“We’ve been sold a bill of goods.”
Yes, that’s one of the sparkling comments on the NOW’s Facebook page under my column about “Ken in Burnaby” refusing to follow the City of Burnaby’s rules regarding COVID-19 and the Deer Lake trail. You can read about it here.
The “bill of goods” that reader Rod thinks is being sold is about the scale of COVID-19 and the needs for safety measures such as wearing masks and physical distancing.
The world has just reached the 400,000 dead mark for COVID-19, with many countries such as Brazil and the U.S. showing no signs of slowing down. But Rod thinks we’ve been “sold a bill of goods,” a remark that sounds suspiciously like calling it some form of “hoax” like a certain president implied early on in the pandemic.
“Bogdan in Burnaby” wrote in about people being “brainwashed” and that his precious freedom is being taken away by making people walk in one direction in a park.
“The problem with freedom is that unless it was taken away from you, you have no idea what it's like not to have it. Go ahead drink that Bonnie Henry Kool aid, but the rest of us don't have to.”
Hey, “Bogdan in Burnaby,” you’re not a political prisoner, you’re a dude walking on a trail.
This is the kind of tinfoil hat garbage that passes for commentary in some quarters. They don’t have any facts, just a whiny “I don’t trust the government” sneer about how the rest of us are sheep by following the recommendations of health officials.
It’s why “Ken in Burnaby” doesn’t want anyone telling him what to do.
It’s why someone who calls himself “Goose in Burnaby” wrote to me with his support for “Ken in Burnaby” (so many of these dudes refuse to give their full names).
“I for one do think I'm smarter than Dr. Bonnie Henry,” wrote “Goose in Burnaby” in an email. “Smart enough to know that this was no accident. Smart enough to know that this was more about money than anything else.”
I don’t know where to start, but how about how you are in no way even remotely as intelligent as Henry.
You can just feel the conspiracy sleaze oozing over that entire paragraph. It’s really about arrogance. Conspiracy nuts (such as anti-vaxxers) want the world to know that the reason they are contrarians is because they are smarter than scientists.
It would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
