The Two Faces Of The Branch Covidians

The Branch Covidian cult is really two cults in one:  Team Zero COVID, and their sometimes-rival, sometimes-ally, Team Vaccine.  They can easily be confused for one another by the uninitiated.  Both vehemently deny natural immunity, deny and dislike the use of early treatment and prophylaxis, grossly exaggerate the risks of the virus particularly to children and young people, and believe that only their own technocratic solutions possibly can save us.  Both reek of authoritarianism no matter how much they deny it.  Both luuurrrve to move the goalposts, cherry-pick data, shift the burden of proof, and indulge in other ridiculous logical fallacies routinely and often disingenuously.  Both have plenty of true believers along with the consummate liars and phonies in charge.  And like doctors and thieves, they both wear masks as part of their uniform (at least when the cameras are rolling).  So far, they seem like they would be natural allies.

But the similarity of the two cults ends with the differences in their eschatology, soteriology, and sometimes even cosmology at times.  Here they go from allies to rivals.  In a nutshell, Team Zero COVID believes that complete global eradication of the virus is not only still possible, but it is the only morally acceptable outcome no matter the cost (as long as someone else pays it), while Team Vaccine believes that while eradication is unlikely, the only way we can learn to live with the virus and go back to something approaching normal is if everyone in the world gets vaccinated as the ultimate endgame. 

And while neither team opposes lockdowns, mask mandates, or vaccine mandates, Team Zero COVID supports the first two the most while Team Vaccine supports the latter the most, even though many prefer a "layered" approach.  Both support achieving their own goals by any means necessary, while individual civil and human rights, economic well-being, overall community well-being, child development, or any other consideration are essentially worth zilch to them.  Even public health itself is to be ruthlessly sacrificed on the altar of the Branch Covidians, insofar is it not directly related to the virus that they slavishly fear so much to the point of idolatry.

It is now becoming very clear that vaccines alone will not eradicate the virus even if 100% of the world gets vaccinated over and over again, as these vaccines are far too "leaky" to do the job.  And there are animal reservoirs as well.  So what about the Zero COVID strategy?  Well, the therapeutic window has closed on that one long ago, as the horse has bolted and the genie is out of the bottle.  The virus SARS-CoV-2 is quickly becoming endemic (if it isn't already) and will be with us forever, no matter how many lockdowns, closures, masks, or vaccines we throw at it.  It will still be here in 2030, 2040, 2050, and beyond.  So we literally have two choices, basically: 1) learn to live with the virus, and be honest about it, or 2) learn to live with the virus, and pretend otherwise. Yes, those are literally the only choices now, regardless of any wishful thinking to the contrary.  And to still pretend otherwise now, after 18 months of clear evidence, is to bear false witness and to worship false idols.

And the best way to defeat both of the two cults is to do what they are doing to the rest of us:  divide-and-conquer.  Play the two faces of them against each other, and refuse to comply with their increasingly insane, draconian, and totalitarian edicts.

Zero COVID is a pipe dream, vaccines are nowhere near as good as advertised, and lockdowns and NPIs are basically useless.  The only thing that actually works, aside from natural herd immunity, is early treatment and prophylaxis.  It's long past time to be honest about that, live our lives, and move on.

Team Reality for the win!

UPDATE:  Now that more and more of the chattering classes and MSM are finally, if grudgingly, coming around to accepting the inevitable endemicity of the virus and learning to live with it, and the mRNA vaccines are clearly crashing through the basement in terms of efficacy, Team Vaccine is basically washed up and is now quickly being absorbed by their very last refuge, Team Zero COVID.  The latter of which seems to be more hysterical than ever lately--and that REALLY says something!--since they know they are on the wrong (and losing) side of history.  They have been trotting out the same old fuzzy math combined with exaggerations, half-truths, and omissions about the supposed unacceptable dystopia that endemic COVID would entail, while in reality the real dystopia would be if TZC actually gets their way.  Look no further than Australia and New Zealand, not to mention China, to see what sort of totalitarian police state would inevitably--and permanently--result sooner or later, and it would still be an exercise in futility in the long run.  Because short of putting all 8 billion people of the world each in solitary confinement indefinitely, which would obviously be unacceptable on humanitarian grounds, it is mathematically impossible for TZC to actually achieve their pipe dream of complete virus eradication.

And now even New Zealand, the crown jewel of the Zero COVID movement, has finally thrown in the towel and abandoned the impossible and Sisyphean goal of eliminating the virus completely.  Delta managed to chin-check them just hard enough to sober them up somewhat.  Unfortunately, lest you think they finally joined Team Reality for good, despite recent easing the Prime Minister noted that they will still have some flavor of lockdown restrictions until they can get a whopping 90% of the eligible population vaccinated, meaning they are squarely part of Team Vaccine for the time being.  They are at 48% of the eligible population already fully vaccinated as of October 5, so that is still a pretty tall order for New Zealand.  In contrast, Team Reality (that is, people like us at the TSAP) would much rather just go cold turkey and simply end all restrictions yesterday and go back to true normal regardless of anything, period, and NOT cajole anyone to get vaccinated.  What better time than now?