As I write this, I'm recovering again from the covid pandemic. Using a little etymology (which is the not-so-popular study of words and word origins), "pan" indicates it's something affecting all, and "demos" refers to the people of a Greek state. (As an aside, the word "democracy" comes from "demos" and "kratia" in the Greek and indicates that the people rule or govern.) Thus, a pandemic affects all the people from an entire political district or region -- in the case of covid, people from all the political districts or regions of the world.
After a couple of days with fever and what seemed like near-death experiences, the past week has just been getting over the congestion and tiredness which often seems to accompany covid. Restricting my work to what I could do from home for almost a week, I've had the opportunity to reflect a bit on all the pandemic pandemonium of the last three years.
And yes, pandemonium seems to fit well since it also comes from Latin and ancient Greek, with pan indicating its something affecting all and "demonium" coming from the Latin word "daemonium" or "evil spirit," borrowed from Greek "daimónion" which also refers to an "evil spirit." It certainly would seem that this disease, whether it be caused naturally or by "scientists" experimenting with means of biological warfare, has caused a good deal of infection by lying and evil spirits in addition to the effects the virus and its variants cause to the human body.
What do I mean? Initially, we were told that the best way to protect ourselves from this potentially fatal virus was to wear a mask -- even a cloth mask -- though good and reliable science also told us that the virus was so small it would pass through a mask. Then, it was suggested that we double the mask -- for double the ineffectiveness, I suppose. No one seemed to talk about the health hazards related to wearing a mask, especially if not changed or washed frequently.
As I look back to 2020, it was while we were wearing masks and following Centers for Disease Control guidance that the pandemic swept through our little church.
Then, we were told that we all needed to be vaccinated to stop the spread of covid and allow the world to return to normalcy. And, even if we had already had the virus and recovered, we should be vaccinated for better protection against the disease than natural immunity -- and that in spite of reports in medical journals and scientific studies that showed natural immunity was as good or better protection than the vaccines.
After suffering through covid once and possibly twice, my wife and I decided we would go ahead and be vaccinated. After all, it was pretty much expected of my wife, who works in the healthcare field. And I frequent hospitals and nursing homes calling on the sick and dying; it was hard to do that without being fully vaccinated and also wearing a mask.
Whether the vaccine did any good, I do not know. The second dose did cause me some heart issues for several months, but they seemed to have subsided. Were we protected from covid? Obviously not, since we got it again even after getting the vaccine and a booster. Was it a milder case? It seemed pretty much a repeat of the last go-around back in 2020. In fact, of the four people in our household, the unvaccinated had no symptoms or very mild symptoms. The two who were vaccinated fared the worst.
Obviously, this is no scientific study -- just reflections on my experiences with the pandemic pandemonium. Have I learned anything? That depends on how you view my conclusions.
What are those conclusions? The pandemic is certainly connected to a lot of pandemonium!
Was the Wuhan virus caused by the Chinese experimenting with biological weapon delivery methods? Was this research supported by prominent investors in the U.S. who quite literally "made a killing" from the results? I don't know and don't have the means to investigate deeply enough to access the facts and really know with certainty. The pandemonium includes claims and counterclaims on both sides and a lot of evil spiritedness if not evil spirits themselves.
Are the vaccines safe? Are they effective? Do masks work at all? I don't know because of all the claims and counterclaims, but I have my doubts based on personal experience and am not likely to just take some government agency's word on it.
Have vaccines allowed us to return to normalcy? Again, that depends on how we define normalcy. I expect the only way to claim a return to normalcy will be to throw out the old normal and accept the new abnormal as normal.
The one thing I can safely say in all the pandemic pandemonium is that I don't know and probably can't learn the truth about the pandemic because of all the political pandemonium. I feel like the proverbial mushroom, being fed a different flavor of manure with each new change of popular or political opinion and told to accept it and like it. And even though covid has affected my sense of taste and smell, it still stinks and I don't!
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.