Ignorance, thankfully, is something that we can cure. Stupidity, on the other hand, is terminal. 

For example;

"We are at a moment of truth and a crossroads. Will we allow these people to use fear and propaganda to do further harm to our society, economy, and our children? Or will we stand together and say, absolutely not. Not this time. I choose freedom."

Rand Paul, United States Senator. 

A sitting United States senator spoke these "wise" (sic) words on mask-wearing and vaccinations recently.  Randal Howard Paul is an American physician and politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Kentucky since 2011. He is the son of former three-time presidential candidate and twelve-term U.S. Representative of Texas, Ron Paul.

The 25th word in the above biography states that Senator Paul as being a physician! That's right, a Physician!!! Although his anti-mask and anti-vaccination tweets have thankfully been deleted in the last few weeks, he is also currently banned from uploading videos to YouTube that debunk the necessity of mask-wearing and the efficacy of vaccines against the COVID virus. 

If spoken by the 'ordinary man or woman in the street, these opinions would be, debunked as ludicrous but, when said by a sitting member of the United States Senate who represents thousands of his constituents in Kentucky, it borders on criminal.

Only in America, right? 

Well, not really, as these sorts of attitudes seem to have permeated the consciousness of ant-vaxers and conspiracy theorists across the globe. 

However, back to America. In Missouri, (a state with one of the lowest vaccination records in the country), some citizens who wish to be vaccinated have taken to wearing disguises to avoid being recognised when getting a jab. This is so that their anti-vax friends and family remain ignorant to the fact that they are protecting themselves from a deadly virus.

An advertisement in the Ozark Healthcare Gazette is now offering 'private and discreet' appointments whereby those wishing to receive a dose will be afforded a private consultation room, removed from the public areas of the clinic. This devious behaviour prevents those willing to get their shot from being ostracised by family and friends simply for their belief in science.

 This sort of behaviour by the 'secret 'jabbers or the indeed the clinic makes me furious. There are countless hundreds of million people in poorer countries who have no access to a life-saving vaccine and, if circumstances were different, they would be queueing up to get one. So getting a shot of Moderna or Astra Zeneca and treating it as an embarrassing secret is quite simply the height of western privilege.

 It is those with the loudest voice that are doing the most damage. Fox News's smug, self-righteous Tucker Carlson, the world's leading bigot, leads the field of right-wing talking heads spreading chronic misinformation and conspiracy theories. He rants nightly about the' communist government' and their draconian actions to get the country to at least wear a mask or get a free vaccine yet refuses to answer journalists' questions about whether he has received a dose. ( I bet he has!) 

His cohort on air, the blonde 'angel of death,' Laura Ingram smugly tells her audience each night that they are being lied to and deceived by a ‘communist' government. She persistently calls for the head of the embattled Dr Fauchi, whose only crime has been his scrupulous honesty in telling the American public the truth.

Finally, there is the irrepressible congresswoman and avid QAnon devotee Marjorie Taylor Green. She maliciously spreads misinformation like we spread jam onto a piece of toast. At rallies across the country, she lies so often it would make Pinocchio envious. Yet, her base seems to lap it up to the point that she elicited cheers from her audience at a recent rally in Alabama when she proudly announced that that particular state was the least vaccinated in the country.

When asked by a reporter whether she had received a vaccination, she claimed that she was not obliged to answer the question as she fell under the protection of something called the 'HIPPA rights'. This obscure law means that one is under no obligation to reveal one's medical records. I suspect that she is a chronic Hippa-crite, given she is technically a federal employee and, to take her seat in congress, must show that she has been vaccinated.

Most of this rant has centred on the United States of America, but, unfortunately, much of this ignorance prolificates the Western world. 

Depressing, isn't it.

If only there were a vaccine that could eliminate stupidity !!!

Bali, Indonesia August 2021