Well, the GOP didn't get their way about a travel ban so now we have a few states (my own included) imposing a quarantine on all healthcare workers returning from West Africa. This quarantine is being imposed on people with NO SYMPTOMS. Where are the civil libertarians? Let's call this quarantine what it is: managing fear, not disease!
Many disease experts are saying this only give the illusion of safety and may indeed make the situation worse! There are many good reasons why this quarantine is a bad idea. You can read some of them here: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/bioethicist-7-reasons-ebola-quarantine-bad-bad-idea-n234346
Why are people freaking out? Now the Federal government is stepping in to ask these states to look at how they are implementing this quarantine. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/feds-urge-states-not-act-rashly-ebola-senior-official-n234336
The media have repeatedly told viewers that Ebola is NOT an air-born disease. Yet, some media outlets continue to suggest that "the government" cannot be trusted to tell the truth. The right media is full of crazy conspiracy theories. Politicians on the right are using this Ebola fear and mistrust of our government to mobilize their base to get out and vote.
The reality is that just four cases have been reported. More people than that die everyday from car accidents. Yet, we don't hear the media freaking out over that. They aren't forcing people to keep their cars shut up in the garage. While the media try to inform the population, some are using media to create and manipulate. Shari Ravadsky of the Indiana Star wrote an excellent piece this past week on why we have such fear. You can read it here: http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/10/23/ebola-panic-justified/17784677/
Please, in this last week before the mid term election and all the way to November 2016, beware the propaganda machine. Question everything. Check sources. Be very careful when you pass on information on social media so you don't contribute to the confusion and misinformation. Read my previous post on fear mongering here: http://pageposts1123.blogspot.com/2014/10/fear-mongering.html Also, here's my post on how to avoid the propaganda machine and be a savvy consumer of information: http://pageposts1123.blogspot.com/2014/07/beware-propaganda-machine.html
No comments:
Post a Comment