TRIGGERnometry - Vaccine Hesitancy EXPLAINED

00:00:00.700 You're struggling to understand why some people are vaccine hesitant.

00:00:04.640 Let me help you.

00:00:09.880 Imagine you're a normal person.

00:00:12.200 The year's 2016.

00:00:14.360 Rightly or wrongly, you believe most of what you see in the media.

00:00:17.760 You believe polls are broadly reflective of public opinion.

00:00:21.160 You believe doctors and scientists are trustworthy and independent.

00:00:25.000 You're a decent, reasonable person who follows the rules and trusts authority.

00:00:30.000 Imagine you're shocked then when Brexit, which you were assured won't happen because it's a fringe movement led by racists for racists, happens.

00:00:39.040 The polls, which widely predicted it wouldn't happen, were completely wrong.

00:00:43.240 The experts and media pundits who told you it wouldn't happen day after day are also wrong.

00:00:48.840 Oh well, you say, these things happen.

00:00:51.920 Imagine that soon after Donald Trump is running for president.

00:00:55.280 You're told by your favorite media publications that he's going to lose.

00:00:59.720 Some experts say his opponent has a 99% chance of winning.

00:01:04.240 Imagine waking up on the morning after the election

00:01:06.700 to discover that pollsters, media experts and politicians you still trusted were wrong again.

00:01:12.840 And now the racist monster they told you would never get near the White House

00:01:16.200 is the leader of the free world. 0.93

00:01:18.700 How did this happen, you ask yourself.

00:01:20.660 How could all the people in charge of informing me be so wrong?

00:01:24.780 It was the Russians, they tell you.

00:01:26.880 The Russians did Brexit and they got Trump elected too.

00:01:30.980 Imagine that for the next three and a half years,

00:01:33.120 you watch as the media and the political class run with the Russia collusion narrative. 0.96

00:01:38.060 They tell you the how, the when, the where, the dossiers, the whistleblowers, the peeing prostitutes. 0.95

00:01:43.760 Imagine your desperation for things to make sense again.

00:01:47.400 The Mueller report is coming and it will set your world straight.

00:01:51.360 Evidence of foreign meddling in the 2016 election and Brexit is coming to save your unsettled mind.

00:01:57.600 Imagine your shock then when you discover that Brexit and Trump had little to do with foreign meddling.

00:02:02.720 The screaming about Russians and Brexit dies down as well.

00:02:06.480 Imagine that bit by bit you discover that events which the media and political class told you would not

00:02:11.600 and could not happen, not only happen, but happen without some sort of evil interference.

00:02:17.300 Instead, millions of your fellow citizens voted for them.

00:02:20.660 Again you ask, how could this happen?

00:02:23.660 And again the media has the answer.

00:02:25.660 Racism.

00:02:26.660 Your country is racist, they tell you. 0.98

00:02:28.660 If you're white, this seems strange to you. 1.00

00:02:31.660 Other than a handful of idiots, you've never met a racist. 1.00

00:02:34.660 If you're an ethnic minority immigrant like me, this seems even stranger. 1.00

00:02:38.660 Why would people in one of the most welcoming, tolerant countries in the world

00:02:42.660 want to convince themselves their country is racist when it's so obviously not?

00:02:47.660 But the evidence is right there on your TV screen. 0.99

00:02:51.660 Imagine your horror as a gay black actor is assaulted by MAGA hat wearing thugs 0.99

00:02:55.660 who racially abuse him and put a noose around his neck. 0.99

00:02:58.660 He cries while talking about it.

00:03:01.660 Imagine your outrage as you see news reports of a bunch of MAGA hat wearing kids

00:03:05.660 from a religious school contemptuously confront a Native American elder.

00:03:10.660 Reza Aslan tells you the kid has a punchable face.

00:03:13.660 And while you abhor violers, it's hard to disagree.

00:03:17.660 Imagine that for days you watch coverage of these events with expert after expert, pundit after pundit, sharing and fueling your outrage about them.

00:03:26.620 With every word, your belief that you are a good person and that your country is a good country wavers.

00:03:32.800 Imagine that soon after, however, the Juicy Smollett story turns out to be an attention-seeking hoax.

00:03:39.040 Imagine that you quickly discover that the Native American elder was the one who confronted the kids and not either way around.

00:03:46.180 If this is such a racist country, you ask yourself,

00:03:49.380 why would they need to make up stories of racism?

00:03:52.420 As you ponder this, you remember that for years now,

00:03:55.180 you've been expected to go along with other make-believe.

00:03:58.080 You're expected to believe that whether you're male or female

00:04:00.700 is not as simple as you once thought.

00:04:02.920 Whatever you learn about biology at school is wrong.

00:04:06.000 You no longer know how many genders there are, 0.98

00:04:08.300 and it seems dangerous to try and find out.

00:04:11.620 Imagine reading that the experts at the American Psychological Association

00:04:15.280 say that traditional masculinity is pathological and harmful.

00:04:19.840 Imagine that you still want to believe the media and the experts,

00:04:22.520 but now that requires you to think your country is racist,

00:04:26.040 men are bad, and gender is a social construct, whatever that means.

00:04:30.700 It is at this point that a pandemic emerges on the other side of the world.

00:04:34.900 You're initially unconcerned, but as scenes emerge from Italy and other countries,

00:04:38.700 it is clear that something big is happening.

00:04:41.320 You watch nervously as politicians give press conference after press conference,

00:04:45.280 flanked by experts, to explain the situation.

00:04:49.020 The racist Donald Trump shuts down travel from China.

00:04:53.220 In response, the mayor of Florence in Italy

00:04:55.160 advises citizens to fight racism by hugging a Chinese person.

00:05:00.040 Shortly after, Nancy Pelosi, a respected Democrat, 0.99

00:05:03.140 visits Chinatown in San Francisco to explain

00:05:05.680 that there's no reason tourists or locals should be staying away from the area

00:05:09.400 because of coronavirus concerns.

00:05:12.180 Thank God there are some sensible non-racist people

00:05:14.860 who aren't overreacting, you say to yourself.

00:05:18.160 Imagine watching as Trump doubles down on his racism

00:05:20.840 by claiming the virus may have come from a lab in Wuhan.

00:05:24.760 Nonsense, you think to yourself,

00:05:26.280 as you wonder how best to protect yourself and your family

00:05:28.740 from this deadly disease.

00:05:30.880 You consider getting masks.

00:05:32.260 You've seen visitors from Asian countries wear them.

00:05:35.040 But the UK's chief medical officer tells you not to wear a mask

00:05:38.100 and to wash your hands instead.

00:05:41.120 As lockdowns are introduced around the world,

00:05:43.500 you diligently follow all the rules.

00:05:46.040 You stay at home, only go out once a day,

00:05:48.640 live off savings or government grants.

00:05:51.240 You're proud to be doing your part.

00:05:53.620 Thanks to you and millions of your fellow citizens,

00:05:56.000 the first wave of the pandemic

00:05:57.320 does not overwhelm the healthcare system.

00:05:59.740 While thousands sadly die,

00:06:01.540 you've helped to protect the NHS.

00:06:04.260 Imagine your confusion as the same people

00:06:06.320 who have spent three months telling you masks don't work

00:06:08.580 and you shouldn't wear them,

00:06:10.520 then introduce mask mandates.

00:06:12.840 We're following the science, they tell you.

00:06:15.100 This makes little sense, but a pandemic is no time for questions.

00:06:19.260 As you cautiously go to the supermarket,

00:06:21.380 you notice that masks have made people far less likely to socially distance.

00:06:25.740 You remember reading somewhere that bicycle helmets work the same way.

00:06:29.220 They give the wearer more confidence,

00:06:30.980 and the result is more accidents and injuries, not fewer. 0.97

00:06:34.900 Silly people, you say to yourself. 0.97

00:06:36.800 If only they would just follow government advice. 0.99

00:06:39.960 You turn on your TV to learn that shoppers at your local supermarket

00:06:43.320 aren't the only ones who have been ignoring the rules.

00:06:46.660 Neil Ferguson, the man whose projections were used as the basis for lockdowns,

00:06:50.820 appears to have broken his own rules to get some action with his married lover.

00:06:55.100 Boris Johnson's chief advisor, Dominic Cummings,

00:06:57.860 drove halfway across the country to ensure he had a better place to isolate.

00:07:02.160 The journalists who berate him for this

00:07:04.060 are later found to have attended a birthday party in breach of the rules.

00:07:09.080 The lockdown continues.

00:07:11.360 However, a man is killed in Minneapolis while being arrested for a petty crime.

00:07:15.960 The man is black, the officer is white.

00:07:19.040 The arrest is captured on video and quickly goes viral around the world.

00:07:23.400 Imagine your horror as you watch an officer of the law

00:07:26.400 kneel on another man's neck until he passes out and later dies. 0.96

00:07:30.980 This is disgusting, you say to yourself. 1.00

00:07:33.880 I hope they throw the book at him. 0.89

00:07:35.380 overnight a huge campaign for racial justice springs up around the world

00:07:40.600 no one explains what racism had to do with the incident but they don't need to as you know by

00:07:46.500 now the west is racist and therefore anytime a white person does anything bad to a black person

00:07:51.420 there can be only one explanation the fact that an identical incident happened to a white man

00:07:57.140 called tony timper is never mentioned for context while the lockdown rules remain in place the

00:08:03.180 Protests against injustice spill out onto the streets.

00:08:06.620 Tens of thousands of people crowd into major cities.

00:08:09.820 Few wear masks and social distancing is non-existent.

00:08:13.980 Clashes with police ensue, and in America,

00:08:16.560 protesters loot stores, attack residents, and start fires.

00:08:20.640 A retired black police officer called David Dorn

00:08:23.060 is among dozens of people who are murdered in the chaos.

00:08:26.560 The media describe these events as mostly peaceful protests,

00:08:30.100 as the reporters stand in front of burning buildings.

00:08:33.300 After months of harsh restrictions,

00:08:35.260 the media and political class offer no criticism

00:08:37.860 of protests, which violate every element of lockdown.

00:08:41.420 After months of telling you to stay at home

00:08:43.420 to avoid spreading COVID, doctors explain

00:08:46.300 that rather than being a mass COVID-spreading event,

00:08:49.260 protest is a profound public health intervention.

00:08:53.700 Big tech companies go into overdrive

00:08:55.620 to stop the spread of disinformation.

00:08:58.100 All discussion of alternative points of view

00:09:00.140 regarding the efficacy of masks and lockdowns,

00:09:02.760 as well as the origins of the virus, are censored.

00:09:05.820 Attempts to discuss the negative impact of lockdown

00:09:08.160 on health and mental wellbeing are suppressed.

00:09:10.980 As the year runs on,

00:09:12.240 with a pivotal American election looming,

00:09:14.640 President Trump promises a huge push to develop a vaccine.

00:09:18.660 Kamala Harris, who is later elected vice president,

00:09:21.520 says that she would not take the vaccine

00:09:23.180 if Trump told her to.

00:09:26.060 On the eve of the election,

00:09:27.300 A publication in America releases a damaging report about Hunter Biden,

00:09:31.460 son of presidential candidate Joe Biden.

00:09:34.300 The story alleges corruption, which may involve his father,

00:09:37.540 as well as drug-taking, use of prostitutes, and more.

00:09:40.980 Twitter and other social media companies prevent the story from being shared.

00:09:45.480 The media lines up commentators to claim the story was Russian disinformation.

00:09:50.080 Once his father wins the election,

00:09:52.340 it becomes clear that several key elements of the story are likely accurate,

00:09:55.460 and the laptop from which the information was recovered is in fact Hunter Biden's laptop.

00:10:01.700 Meanwhile, the numbers of COVID patients and deaths turn out to have been wrong.

00:10:06.280 For some time, anyone who died at any point after a positive COVID test

00:10:10.260 was counted as dying of COVID, even if they were killed by a drunk driver.

00:10:14.640 This figure is later revised again.

00:10:17.120 The number of people who are in hospital because of COVID also turns out to be incorrect.

00:10:21.940 Now that racist Donald Trump is no longer president,

00:10:25.000 closing borders is no longer considered xenophobic

00:10:27.300 and is widely advocated for in the media.

00:10:30.900 The racist conspiracy theory that the virus came from a lab in China

00:10:34.780 is now also allowed to be discussed

00:10:36.920 and appears likely to be the most credible explanation of the origins of the virus.

00:10:42.080 Imagine your horror as you learn that the reason thousands of people died

00:10:45.640 in the first wave of the pandemic

00:10:46.960 was that elderly patients with COVID were allowed to be released back into care homes.

00:10:52.560 This is especially true in the UK and in New York, run by Governor Andrew Cuomo, brother of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo.

00:10:59.780 Governor Cuomo published a suspense promotion of his book about leadership during the pandemic amid the inquiring to nursing home deaths.

00:11:07.440 Meanwhile, Texas and Florida, which remained open, continue to thrive.

00:11:11.180 In the UK, the health secretary, the person responsible for saving lives, is found to be

00:11:18.180 cheating on his wife with a married aide in breach of social distancing guidelines.

00:11:23.340 The man making the rules for you does not follow them. It is at this point that the vaccine,

00:11:29.060 which you were initially told would need to be given to the vulnerable before restrictions can

00:11:32.640 be lifted, becomes the main drive of government policy and media commentary. The same people who

00:11:38.540 told you Brexit would never happen, Trump would never win, that when he did win it was

00:11:42.700 because of Russian collusion, then because of racism, that you must follow lockdown rules

00:11:47.280 while they don't, that masks don't work and then that they do, that protests during lockdowns

00:11:52.480 are a health intervention, that ransacking black communities in the name of fighting 1.00

00:11:56.420 racism is mostly peaceful justice, that Jussie Smollett was a victim of a hate crime, that

00:12:01.420 men are toxic, that there is an infinite number of genders, that COVID didn't come from a 0.99

00:12:06.100 lab, and then that it probably did. That closing borders is racist, and then that it's the most 0.91

00:12:10.680 important thing to do. That the Hunter Biden story is Russian disinformation, and then that it's not.

00:12:16.220 That they would not take Trump's vaccine, and then that you must take the vaccine. 1.00

00:12:20.420 That Governor Cuomo is a great COVID leader, and then that he's a granny killer and a sex pest. 1.00

00:12:25.840 That the number of COVID deaths is one thing, and then another. The hospitals are filled with 0.98

00:12:30.360 COVID patients, and then that many of them caught COVID in hospital. These are the same people now

00:12:35.840 telling you the vaccine is safe, you must take it, and if you don't, you will be a second-class

00:12:41.020 citizen. Understand vaccine hesitancy now? How do I know all this? Here on Trigonometry,

00:12:48.360 we have honest conversations with people who can actually explain why things are happening.

00:12:52.560 Join us.

TRIGGERnometry - January 01, 2022

Vaccine Hesitancy EXPLAINED

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