Why, why, why?
There are no stupid questions, only stupid people who do not ask.
Anke Maggauer-Kirsche (*1948), German poet, aphorist and former caregiver for the elderly in Switzerland
If I ask you what you were doing at a quarter to three yesterday afternoon, you will most likely have to think longer than if I ask you what you were doing at that time on 11 September 2001, the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. I don’t know if you are an exception in this case, but I personally don’t know a single person who doesn’t remember exactly where he was and what he was doing at the time of the attacks on 11 September 2001. And this despite the fact that it is now almost 20 years ago and very few of us spontaneously know what we had for lunch yesterday.
For me, 18 March 2020 was similarly drastic. When Xavier Bettel declared a state of emergency for Luxembourg on that day, I was sitting at my desk at home; our head of department had just announced to us via video conference that we would be switching to a full-time home office with immediate effect and that we should only leave the house for important errands if possible. And this was only a few weeks after something was first reported about this Corona virus in China.
Consternation. Irritation. Uncertainty. Disorientation. Fear.
This is only a small excerpt from the emotional chaos that accompanied me from the first minute and constantly for several weeks, robbing me of many hours of my precious sleep.
“If they do something like this to us, it must be REALLY bad,” was the all-dominating rationale
“Stay at home”
Slogan of our Health Ministry
Almost daily I argued with my husband over these two words, who stoically continued to work because as a self-employed real estate agent he had not been explicitly forbidden to do so, although rounds were prohibited … an absurdity considering that this is the main component of his profession. He was thus limited to income-less administrative tasks, with no prospect of financial compensation.
I was not one of the toilet roll panic buyers who packed their trolleys full of dead foods that make us neither healthy nor resistant. But I meticulously adhered to the many new prohibitions that have gradually crept into our “lives” since then, especially that of meeting the older generation. And so we tried hard to teach them how to use the various tools for video chat, regardless of age and talent. The biggest highlight from this time was probably the incredulous expression on my 91-year-old father-in-law’s face when he saw us and our daughter together with their son in Vienna on his computer screen at the same time.
So my fundamental basic trust in the government, even though it is not doing even a fraction of what I elected it to do, remained intact for a very long time. The measures and restrictions were too unimaginable, the warnings too repetitive and insistent. I was trapped in my fear, as many people still are today, and that’s how I know: it’s not a nice feeling and I know very well what it does to us.
This fear remained … until a family member who was very close to me and beyond all doubt called me with the exciting sentence:
“Listen, there are also other voices and they see it completely differently and they really don’t seem to have fallen on their heads. Get a picture of it and tell me what you think.”
My first reaction was: “Yes, now you’re coming up with some weird conspiracy theories, what am I supposed to do with this nonsense, there’s a war going on outside and we’re all going to die if we don’t obey! But he, in his very pleasant, calm, intelligent way did not let up and so I gradually got to know the innumerable experts: Prof. Dr. Bhakdi, Dr. Wodarg, Prof. Walach, Prof. Ioannidis, Prof. Raoult … who, since the beginning of the crisis, have been trying with great courage and commitment to clarify, relativise and discuss the situation and could thus have contributed to de-escalation in society.
Even today, they and meanwhile thousands of other experts still show errors in the statistics and projections as well as in the medical, epidemiological and virological argumentation and – in order for these to reach us at all – have to fall back on the so-called “alternative media”, since the classical media (there are only 3 large press agencies worldwide that still “make” the news) stoically reel off the same programme. I miss the investigative journalism in the Corona pandemic. A taboo?
It took me a long time to consider the inconceivable as an eventuality. In technical jargon, this is called “cognitive dissonance”: what must not be, is not. Every one of us knows this: we prefer to deal with arguments that confirm our own theories. That’s where you feel safe, that’s the comfort zone you don’t want to leave, especially when you’re afraid and need an anchor. But what if you suddenly discover gaps in these arguments? You can still hold on to it for a while, which I did, but the quiet doubts still started to gnaw, like a little devil on your shoulder…. which prompted me to do my own research, to read, to think, to conclude. The internet was a help in this, although one often has to hurry, as many valuable contributions by critical doctors and scientists are quickly deleted. There are also many false reports on the internet, where it is not easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. But when reading books I discovered so many, unbelievably logical explanations that I cannot understand why the media, politics and in the end a large part of society can evade this logic so easily without even opening at least one door in the back of their minds. The door with the inscription: “what if?
The head is round so that thoughts can change direction
I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings at this point, I myself know people in my circle of acquaintances who have fallen ill with Covid-19 and some – as can also happen with influenza or other viruses/bacteria and diseases – have only recovered with difficulty, others to this day not at all.
But that doesn’t change the fact that I continue to search for the answer to many questions, including the following:
Why are misleading and scary scalings used for the presentation of some figures, possibly even changed afterwards, especially when the objective-objective presentation would be much less scary?
Why was it decided that anyone recorded as Corona positive would be included in the Corona death statistics, even if they died due to other circumstances (cancer, diabetes, heart attack, accident, suicide, flu…)? What if there are coincidental overlaps, i.e. the deceased patient tested positive for the Corona virus but the symptoms could actually be from the “normal” flu, rhinoviruses, pneumonia etc.? Wouldn’t it be important to know this, especially as there is NO excess mortality here in Luxembourg?
Why does one stick to the highly sensitive PCR tests, which also find inactive or fragments of viruses that do not cause an infection, and this although both the inventor of the PCR test and Prof. Drosten admit that the test is unsuitable for diagnostic purposes?
Why did they merge the age groups 80 and older from one day to the next in the death statistics on www.covid19.lu, while in the other charts (hospital and intensive care) the age groups up to 99 years remain divided into 5-year tranches? And why do the questions in this regard remain unanswered, or are they succinctly justified with “simplification reasons”? Simplification for whom?
Why did our government officials foist the controversial CETA trade deal during the first lockdown?
Why was it not taken into account for the 1st lockdown that the numbers were already declining (from one day to the next, the correct representation of the contagion period of approx. 8 days was dispensed with)?
Why does our Government claim that face masks help, when the study he mentions says that this has NOT been unequivocally proven? Why are studies not taken into account that even prove that wearing masks could be rather harmful to health? (Rhinoviruses, bacteria, fungi, psyche…). Which would also explain why you don’t have to wear one when doing sports (increased oxygen demand). For many people, climbing stairs is already sport…
What is the basis for our Minister of State’s claim that the Corona virus is 3 to 11 times (mind the range!) more dangerous than the influenza virus? Wouldn’t one think that he would also have to substantiate such a claim with a corresponding, neutral study, since it is the basis for measures that ruin people not only financially, but also humanly?
Why are people not made aware of taking care of their immune system, which has been a burden on our health system for years, with more unnecessary victims dying early and not really being healthy in the last half of life?
Why are letters to our Health Minister on these issues not answered with the necessary respect, at best with political platitudes?
Why do we see so many people alone in the car or in the forest with a face mask; does no one ask what it looks like inside these people and what consequences can result from this state of mind? For themselves as well as for the children of this society?
Why do you find so-called conflicts of interest everywhere you look and why is this not questioned, as it is controlled in the financial sector?
This is only a small excerpt of the questions I ask myself. At this point, I would simply be pleased if you would take the time to look at the topic that particularly interests or affects you, read it critically and send it to me – if you know the answer and can also prove it scientifically (neutrally, without conflicts of interest) (there are enough opinions).
Maybe then I can sleep better again.
This article was written in German language and translated into French and English.
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