Daniel Kotzin: The Marching Morons

If you don’t see that mass vaccination has had limited, if any, positive impact on the spread or severity of covid, then you are a moron.

Cross-posted at Daniel’s excellent Substack:

The Marching Morons

The Marching Morons

Much of what has happened to the world since the emergence of covid was presaged by classic works of science fiction.

There are of course the prophetic dystopian novels — Brave New World, 1984, and The Handmaid’s Tale.

But there are also many shorter, lesser-known works that ominously anticipated our present circumstances. Perhaps most apposite is Cyril M. Kornbluth’s “The Marching Morons,” which was published in 1951.

This novella envisions a future in which the vast majority of humans are of very low intelligence, with an extremely limited understanding of the reality in which they live.

This future came about because most intelligent people had no children, while unintelligent people had many.

There is a small minority comprised of geniuses and those of normal intelligence, who masquerade as assistants to the morons, the better to covertly manage them and keep them out of trouble. So, for instance, the geniuses pretend to be janitors in the office buildings where the morons go to “work” every day.

This state of affairs was made possible due to the development of more and more sophisticated machinery, so that it became less important and eventually unnecessary to possess intelligence in one's working life.

In a companion story set in the same imagined future, “The Little Black Bag,” Kornbluth explored the ramifications for the medical field. The futuristic doctors carry around a bag that contains everything needed to cure illness and injury, without any need for diagnosis or understanding.

These doctors are literally morons. But they believe that they are owed deference and respect, because the medical kits that they have been given enable them to provide cures. And of course, they believe that they are owed deference and respect simply because they are doctors.

We appear to be well on our way to some iteration of the future envisioned by Kornbluth.

Take a look at the charts posted in today’s New York Times:

Anyone who understands what seasonality means when referring to viruses should be able to tell at a glance that covid is highly seasonal. 

Furthermore, this should come as no surprise to anyone with even rudimentary general knowledge, as the seasonal cycle of respiratory viral disease has been recognized for thousands of years.

But many pre-eminent experts still don't see it.

Why do so many “experts” continue to deny that seasonality has been the primary driver of covid spread? Why do they insist that lockdowns, masks, and vaccines have controlled it?

Certainly, there are many grifters and opportunists. And certainly, doctors and health officials, along with politicians and bureaucrats, have become corrupted by the unprecedented power that they have been granted. 

But most doctors and health officials appear to truly believe what they are saying. They are morons.

Take a look at the most recent hospitalization data for San Francisco. 

The two largest waves occurred in the winter, at about the same time of year. The three next largest waves all occurred in the summer, at about the same time of year.

Take another look at the chart. As you look, bear in mind:

Over 90% of San Francisco’s total residents, including babies, have been “vaccinated” against covid.

Over 80% of San Francisco’s total residents, including babies, have been “fully vaccinated.”

Over 70% of San Francisco’s total residents, including babies, have been “boosted.”

Where in this chart of covid hospitalizations is it possible to discern any impact from the mass vaccination campaign of the past 18 months?

The most recent winter wave, when everyone was vaccinated, was larger than the previous winter’s, when no one was vaccinated.

This summer’s wave is larger than last summer’s. Or the summer before that. And this summer’s wave is not yet in decline.

To be clear, this is not a chart of people testing positive; it is a chart of “COVID-19 patients” who have been deemed too ill to be sent home, and have therefore been hospitalized.

If you look at the chart and you don’t see that the mass vaccination of San Franciscans has had limited, if any, positive impact on the spread or severity of covid, then you are a moron.