far more expensive then than now. But we hadn't yet fought all those wars in Asia to get access to cheap labor.
You know nearly nothing. Just enough about taxes to pretend that’s what built the middle class. You’re the dangerous breed of fool.
What a know nothing post! Your ignorance is showing.
Religion, Economics, Fashion, and Politics…the Four Horsemen of Quackery in the world.
YUP! :D and on into the 70's ...
Right. Absolutely NOTHING has changed since then.
Yes, you will have to tax the "real" middle classes more too. You need to shut down the "offshore" systems. You need to reduce Wall Street to less than 10% of it's current size. You need to have a Public banking; currently private banksters conjure up the money supply and charge you and even your governments interest on the money they didn't have until you borrowed it and created an asset for them and a debt for you. I could go on but basically the people need to disregard the indoctrination and propaganda and read. YES, I know it's hard but you gotta do it.
who controls the Public Bank?
The national and or state government's. There's been one in North Dakota for a century and it's worked and is working well. From the Fed which is a consortium of private banksters to your local branch; money is created/conjured up from nothing. When you get a mortgage from your bankster; they have about 10% of the money they loan you in reserves (also conjured but that's another lesson); the rest of your mortgage is typed into their computer and your money is created. Your loan becoming an asset for them and a liability for you. To top it off, they charge you interest on the money they didn't have until you had the debt. Now, this sounds fantastical but it's the way " fractional reserve banking work's" somewhat simplified. Now, tell me why the government pays private interest to private banksters when it as a sovereign state could create the money itself. Note the trillions created lately out of nothing but debt obligations.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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hmm - In China they have so called "layered plateaus capitalism" -- research it a bit. Far more humane and equitable...
In China they were introducing capitalism into a stagnant communist system so even a drop of capitalism performed miracles. When you do the reverse it’s all downhill from there because communism does not work. Even the Scandinavian countries the left raves about are lackluster. Self inflicted drag on the system.
I am advocating freedom and democracy -- not communism. We need to agitate for freedom and democracy in – our beloved USA. Although near term hopeless -- I believe in multi-party system, unlike current one party monopoly with two right wings.
China raised 800 million of its citizens - from periodic mass starvation into middle class -- an unprecedented success in human history -- while DNC and GOP oligarchs essentially eliminated middle class in the US.
"53K US contractors in the Middle East versus -- for 35K troops" !!! What a lucrative business and worth unlimited donations to both DNC and GOP politicians. Highlighting just that "detail" -- tells it all....
A 1%-er War party with two right (DNC and GOP) wings -- gay marriage, abortion, "woke", and other imposed topics are just distractions to divide 99% of population into "red" and "blue" camps while 1% happily grunt together at same donors' feeding throughs.
But brainwashed US citizen agitate "freeing" China and increasing hate of Moslems, Russians, Chinese, Martians - just to avoid thinking about our own beloved country. 1%-er overlords are playing us like a violin...
A brilliantly executed divide and conquer strategy by the bi-partisan political elites. It is just mindblowing to me that smart people with some modicum of critical thinking skills can't see this, and continue to applaud our celebrated leaders while they literally take the little we have away from us.
100%! Great comment!
You will absolutely love Veroufakis on this subject. He recent book is #AnotherNow. Many of his interiews are on youtube about it. He proposes a MARKET ECONOMY. Our capitalism is not a market economy. There are endless commodities we dont need at all. We have FINANCIAL CAPITALISM which came into being as Shakespeare was writing Hamlet. (I learned this from Varoufakis.) When the East India Co wanted to grow BIG BIG BIG so the idea of selling shares came into being. Take shares away and restructure and you can get market capitalism with real products or real quality that people can treasure for generations.
Thank you -- wonderful. Another interesting is - Elon Musk:
https://youtu.be/8GHFq4dXBko
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Except the reality is that China has lifted 100's of millions out of poverty .
I think before we criticize China we take a look at our FASCISM first.
Lenin knew that you CANT introduce communism from the top down. It must come form the people, from the bottom up.When Lenin went against what he knew was correct he sealed its doom. The form in Cuba was great in the beginning. Then like all good beginnings it metastasized into bureaucracy. And wonderful little hippie businesses do this. If you want to really understand the possible beauty of communism consider Jesus and his disciples. Or the movie Ema as she begins it. IT CANNOT COME FROM THE TOP DOWN AND BE IMPOSED.
Janet, How about if you start? Distribute your stuff to those in need. Work more, keep less. Let's see how you feel in 10 years.
China knows capitalism is a huge challenge for them. They are trying.
China is far more capitalist than the US, Russia has not been Communist for 30+ years, while the US is a corporate socialism (more polite term for fascism)
They are very well read in Marx, Lenin, Stalin and they see our errors and take note.
Have you ever been in China? You have dated imagination...
Paradoxical past, present and future of China's "socialist market" -- Scheer Intelligence
Robert Scheer discusses the paradoxical past, present and future of China's "socialist market" economic model with Nathan Gardels, author of "It Is No Longer Glorious to Get Rich in China," published this week by Noema, a magazine of the Berggruen Institute.
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scheer-intelligence/id1054586928?i=1000534192691
When I was in China in the early 90's I could have secured a virgin beach on the south China Sea. Did you ever see one. Nothing there but beach and water and so incredibly beautiful. The hitch was it was $100,000 and you had to put a hotel there in 5 years. I took a look and so what it would turn into and decided I would not tell my Chinese friend how we could do this as I could not bear to know I was partner to ruining it. The second offer was a meat packing plant. You know like Swift, Armour et al for $90,000. I know nothing about that business but we had driven up Hainen Island and eaten at a number of restaurants. One had a tourist shop a little ways off from the restaurant. As we walked there, pigs came up to walk with us on the dirt path. Sweet creatures that we let lick our plates and petted. We had pork for dinner and I have never tasted anything like it before or since. But oh those sweet young pigs on our walk were like the ones we ate. Put them on an assemblyb line of murder?b And I see the cruelness in my mind. So no thanks. Not me. I should have opened an English school with a young Chinese woman I met there that I loved. And she loved me. I came home to help my family. A big mistake. I am excellent at teaching bAsians especially Englishb writing and conversation. We should have done that. My Vietnamese students did so wonderful in Philadelphia.bNow you must teach it Topfl style. ROTE LEARNING. No thanks.
That was a sweet comment - especially about little pigs. I know several people who, after seeing / interacting with pigs, can't eat them any longer.
Great comment!
How many comments have you made on this forum today Janet?
Randall fucking Rose is gonna getcha!!!
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The higher you tax the rich, the more shelters they search out and use. Lower taxes and they dont bother so much. Paying a tax accountant to do it is not worth it anymore. Time, money and energy gt blown off.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/trump-tax-cuts-federal-revenues-deficits/
You have to read through the good news to get to the figure about corporate tax rates.
Youb. buy the congress critter and get a huge discount on your taxes. Easy Peasy Pie.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Mucho loopholes in corporate taxes. They buy them of course.
You gotta quit drinking the Kool aid the rich are feeding you. Of course, now your governments are actually their governments. It's the lobbying by the rich and corporations that literally write the law's that make this stuff legal. People make the law's including the constitution and they can change them. The rule of law is a crock; law's didn't come down from the mountains carved in stone by god; they came from the lobbyists of the rich actually writing them and they still do. If you stopped taxing them completely, they would be looking for cash back; Oh wait, they do get cash back now. China, yes the commie's in China are actually making it easier to organize the gig economy and mandating tutoring to be public so everyone gets a chance. Can you imagine that happening in the USA? People need to stop believing the narrative because it's controlled by the Rich. As an old Dutchman once said to me.."think; I know it's hard but try it!"
AynRand had it right. But she didn't know she did. So her disciples are hysterics about unfettered capitalism. IF you had direct elections and voting and only one term for ALL elected offices that would immediately take the money out. Who wants to buy a dead horse in congress who will be gone at the end of her term?
Right. And with one term ahead who would want (be obligated) to do a good job?
Exactly (!)
Term limits would be mere panacea, if they weren't so Statist, anti-freedom, and therefore immoral. The People, at all times must be free and un-fettered to choose their representatives, lest they be absolved of responsibility, and not required to be invested and learn from their errors.
Think? Now we have a few generations who have been educated by No Child Left Behind. ALLOF THEM WERE LEFT BEHIND so now left behind is the new NORMAL and it is now INSTITUTIONALIZED. No that Dutchman was wrong. Thinking is not hard, it is now impossible for most.
So, F'ing true...
They only care about shrinking the overall number of taxpayers as much as possible. If they do that, then the number of people who care about any of their socialist programs shrinks and they can do whatever they want. Our goal should be to have everyone pay something if they can - even if it's a small amount - then, and maybe then, can we get back to some sort of fiscal discipline because more people have some skin in the game.
We are out of time and so is the planet.
No, but "tax everyone" would.
LIsten to Varoufakis on youtube solve this for you with intelligence, humor, panache, and integrity. bHe is so sexy too.
exaaaactly
There is nothing, NOTHING I hate more than hypocrisy. And this is the best example of why the public doesn't believe anything the ruling class says on the subject. If they are ok not to follow their own edicts, then why aren't we? Something has been bothering me about the whole thing, and Glenn just summed it up beautifully. ❤️
Well said!
I don't know... I hate rape more.
What about hypocrisy pertaining to rape -- e.g. women who accuse Kavanaugh must be believed without question, but women accusing Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, etc... are part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy".
Or vice versa, for that matter.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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👍🏻
I mean... Aren't we all right wing loonies if we don't adhere to the Dem party Big pharma Gates grift??
After this stupid comment, I might hate you more than rape.
Well obviously rape and murder and incest and genocide, etc etc. I meant in politics and social discourse...
Yeah, "NOTHING I hate more than hypocrisy" tends to be an interesting comment.
see above ^^^ i meant in this realm of this discussion.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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That is funny ...but true!
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Great share!
"Masks" do NOT prevent the transfer of respiratory viruses.
Putting aside the fact that common masks are not medical devices or treatment, they are engineered devices - meaning they have design tolerances and specifications that do not include filtering out viruses as small as the SARS-Covid 2 virus (of any variant.) Why this is so hard for people to conceptualize is confusing. Imagine, a glass of salt water. Imagine putting one of these masks loosely around a straw and putting it into the glass. When you draw up on the straw, what will the water taste like - Distilled water or salt water?
But, that said, ask yourself this about the typical mask you see someone wear:
1) What percent of the air they are breathing in is coming around the mask?
2) Where do the viruses go if they are stopped by the mask?
Like most everything else in this Covid Shitshow, masks are just a compliance exercise of the elites to see who they can control.
It's like thinking a chain link fence will stop mosquitoes from getting through!
Exactly, if you can breathe through it it isn't stopping microscopic viruses.
This whole affair is another draconian fearmongering fairytale/nightmare.
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You're essentially right about the general function that masks serve particularly as described in this article, but the idea that "masks do NOT prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses" based on my understanding evinces the same fundamental misunderstanding of how a virus causes diseases that underlies much of what's gone wrong in this pandemic. Becoming "infected" with a respiratory virus is not the same thing as being exposed to it. Nearly everyone's immune system is capable of fighting off low-level assaults by any kind of pathogenic virus, but by the same token, there is a threshold beyond which nearly everyone's immune system will succumb to that same virus. So preventing infection is not a binary "1/0" question; it's more like a sliding scale that goes from 1 to 1M, and at "1", you don't even notice that you've fought it off and at "1M", your immune system is overwhelmed and you're on your way to the ICU and a vent.
The function of the masks is to keep the exposure level closer to "1" than "1M". Yes, there is presumably quite a bit of leakage through and around the mask, but if you are in an enclosed space for a limited period of time (a grocery store for example) and everyone is in a mask there, the amount of virus in the air will be significantly less than if everyone was unmasked. Much of the time the difference may not be significant enough to matter, but theoretically sometimes it will. But again, this only applies in densely populated enclosed spaces where people are there for limited periods of time. It would be very unlikely to work, for example, to prevent household transmission. And it should be obvious, that it's not going to make a difference outdoors, except possibly in the most extremely crowded situations imaginable.
All that said, to have a gala where the guests are unmasked but the server are masked obviously makes no sense whatsoever from a public health standpoint, and that's why Glenn has correctly pegged it as a "grotesque" display of symbolic power and humiliation.
As it turns out, if this virus were transmitted by droplet, masks might have some efficacy. However, they have now discovered that this virus is not droplet borne but goes out as separate virions, much too small for the mask to do much. So they are pretty much useless, and actual scientific evidence supports this. But our betters ignore that science because it doesn't help their cause.
Yes, it's mostly aerosols against which non-N95 masks are not super-protective, but again, it's a cumulative set of factors: ventilation, amount of time spent in the space, how many people are in the space, how much virus is being put out by the infected person(s) in question, how robust is the immunity of the people being exposed. Universal masking is to me just one factor that in some situations probably reduce the total amount of virus in a given airspace, and so could reduce the chances of an exposure becoming an infection. The thing I don't understand is that it's not all or nothing, it's relative, and given that it's relative, there's no reason to worry about whether everyone is wearing a mask. If there are 50 people there, and 2 or 3 aren't wearing a mask, it's not likely to make an appreciable difference in the overall level of risks, therefore no need to "mandate" masks anywhere, just put out a recommendation and let adults decide for themselves. I say the same thing about everything else relative to COVID, nothing should've ever been mandated because nothing offered absolute protection, it was always just generally reducing the overall risks within reasonable bounds.
We will be stuck with this virus like we are the FLU every year
When I started getting suspicious about this nonsense, I got out my AMA medical encyclopedia and looked up Corona virus.
And the description read exactly like this:.
THE COMMON COLD
Yes, there are already several other coronaviruses in circulation that we call the common cold. I believe that unfortunately CV-19 was created in a lab by altering a bat coronavirus that wouldn't normally be capable of infecting humans and making it into one that can. Bats, living in dank caves as they do, have way stronger natural immune systems compared to humans. I'm not sure that CV-19 will ever regress to become like the other presumably naturally-occuring coronaviruses.
A cumulative set of factors. Like all those plexiglass barriers between tables at restaurants that interrupt the air filtration system and keep viral clouds close to diners?
And now let's consider how people wear masks. I see masks dangling off of car rear view mirrors all the time. I see people pulling them out of their pockets. Are they freshly laundered? That's anyone's guess.
Do people really keep a little bucket of isopropyl alcohol by the door and toss their cloth mask in, then pull it out an hour later and hang it to dry for tomorrow? Or are most people just using the same cloth mask over and over, and sticking it back in the pocket of their unwashed pants?
My sleeve is just as good at blocking droplets from a cough or a sneeze. I've learned to dab my perpetually drippy nose (a curse since childhood) with the back of my wrist.
Meanwhile, I'm being accosted in grocery stores by male Karens who claim my medical exemption puts them at risk, while they agitatedly squeeze a dozen oranges and put them back. And my response to them is, "have you touched your mask since you last sanitized your hands? Just wondering if I want to buy any oranges today."
Yeah, as I say, the protective effect of masks at best in no way warrants anyone getting upset because a particular person isn't wearing a mask in a particular place. It's not that kind of thing, if lots of people wear masks in lots of places, the general rate of transmission in that particular community will likely slow. But any one person doesn't much matter, and it doesn't much matter if everyone wears a mask or if just most people or even a lot of people do.
In my city, when they first mandated masks, they put someone on the radio asking people to be considerate and compassionate to people who were not wearing masks.
Roughly 10% adults, the spokesperson said, have a legitimate health reason to not mask up. Might be a pulmonary or vascular condition, or a mental health condition, but if you see someone without a mask, please don't automatically jump down their throat.
As someone in that category, I was grateful. For that one, never to be repeated, public service announcement.
And don't get me wrong. Staff at most of our local shops were not allowed to enforce a mask mandate. Corporate was like, "ehhhh, don't want to touch this. It's legally dubious. Someone comes in without a mask, offer them one. If they say no, that's the end of the conversation."
Why? Because if you basically force someone to put one on and they brain themselves on a display of dill pickles, you're going to get sued. If you demand proof that they have a medical reason to not wear one, you can get sued for invading their medical privacy. If you refuse them service, you can get sued for discrimination based on disability.
There is literally no way to win for a business. They didn't advertise the policy. If they did, only the people who wanted to wear a mask would wear one. Which is basically fewer than 50% of the customers. Maybe fewer than 30% (which is about the percentage of people who kept wearing after they lifted the mandate over summer).
So there I am in the store, and I'm looking around and I'm literally the only one without a mask. So I'm wondering are there 8 or 10 people in the store wearing masks even though it harms their health, or are the people who can't mask up just under a self-imposed house arrest?
I don't get harassed often, but when I do I just take it in stride.
Incidentally, my city tried to do a "no mask passport" thing. An exemption card. Within 2 weeks, there was a thriving black market for them and they scrapped the program.
You do know that most viruses that we catch are at HOME, right?
When I had cancer and was doing chemo I got sick with a horrifying cold. It went into my chest and I was coughing and hacking like a sick horse.
So I had to wear a mask when I went to chemo while sick. But at NO TIME did they demand that others wear one too. I am very grateful my treatment ended just months before the Rona nonsense started because PROTOCOL would have had me on a vent.
Most people do NOT need a vent. But they are doing it because it kills.
Masks do nothing to stop the spread of a virus. It will stop your sputum from flying out of your mouth of you're sick and coughing but otherwise it is virtue signaling nonsense.
There was an interesting study from some time back where 12 British scientists were overwintering at the British base in Antarctica. That means that for some 6 months or longer, they will have no contact with anyone outside the group there because the planes that supply the base can't get in due to the temperatures and the weather. About three months in one of them contracted a cold which got passed on to some of the others (not all, as I recall.) So the question is, since these people were in good health at the beginning of what one might call the "lock-in," where did this cold virus come from three months later? It calls into question all the accepted ideas about how colds are transmitted.
I agree with you completely about the efficacy of masks - of the right kind, including multi layered cloth ones, properly fitted - there have been multiple studies on this ... The point is to reduce the "dose" of virus one gets. The analogy I have used is a person walking next to a beehive - if a few bees sting you you will be no more than sore (unless you are allergic to the bee venom) but if a whole bunch sting you, you can get really sick.
And you can be infected, and hence be a transmitter, without being sick yourself (remember Typhoid Mary)
But the question is what hypocrisy was Glenn pointing out? Was he saying that the guests didn't believe in masks and saw no need to wear them, so getting the "servants" to wear them was a display of dominance, or did they indeed believe in them and refusing to wear them was a display of total lack of concern for their "inferiors", the ones they purported to care about?
I would like to know if Glenn wears a mask, and if so under what conditions? And if not, why not? Does he believe they work? Has he been vaccinated? And you might say, what does it matter if he does/has or not? It matters because he sets the tone in these posts - is he afraid that if he answers yes, to one or both, he will lose a lot of his supporters who are clearly anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. And if he answers no - would he say why .... if not, he is feeding fuel to this pandemic fire ...
Yes, I think the bee analogy is spot on. I think the issue the Glenn is pointing out is that we're now into this visibly unequal enforcement of masking requirements based pretty much on social class. I've noticed it myself, I've been to a number of places in the affluent parts of California over the past couple of months, and it's just generally the rule now in these places that the workers wear masks, and the "customers", i.e. those attending a wedding, or dining at a restaurant, etc., do not. It doesn't make much sense from a public health standpoint, if the workers need to be masked, why don't the customers? But the reality is that the customers are paying and so call the shots, and the workers are being paid, and so must follow orders. But it has a very, "rules for thee, but not for me" kind of feel to it, and to me, it's gross.
And who would enforce the rules on the customers - I think there was an incident some time ago when a guy got stabbed for trying to ...
The hypocrisy is the "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude and it has existed for millennia between the peasantry and the aristocracy. The Dems keep preaching that we have moved beyond that yet they behave in the same old ways.
Next the fascist lunatics come with the argument that there was no flu last winter so masks must work. Nevermind that voluntary behavior changes were huge while all scientific tests of masks show no significant benefit.
https://toddwschneider.com/dashboards/nyc-subway-turnstiles/
There was no flu last winter because all "flu" cases were classified as "COVID".
I thought % positive for PCR flu tests was abnormally low, but could be mistaken. Anyway, I'm still bitter about the flu-shot mandate for schools last year in MA, which was later retracted after the vax deadline.
https://www.mass.gov/news/flu-vaccine-now-required-for-all-massachusetts-school-students-enrolled-in-child-care-pre
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/health/mass-students-no-longer-must-get-the-flu-shot-this-year-its-still-recommended/2281400/
The first test performed in the winter of 2020/2021 was a COVID test. As we now know, that test did not distinguish between flu and COVID. If it was positive, they had a diagnosis, and no further testing was done. And generally of the 60 or 70 million people "diagnosed" with flu every year. the diagnosis is only confirmed by laboratory testing in not more than 1.5 million cases. All the rest are "diagnosed" by time of year and symptomology, not by lab testing.
Please don't give them any ideas!
I've already had this conversation with an MD family member. There is no evidence so now we must believe her readings of the tea leaves of life and call them science.
Yeah…we can all see that you’re an ex-spurt.
Of course any test that showed results must, by your definition, be "unscientific", or not replicated umpteen times or not sufficiently peer reviewed, or in "respected journals" as i am sure all yours were ... care to share them?
Sorry, what does your citation have to do with any of this?
The citation shows that behavioral changes, like not taking the subway, can explain why there was no flu. A good mask article is here: https://www.city-journal.org/do-masks-work-a-review-of-the-evidence
The only RCT to test mask-wearing’s specific effectiveness against Covid-19 was a 2020 study by Bundgaard, et al. in Denmark. This large (4,862 participants) RCT divided people between a mask-wearing group (providing “high-quality” three-layer surgical masks) and a control group. It took place at a time (spring 2020) when Denmark was encouraging social distancing but not mask use, and 93 percent of those in the mask group wore the masks at least “predominately as recommended.” The study found that 1.8 percent of those in the mask group and 2.1 percent of those in the control group became infected with Covid-19 within a month, with this 0.3-point difference not being statistically significant.
The scientific data supporting mask mandates is pretty weak.
The CDC has found that a mask mandates reduce the growth rate of new COVID-19 infections by 1.8% after they have been in effect for 100 days.
I'm not sure what a slight reduction in the case growth rate is supposed to accomplish. All it does is cause the wave to peak a day or two later than it otherwise would have. CDC never said that mask mandates reduced the overall number of infections -- only that they slowed the case growth rate by 1.8% after 100 days.
[Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/pdfs/mm7010e3-H.pdf -
"During March 1–December 31, 2020, state-issued mask mandates applied in 2,313 (73.6%) of the 3,142 U.S. counties. Mask mandates were associated with a 0.5 percentage point decrease (p = 0.02) in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 1–20 days after implementation and decreases of 1.1, 1.5, 1.7, and 1.8 percentage points 21–40, 41–60, 61–80, and 81–100 days, respectively, after implementation (p<0.01 for all)."]
Another study published last month found that "There was no reduction in per-population daily mortality, hospital bed, ICU bed, or ventilator occupancy of COVID-19-positive patients attributable to the implementation of a mask-wearing mandate."
[Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34480194/ ]
Unfortunately, the CDC were too lame to make a randomized study, so we have to rely on the Danish data. That MMWR paper doesn't account for seasonality and intrinsic dynamics of the epidemic, which are the biggest drivers of case growth vs. time, and its main purpose is to highlight the CDC's incompetence.
Instead of at least mentioning this huge limitation, something any self-respecting scientist would do, they just sweep it under the rug. But I'm sure their guidance is totally solid.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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To start with, I've been vaccinated. Since vaccines do save live, I'm hoping that our bought-and-paid-for government won't pull another Tuskegee experiment on us. Time will tell.
In May, "The CDC eased mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people on Thursday, allowing them to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings." Biden claimed, “Today is a great day for America.” https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/ap-source-govt-to-ease-up-guidance-on-indoor-mask-wearing/
In June, "To celebrate the resumption of pre-pandemic life, Biden is looking to celebrate the July Fourth holiday as 'a summer of freedom.'” https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-joe-biden-lifestyle-coronavirus-pandemic-health-f97e0316c51d2d8362a17d149daedb14
Less than a week after July 4th, Covid-19 cases begin to resurge. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1102816/coronavirus-covid19-cases-number-us-americans-by-day/
Later in July, as the number of coronavirus cases continue to grow, some conservative influencers (politicians and media) begin to show more support for the vaccine, while some liberal influencers blame the anti-vaxxers.
"The Delta Variant Is the Symptom of a Bigger Threat: Vaccine Refusal " https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/health/coronavirus-vaccine-refusal.html
Yeah, I think I read that study - it's description as a RCT is highly suspect - what, precisely, was controlled? 3 layer surgical masks - worn how? Studies have shown that if they leak, around the edges, that is, they don't work so well at all ....
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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So tired of doing stupid illogical things!!
Masks don't have to filter out particles as small as viruses. Viruses don't just float around in the air all by themselves, they're in water vapor droplets that people breathe, cough, or sneeze out. You'd know that if you weren't so arrogant that you think you already know it all.
What happens when that moisture evaporates? Contagion city...
Moisture evaporates? The virus dies…no food.
The virus does not immediately die. It takes about 3 hours for that to happen.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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And what is the size of these water droplets? And when they dry out on the mask what happens to the nanoparticle of the "virus"? The next breath you take sucks it into your nose or throat.
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Or out into the air, turning the water-bound virus into an airborne one.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/cdc-confirms-that-covid-is-airborne/ar-BB19Jn1Z
Of course this was obvious last year when entire buildings that share central heating were passing the virus between tenants.
What happens when people overestimate the ability of masks to protect and engage in riskier behavior? Contagion city...
Well, if they get vaccinated .. not quite so risky ....
Look at COVID deaths vs. cases for the current US wave. The ratio is 1% and rising, about the same as the winter wave, even though an overwhelming fraction of the most vulnerable are now vaxxed.
A coupla things - the Delta variant has changed the game - much more transmissible, and shows evidence that degree of vaccine efficacy against it vs "the original" is a bit less, the most vulnerable were vaccinated first, and immunity wanes over time ... And the cohort getting sicker and dying is getting younger .... proving more "vulnerable" than first thought
We need better vaccines - in the meantime these are better than nothing. And, in the meantime, sorry, we need to wear masks ....
"the most vulnerable were vaccinated first, and immunity wanes over time"
This is not necessarily the case. I mean, sure, over the course of years or decades, but I don't know of any virus that requires boosters every six months for the rest of your life.
Reinfections are still extremely rare. Breakthrough cases, less rare but still rare.
Is this because immunity is waning?
The spike protein (the sole target of the most popular vaccines) mutated. It's a different protein. And while the antibodies are still able to neutralize it, if your body can't recognize it right away, you're going to have a delayed immune response.
Imagine some guy with long hair and a beard robs your store. A month later, same guy shows up clean shaven with a flat-top. Are you going to recognize him before he's at the register with his gun out? Maybe. Maybe not.
This isn't about immunological memory loss. Your immune system still remembers that guy with the long hair and beard. It's just he doesn't have long hair and a beard now.
They're promoting boosters because the antibodies still work (for now, and probably less well, but well enough-ish) and a booster will make your body generate another batch. After 6 months, they'll be out of circulation, and you'll need another booster.
Now consider this. These vaccines are being paid for by governments, who never run out of other people's money. They're being marked up 2400%, which means every shot is about $50 of pure profit.
And when I say pure profit, I mean pure profit. I'm a fan of limited patent protection for new drugs. Why? Because drug companies invest hideous amounts of money in research and development, and they deserve a temporary monopoly to earn that investment back. But these companies were given billions in grants by the very governments they're now gouging to the tune of 24 times the cost of production.
Of course they're pushing boosters. Of course they're claiming with no evidence that the problem is waning immunity, something that generally takes years or decades to occur. Of course they're falsely saying that if you have no serum antibodies anymore, you're no longer immune. You're a $50 bill if they can convince you, and they don't even have to worry about whether you can afford it, because hey, the well of taxpayer money is bottomless.
And they'll play with statistics to trick you, too. The cohort of people getting sicker and dying is getting younger. Sure. Because they're the least likely to be vaccinated, and all the old people were either vaccinated or had it and recovered or died. 50% of deaths are now in people 50 and younger! How horrifying!
When you look at the raw numbers, what do you see? Young people are increasing as a proportion of hospitalizations and deaths, but they're not increasing in raw numbers.
I just went and checked the data for my province. There were more cases during our April/May 2021 surge than during our November/December 2020 surge. But accounting for lag, in April/May, there were 1/3 the deaths. This most recent surge everyone is panicking about? About the same as April/May.
We have "free" health care here. Our hospitals generally run at 95-99% capacity. 88% of our ICU beds are currently occupied, and everyone's losing their minds.
Why would you trust the drug companies who are price gouging the very taxpayers who underwrote their research?
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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What is so cool is that all the fricking morons that buy into the official narrative this time are going to the ones who get terribly ill and die. And it is their own fault. Karma is a bitch that's gonna make you twitch.
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Man - I'm glad you think this is "so cool" that's lots off folks are going to die, according to you - Willie, I wouldn't wish that, even on you :D
I'm not the one to blame here joker, I am warning not to take the jab.
Anyone who goes ahead and takes these shot is stupid and it's their own fault that they have committed suicide.
I am not wishing anything on anybody I am trying to warn EVERYBODY.
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The so-called "vaccinations" are the poisonous bioweapons, much more than risky -- DEADLY.
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So, if there were no vaccinations - would folks still die from the disease?
There have been vaccinations for the flu for years, that is where this so-called Covid came from in the first place.
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Thank you for your wonderful proven and scientifically accurate assertion ;-))
Poor Glenn must vomit if he ever read some of the comments ;-((
COVID 19 IS A BIOWEAPON
https://thedissedent.page/2021/09/12/covid-19-is-a-bioweapon/
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Willie "The Demented One" Wonka seems to have been doing the early trials of an experimental love potion and volunteered his testicle instead of a deltoid thinking it'd swell his deflowerer.
Since then Billie has been a practitioner of the "woowoo dance of masturbatory ulations" of which he owes me and the forum a demo link.
Well, viruses are quite a bit larger than salt ions.
And this is relevant because?
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100%. And as someone with emphysema the fucking things make breathing very uncomfortable. I wish I had the money to move. I would have left this Dem shit hole long ago
Masked sheep everywhere. Walk down the street and people LITERALLY walk in the street off the side walk to avoid you.
It is LUNACY here.
Worse, the standard white masks sold in pharmacies has Graphene Oxide imbedded in the cloth. Graphene Oxide is a poison heavy metal. That is also in these mRNA gene therapy solutions fraudulently called vaccines.
These solutions are bioweapons, not vaccines.
https://thedissedent.page/2021/09/12/covid-19-is-a-bioweapon/
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In Quebec, they had to recall thousands of masks they'd been forcing school children and teachers to wear for months. Why? Because graphene fibers were shedding from them.
These people said it felt like they were swallowing cat hair all day.
Months. Children. So healthy.
Thank you Karen. These types of reports come in from all over the world. But they are seldom if ever reported in the mainstream press in the US.
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Next you'll be claiming submarines don't have screen doors. Even nuclear subs must comply with the mask mandate. Water is deadly to our sailors. Even if the screen door has leaks, it does slow the entry of water.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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BS ...
Uhhh…viruses don’t just float around in mid air by themselves.
What happens when a virus-containing moisture droplet evaporates?
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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It stays airborne for awhile ...
The fact that AOC even showed up (regardless of what her $10K gown said) proves that she is just like the rest of the elitists and elected representative sell outs. This was a marketing opportunity for her to build her brand's equity, she is a gluttonous opportunist after all (oh, but I was there to get my message out). AOC does believe in the socialist policies that she claims to care about, but only because they will get her re-elected, and because they help her build her brand. She will get rich and famous off earned media and maybe leave some more crumbs for the serfs.....maybe.
The only thing you can be sure AOC can be counted on to do is excel in a blatant publicity stunt. Nice to know this is how she spends her time while drawing a salary from US taxpayers. She would never put "universal health care" or "support the return of family farms" inked over her lazy ass.
I wonder who paid her entry fee.
Probably classified as a campaign contribution.
Yeah, that's my first guess. The second guess is she was comped in exchange for a vote on some "important" piece of legislation.
She’s pelosi’s bitch. Easy connections!
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Likely, she was invited as a member of the NY delegation. Big events often invite members of Congress.
Nah, AOC is just the flavor of the moment playing a role. A person with "star power" who is being fed what to say, what to do etc. The crash and burn will be spectacular.
AOC is an active and enthusiastic participant in this hypocritical performance. She's an adult and responsible for her own actions. It took time, effort and cash to design that gown and plan to attend the gala for self-advancement. She mouths socialist slogans but is as interested in the welfare of people as Czar Nicholas II. I hope you're correct about the spectacular end of her career.
Oh yes I agree, she plays her part with relish. When the end comes is hard to predict given how bizarre everything is now.
She's been a disappointment, from a lefty point of view, a perfect example of position and party corrupting. Nonetheless, as someone who's helped pick candidates, I can tell you she's a dream candidate, certainly for anywhere on the left. She's smart and has charisma to burn, and cameras love her.
She'll probably be the first woman President. Better than Hillary, anyway.
She sounds like a 13 year old, think like a 10 year old, and she’s never had an original thought in in her entire life. If that’s a dream candidate it is because morons appeal to the DNC electorate.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Sorry Chuck, for me anyone who ties his/her political cart to the D donkey, or the R elephant, for that matter could never, IMO, be a "dream candidate" - they are allowed to run as Ds to keep lefties in the D tent and away from 3rd parties - running with the Ds is dancing with the Devil - you can boogie a bit, but step on his toes and there is hell to pay ... ask Kucinich ....
I agree - just providing some realism about how elections work. Political aptitude is quite separate from political integrity - unfortunately.
Having a MSM political propaganda apparatus working in one’s favor at every step - is quite separate from political aptitude.
She’s a profoundly ignorant imbecile, she’s never held an original thought in her life, and has never progressed beyond first order thinking. Not unlike pop music stars with no talent, she’s a product with a brand and never has to be accountable for her dipshittery.
The charisma/star power thing to me is fascinating. All sides use it (makes sense). Her "dancing on the roof" video is a classic screen and look test.
She might be around the House for a long time. But a statewide election to replace Schumer or Gillibrand? Gfl with that.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Remember, repulsive Sinema was like AOC -- before she became a fascist - what she is now.
China is far more capitalist than the US, Russia has not been Communist for 30+ years, while the US is a corporate socialism (more polite term for fascism)
Oh, it seems she doesn't really believe in that stuff - but it is useful rhetoric these days, any more than Trump believed SARS Cov-2 was a harmless virus when he was helicoptered to a top military hospital, and had the sink of treatments thrown at him ...
Or a corpse.
Only if the portrayal was indistinguishable from reality...
All Animals are equal, but some Animals are more equal than others...
Gee…how original.
I was waiting for somebody to write this. Because it was Glenn it was brilliant and hilarious at the same time.
Agreed!
Hilarious?
Considering cloth masks cannot stop a virus, it really is about subjugation and segregation. Fuck all of these people.
Masks(other then n95 are useless)
NTM that after March, 2020, true N95 masks were reserved for health care professionals, and what was sold to the general public on Amazon, et al, were KN95 masks, made in China, and manufactured with no real measuremen against the N95 standard. What few 3rd party tests were done seemed to indicated that some, probably most, possibly all KN95 masks were vastly inferior to the real thing. When I couldn't get away without a mask last year, I wore a 3M half-face respirator (that I already owned) equipped with P100 cartridges. That combination probably afforded me at least a little bit of protection. The real joke on the autocrats is that such respirators only filter incoming air, there is an exhalation valve to minimize breathing effort...
The real joke is that the "virus" was/is 99 percent survivable even if you believe their numbers since the flu magically disappeared.
Well, let's see - 1% of 300 million is 3 million - so that's OK with you, eh? Unless you or someone you love is one of them
Most of them were elderly and with four underlying conditions. Very few died OF covid. The numbers have been distorted to manipulate people like you to follow the mandates and get vaxxed. Sadly, people die every day and the best defense against any disease is a healthy lifestyle which is hardly ever mentioned by the "experts."
And you know this, how?
Shucks, even Trump got vaccinated ...
This bears repeating. The actual so-called "virus" was about as harmful as a bad cold to the great majority of people.
Now see this:
Video: Does the Virus Exist? Has SARS-CoV-2 Been Isolated? Interview with Christine Massey
https://www.globalresearch.ca/does-the-virus-exist-has-sars-cov-2-been-isolated-interview-with-christine-massey/5753322
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Good grief! How many times does one have to say, yes and yes
Look you gotta stop wearing those VR or AR glasses ....
Both N95 and KN95 masks are designed the filter out 95% of particles. The difference is what SIZE particles the filter. N95 will filter particles as small as viruses, but KN95 allow viruses to pass through. KN95 are greated for industrial uses to filter dusted; coronavirus, not so much.
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/the-masking-of-the-servant-class/comments#comment-2885894
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Well. Fucking. Done. Thank you for continuing to shed light on the enormous amount of disturbing societal shifts we've seen since March 2020. We truly need your voice along with the select few other journalists, who are courageous enough to push back against the groupthink and expose this gross hypocrisy.
I've always thought that no one writes a better "takedown piece" than Mark Steyn. That may still be true, but Mark now has competition. Glenn's piece is brilliant and savage in equal measure, a tour de force of prose. If you wonder why so many of us pay little or no attention to our alleged 'leaders', this essay is a great place to start.
I have nothing to add, except that I sincerely hope use of the phrase "masked servants of color" becomes a thing.
Many of the servers visible in the video Glenn embedded seem to be white (some may be from "south of the border"). That doesn't negate Glenn's overall point, but his use of the phrase "masked servants of color" may be inaccurate.
I was honestly hoping Glenn's use of it was a little dig at the Newspeak of these times - BIPOC, Latinx, et al. I assume Mitch's use is exactly that. And of course, white is also a color. Not intending any snark here.
Gee, do they have to be "of color"?
Plenty of colorless masked servants at my local shops and restaurants.
Masks are fascist symbols. Please point out the fascism of their advocates. The science behind masks is weak, and they may make the pandemic worse because of confounding factors where people engage in riskier behavior because they overestimate effectiveness. https://www.city-journal.org/do-masks-work-a-review-of-the-evidence
Oh shucks, there goes Halloween ....
It's clear that Halloween masks do indeed foster risky behavior, such as taking candy from strangers.
Ah, but they are effective :D
I was never one to be drawn towards AOC, however, at this moment I do feel empathy for those who not only voted for her, but trusted her to lead any sort of movement or challenge real power dynamics. I am quick to notice in this imagery the similarities to the animals of Orwell's Animal Farm:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
How can anyone observe this and not only see the blatant hypocrisy, but also betrayal? It is rather insulting for her to not only attend, but then give such an obviously myopic and absurd justification for doing so. I don't know if a better juxtaposition of imagery exists today that better exemplifies the current environment: attending a decadent gathering of the mega-elite while wearing a preposterously extravagant dress with clearly empty sanctimony.
AOC is the female Latin version of Obama. Both shameless phonies who betrayed those who voted for them.
good comparison, though Obama did have a better speech writer
He also said, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
Indeed. Here I am imagining the original fans of Ocasio-Cortez watch in disbelief as she wines and dines with the country's richest.
This is beautiful Glenn, thank you for writing such a complete take down of this insanity.
The fact that many cannot see the oligarchic dystopia of mask wearing is so deeply saddening. Many are in denial about how far along the road to serfdom we are.
I've often lamented that Tom Wolfe is no longer around when we need him the most but Glenn has admirably risen to the occasion. All this reminds me of the Bernstein Black Panther soiree. Those who haven't done so should read "Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catcher". Felicia, clever hostess that she was, solved what could have been a source of embarrassment by ensuring all the servants were Hispanic.
Wolfe had a keen eye for the hypocrisy and banality of American culture. Glenn is getting there
Gore Vidal as well-- but solely of the elite of which he was
"I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I am a conspiracy analyst"--Gore Vidal
Did you see him with William F. Buckley's show when Vidal called Buckley a Crypto-Nazi? Buckley responded that he would break Vidal's nose if he didn't take it back. Vidal said, "that would prove my point".
Buckley did not hit Vidal ... at least not on camera.
https://www.pbs.org/video/independent-lens-crypto-nazi-and-other-insults/
I re-read that recently. It is absolutely devastating and he skewered the Radical Chic, who definitely still with us.
David Foster Wallace (April 9, 1996). "Feodor's Guide: Joseph Frank's Dostoevsky". The Village Voice. . If you want to get some idea of how Dostoevskian irony might translate into modern U.S. culture, try reading House of the Dead and Tom Wolfe’s “Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers” at the same time.
Totally agree that Greenwald can channel Wolfe, and love that piece. I taught it for many years in a literary journalism class but stopped when social media became so pervasive that my students could no longer focus their attention long enough to get through it. #sad
Excellent comparative 😊
This revolting Met gala circle jerk perfectly illustrates Adolph Reed's critique of the CRT movement: a huge proportion of the elite attendees are POC -- especially black celebrities. Meanwhile, the handmaidens and butlers are people of every stripe. So racism is solved, right? Because we have proportional representation within each social caste. Now ask the average person growing up in coal miner Appalachia or inner-city Detroit or Los Angeles, black or white or brown, if life is good.
The only silver lining that I can see in this entire disgusting display is that the hyena pack of paparrazzi are also relegated to servant class status.
I’ll wear a mask when these fucks do.
I wear a mask indoors, for my own protection (or so I hope) and out of courtesy to others. I don't let the hypocrisy of the elite affect my personal choice about wearing masks.
Maybe you should.