Background
First I'll explain the background of this essay, and then get into the meat of the propaganda below (or you can skip ahead)
Recently, the lancet put out this study to further insinuate that HCQ is a dangerous drug being promoted by Trump
Study Finds Hydroxychloroquine Linked to Increased Death Rates
Doublefacepalm
I don't even know where to begin with the above garbage-article. First of all, "risk" is NOT "death", so the headline itself is wildly false and vicious propaganda that will end up actually harming anyone who eschews HCQ when they contract COVID19 and really need it.
Here is the actual study
Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, often in combination with a second-generation macrolide, are being widely used for treatment of COVID-19, despite no conclusive evidence of their benefit. Although generally safe when used for approved indications such as autoimmune disease or malaria, the safety and benefit of these treatment regimens are poorly evaluated in COVID-19
This is an example of another study that is trying too hard to prove that HCQ doesn't work against COVID19, while excluding ZINC and Azithromycin. The treament that has succeeded in multiple countries now is 1) HCQ, 2) Zinc (as zinc sulfate), and 3) Azithromycin. We KNOW the mechanism behind including zinc--it's zinc ionophore. This is PURPOSEFULLY OMITTED in order to demonstrate that HCQ doesn't work. And very likely, WITHOUT ZINC IT DOESN'T WORK against COVID--so they're proving themselves right. But they are NOT however, Proving Trump wrong.
It was always a COCKTAIL, not a single drug; just like in the treatment of HIV.
Macrolides Cause Heart Issues (That you can then BLAME on HCQ)
The study begins:
Macrolide antibiotics may increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, ventricular tachyarrhythmias and cardiovascular death in patients, according to a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
They made this study specifically by combining Azithromycin with the much more dangerous Clarithromycin so they could propagandize the negative cardio side effects of HCQ, by amplifying these side effects with multiple macrolides, multiplying risk--regardless of how infinitesimal--by orders of magnitude.
Although azithromycin can cause QT prolongation, it does so to a lesser extent than either erythromycin or clarithromycin. Moreover, despite the widespread use of azithromycin, reports of torsades de pointes in patients taking this drug are exceedingly rare, and almost all of them involve patients with other risk factors for QT prolongation. -- David N. Juurlink. Oct 2014. The cardiovascular safety of azithromycin
It's worth noting that "reports of torsades de pointes in patients taking this drug are exceedingly rare", so it's fair to say to the media that "Thou DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH" when it comes to the negative cardio effects of these drugs, and that this risk can be easily mitigated by MDs by simply having the patient take this antibiotic with HCQ for no longer than 4-5 days, while continuing the HCQ therapy for 10-14 days.
PROPAGANDA IS POWER
The Left Is Blind To Their Own Cognitive Biases and Illogic
We will now discuss why and how the left cannot understand how they are wrong about Hydroxychloroquine.
First of all, the left believes in POPULAR things, that popularity and consensus is the truth, rather than that proven by observation of empirical consensus reality. This creates cognitive dissonance among liberal scientists, who, in their craft, MUST accept observational, repeatable conclusions that disagree with their hypothesis--and in which case they say 'counterintuitive'
This "consensus is truth" is called ad populem argumentum, the "the bandwagon" effect, or "false consensus bias". In fact, the establishment relies on this effect, because they know that the left behaves in this manner: they've performed a sufficient number of studies on Authoritarianism from Millgrams to Stanford prison experiment to MKULTRA and beyond, to know that a certain percentage of society is authoritairan and therefore vulnerable to ad populem arguements. These people in the intelligence community are STILL running social experiments on authority with our society, it's called tracing the effects of mainstream / mass media by engagement and opinion polling in social media.
Point number one is that enough people on the left are screeching, in mass media and social media that Hydroxychloroquine is bad, and therefore they believe it is bad. Very tribal instinct.
Point two: the left is easily fooled by association fallacies and transfer propaganda, which is where you associate two things, and then smearing one smears the other. In the case of hydroxychlorquine, they are actively trying to associate HCQ with "conspiracy theorists swallowing or injecting bleach", with "anti-vaxxers", with "anti-science" people, with Trump (which on the left they say is a stupid, antisciencer), with herbal home remedies or chemical remedies that don't work, with "homeschooling", with Christians, and with other "people, things, ideas, values, and groups that the left does not favor". They conflate hydroxychloroquine with medical hoaxes. They conflate hydroxychloroquine with SNAKE OIL.
Point three: the left is easily fooled by the first information they receive. This is called an ANCHORING BIAS. So before anyone in the science community is allowed to discuss the merits of hydroxychloroquine, the moment that Trump mentioned it, it was IMMEDIATELY associated with medical hoaxes and "President Trump Pushing FAKE CURES and SNAKE OIL". Unfortunately, this "stuck" and the only people on the left that remain are people easily fooled by the first information they receive and I call them "Pathologically UNCURIOUS" because they never "go beyond" or "drill down" or "investigate" the beliefs they have, because of their character. I'm saying that the left is a kind of CULT now, that acts in this way. Others who have left this cult are now either Trump supporters, or never-Trumpers, or Independents, Anarchists, or just simply checked out of politics all together. The only people that could possibly support the LEFT AS IT IS TODAY are those that easily disprovable beliefs and therefore HAVE SERIOUS CHARACTEROLOGICAL PROBLEMS ACCEPTING REALITY AS EMPIRICAL.
In the case of HCQ, they have managed to create FAKE science studies that set up HCQ to be portrayed in the worst possible light. And published those first. Now there will be scientists who refute these studies as 'deeply flawed' (cherry picking people at deaths door for example, co-administering with a drug that causes problems), but the left will not be receptive to it. They're already ANCHORED to the first information. Fighting the belief that HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE doesn't work is an uphill battle you will ONLY win with people who are willing to ACCEPT NEW INFORMATION. So that means the other half of the country.
Point four: The left is fact-resistant. They believe what they already believe. This is a Confirmation Bias. Thus if you 'anchor' them with false information, as the Mainstream Media does, then they will NOT accept new facts. There are many reasons for this: one they are lazy--it's easier to accept what you know, they are tribal, it gives them belonging to hold onto their beliefs; and they have a certain emotional inertia--a personal investment we call "the sunken cost of personal emotional investment" that they refuse to let go. This is a kind of 'hoarding' effect, only they are hoarding an intangible emotion, rather than a physical personal effect. This difficulty to let go creates a cognitive dissonance, because they are aware of the new information which conflicts with the old information but they passively choose the old information even if they know its incorrect. This is called "Conservatism Bias" or what I call "statusquotarianism". It's that cognitive dissonance keeps people from accepting the more correct new information. I believe that "belonging" to their ingroup is the strongest motivator for the 'hoarding' of old information; and I believe this because of their tendency to participate in "virtue signalling" which is really "ingroup signalling"
Point five: Ostrich effect -- The left doesn't like it when Trump or Trump supporters are correct--In this case, about HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE being actually a cure and a vaccine. So they bury their heads in the sand like an ostrich. They IGNORE all positive stories about HCQ. They IGNORE Zinc and ZINC ionophore reportage. This is called the Ostrich effect. They plug their ears. They close their eyes. They ragequit, take their ball and go home. Or in the case of silicon valley, they BLOCK, SHADOWBAN, DEMONETIZE, CENSOR or DEPLATFORM YOU. Because THEY LOST THE ARGUMENT. NOT YOU.
Point six: Recency bias / appeal to authority. This cognitive bias is the belief that newer information is more correct. This is the ONLY bias really needed actually, to fool the left. You see HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE is an 60-80 yr old Drug. It's been proven to be as safe a drug as any other drug. ALL drugs have side effects, and the left really likes to AMPLIFY the negative effects of HCQ because of all the biases I've pointed out above (and more, no doubt).
It would be overly simple to say that the left hates HCQ because TRUMP promoted it. The media has done a number on them, and they've succeeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
- Association fallacy
- Transfer propaganda
- Anchoring Bias
- False Consensus Bias (Effect)
- Bandwagon effect
- Ad populem
- Conservatism Bias aka "statusquotarianism"
- Ostrich Effect
- Recency Bias / Appeal to novelty
- Confirmation Bias
Conclusion
The normies, the NPCs, the left, are HIGHLY vulnerable to propaganda and it really shows. They are leaning more and more fascistic and authoritarian, but they project that onto the right and onto Trump and his supporters
HOWEVER, the people who are creating this propaganda--they KNOW and have known that HCQ works against this disease. There is an NIH study that shows it is effective against coronavirus, I believe it was dated 2005 or something. They've used it to treat SARS 1 ("sars classic").
This means that these Mass Psychology Manipulators at the top, the Deepstate mind rapists, believe that it's BETTER that millions of people get seriously hurt, possibly permanently, OR DIE, than it is for Trump to serve as US President for another Four years. They've made this decision, and they are going with it. They have enough money--more than you can even imagine. This isn't about money
This is about POWER. And they are showing us what happens when you take away their power. They will let you die.
Tl,dr
The normies, the NPCs, the left, are HIGHLY vulnerable to propaganda and it really shows. They are leaning more and more fascistic and authoritarian, but they project that onto the right and onto Trump and his supporters
HOWEVER, the people who are creating this propaganda-THEY believe that it's BETTER that millions of people DIE than for Trump to serve as US President for another Four years.
This isn't about money. This is about POWER. And they are showing us what happens when you take away their power. They will let you die.