@peterdrake @polymerwitch there were hundreds of opportunities to prevent or reduce the impact of the pandemic, and every single time people with money and power chose to use it to increase that money/power. I don't see how this can be anything *but* systemic.

@peterdrake @polymerwitch like... The people who don't trust masks do so because people with power are using that power to lie so they can get more power.

@Hex @polymerwitch You raise some valid points.

Vaccines are free (and at some point you could get paid to take one) in the US, but poorer countries couldn't get them. If they were free to the world, we might be done with this by now.

I'm not sure abut the people who distrust masks. Many of them are perfectly happy with Trump's attempted coup. They also don't trust vaccines, when the problem is that there aren't enough vaccines in arms.

Be mad about any corruption or incompetence, but we *do* each need everyone to take the personal responsibility to get vaccinated and wear a mask. It's the only way to stop the virus. Climate change, where some people emit vastly more carbon than others, is a different story.

@peterdrake @polymerwitch The pandemic won't end because disinformation is profitable and companies won't give up patents on vaccines so they can be more accessible globally.

@Hex @peterdrake @polymerwitch plus the fact that pandemics are a side effect of climate change that scientists were warning about well before covid came around