PARIS, Jan. 13, 2022 (EIRNS) – Helen Christian, in her April 2011 student thesis, “Plague and Persecution: The Black Death and Early Modern Witch Hunts,” stated that “the intensity of the Early Modern witch-hunts can be traced back to the plague of 1348,” whose “devastation and the particularly unpleasant nature traumatized the European psyche, meaning that any potential recurrence of plague was a motivation to search for scapegoats.” An initial search for scapegoats has not been difficult to identify in the case of COVID-19: China was falsely blamed for covering up the existence of the disease, a remarkable claim after its large-scale testing, contact tracing, lockdowns, and emergency hospital construction.
The philosophical social-Darwinism underlying the current trans-Atlantic neo-liberal economic model is once again producing that phenomenon in a more general sense of angst, primed to be directed by the unscrupulous.
Some loudly proclaim that statements (and actions) against the use of hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin are responsible for millions of deaths, often wearing blinders to other issues.
Socratic discussions with people who are not currently vaccinated can and should be undertaken, to address concerns about the risks and benefits of vaccines and to develop accurate assessments of the effectiveness of various treatments; but scapegoating “the unvaccinated” or burning them at the stake will not save the planet from COVID-19.
Adopting a worldwide policy of zero COVID, which has been shown locally successful in China and other locations, will work.
