I read the following misleading statement on Facebook this morning: “Has everyone realized that 1.6 million people died last year of tuberculosis even though there is a vaccine but we weren’t wearing masks Nor are being controlled.”
First, let’s talk about what a Red Herring argument is (borrowing the following from Wikipedia): A
red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question.
It may be either a logical
fallacy or a
literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring may be used intentionally, as in mystery fiction or as part of
rhetorical strategies (e.g., in politics), or may be used in argumentation inadvertently.
Herrings “kippered” by smoking, salting and artificially dyeing until made reddish-brown, i.e., a “red herring”. Prior to refrigeration kipper was known for being strongly pungent. In 1807, William Cobbett wrote how he used a kipper to lay a false trail, while training hunting dogs—an apocryphal story that was probably the origin of the idiom.
Back to TB
This is a perfect example of a Red Herring argument… while it may or may not be true (I didn’t look up the information because, as I explain below, it is entirely irrelevant) it doesn’t matter because it is irrelevant to the question at hand: COVID.
I’m posting it here instead of where I read it because I don’t want to blow up that person’s feed, and no, I’m not going to identify them.
With all due respects, spreading misleading information like this may well cause friends to die.
Let’s look at the statement above.
Almost all of the people who died of TB did so in third world countries like Bangladesh, Monrovia, Etc. The USA TB death total was 8,920 in 2019 according to the CDC.
Breaking that down even further, most of those who died in the USA were drug or alcohol dependent homeless people.
Except in EXCEEDINGLY rare cases, TB is fully treatable with an extensive antibiotic regimen that allows for full recovery.
In other words, the death rate in first-world countries from TB largely revolves around people who did not get good medical attention until it was far too late.
The transmission rate of TB is very, very low in the USA.
Facemasks?
Fun Fact: The transmission rates for TB as well as seasonal flu strains and other airborne diseases are decreasing rapidly as more people around the world wear facemasks.
I get that some people don’t want to wear facemasks. I also get why people want to make up excuses to justify their stands.
Passing off junk “medical” information, however, to try to convert others? Yeah, that I get no so much.
Sorry if this is offensive, it’s just I’m seeing so much of this absolutely baseless, misleading information out there.
Wear a mask, don’t wear a mask, it’s your choice no matter what the law says. Actions have consequences, but consequences do not have to determine choice.
Either way, you are right, you probably won’t get TB unless you work in a homeless shelter.
COVID? Well, that’s a different matter.
My Take On Facemasks
My take on facemasks? I’m wearing one in public because it gives me the best chance to survive the current pandemic, and I’m a survivalist.
I don’t give a flying fig about the political aspects of the “facemask debate”, I just care about keeping me and mine alive and healthy. I’m also avoiding crowds, social distancing and avoiding being in enclosed places with other people unless absolutely necessary.
It baffles me that any prepper would want to do things that would reduce their chances of surviving a pandemic, but it is what it is.
Lazy Learning: Accepting BS At Face Value
I’ve been talking about it for year… decades really… about how we need to check multiple sources from across the spectrum and then make up our own minds, rather than just depending upon single-source information (especially when that single source is just some random person on the internet).
That’s why here at 3BY we show our work… we link to where we get the information from, and on anything that has to do with basic medical or health knowledge we use footnotes so you can see where we got what we are talking about, and read the original source materials ourselves.
The Echo Chamber
One of the biggest problems I see in America right now is that people are getting all wrapped up about information that’s only being shared within certain communities. For example, people of the conservative mindset only listen to, watch or read conservative-produced news, while at the same time people of the liberal mindset only listen to, watch or read liberal-produced news.
This is an echo chamber, where the same speech is being echoed off the walls, and nothing from the outside gets in.
It’s such a dangerous way for preppers to get their information as well, and while I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops nobody seems to be listening.
To me, it’s nothing more than an ostrich hiding it’s head in the sand, thinking it’s safe because it can’t see what’s about to attack it.
Echo Chambers Lead To Lies
I don’t trust people in the media. I really don’t.
Why? Because they have their own best interests in mind, not mine. It is their job to do whatever it takes to sell product. Period.
Whatever. It. Takes.
Lie.
Cheat.
Steal.
Doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes.
Of course, since they can’t really get away with flat out lying all the time, they spin. They redirect. They ignore. And, of course, they promote red herrings.
As a person who has worked in the media, in one form or another, I can tell you from first-hand experience how cynical most journalists are about virtually everything.
An Example
Many years ago I was working as an editor with a local weekly newspaper group (we published three county-wide weekly papers at the time). Walter Mondale was running for president against Ronald Reagan in 1984.
Mondale was doing the usual “Iowa caucuses” town meeting, giving his canned stump speech but doing it in an area where we had readers, so I went there to cover the event.
Since Mondale was the front runner and a former Vice-President he had a pretty good national press corps following at the time.
While we were standing around waiting for Mondale to arrive, I talked to a reporter from the New York Times, and I asked him how many times he’d heard the same speech (knowing Mondale was giving it five times a day), he laughed at me in that “you are such a local hick” sort of way and said “once.”
Of course, I had to know. “Once?” I asked.
“Yeah, the first time he gave it. Since then, I just follow him around and look for stuff I can rip on the little town we are in… you know, stuff like ‘the place smelled like a hog lot’ and that kind of crap. I’ve got my recorder going in case Mondale @$^*#!’s (messes) up, but it’s the same old $#^& so mostly I just hang out and look for a “yokel” angle”.
He looked over at my raised eyebrows. “Listen, son,” he said in his most condescending voice, “I work for the New York Times not the Pigtrough Weekly Herald or whatever… nobody in New York gives a damn about any of this unless he @$^*#!’s (messes) up. That’s the only thing that will sell papers, not reporting on canned speeches in @$^*#! Iowa.”
You can take that for what it’s worth.
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I’m one of the “non face mask wearing crowd” I’ve not worn one since this scamdemic first started.
I do keep my distance from other folks so they don’t “freak out” and I try to be polite as possible.
So far, no one has told me I have to wear a mask to come inside, not even at the doctors office.
But who knows, things may change.