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Blame the media, gov't

Many people have accused me of being inflexible, unalterable, unwilling to be objective, holding my ground and not willing to be open to thinking different.

I was looking back on my social media timelines from March of this year and I was 100% supporting the efforts. I posted many pics and dialogue supporting the shut down and restrictions, supporting our health care workers, and of course criticizing Justin Trudeau for lecturing us how racist and intolerant we all are for asking for a border shutdown. Based on what we knew at the time I was concerned about public safety and the spread of the virus.

As I scrolled forward in time through my timeline, It's clear I started to question some of the numbers, things were not making sense to me. The data wasn't adding up. So I started to read, research, think, and educate myself as much as I could.

As time went on I began to question the numbers, the infection rates, the death rates and a multitude of other things. Eventually it became clear to me, this crisis, was not a crisis, at least not to the extent it was being portrayed. Evidence was mounting that healthy people were essentially safe, the youth had almost zero risk, and most deaths were in nursing and care homes.

The risk to the general public was very low.

At this point I became more critical of the information being provided. Wondered why it was reported so differently than other health concerns, and why the risk factor was so misleading. I still can't say for certainty why it's handled this way, but what I can say for certainty is that my thinking evolved based on my willingness to examine what I was being presented with, being objective, wanting to know for myself and satisfying my own curiosity.

Fast forward to today and I am even stronger in my opinions about the ridiculous limits that are being placed on us, the overstated danger of the virus, and the misleading information being funneled through the media.

People have called me many things, but one thing I am not is unwilling to be critical of my own opinions.

From March of 2020 to Nov 2020 I have swung 180 degrees. Not because of what I was told, or what I believed to be true, but because I enlightened and educated myself with facts.

My opinions of today are not because I was told to think like this, it's because over a period of 9 months, I changed my thinking, using my own due diligence, and unwillingness to simply follow without question.

I was willing to be challenged, criticized, hated, dismissed and ignored. I did not care, because I was armed with information and facts.

To my surprise (or not surprised), I was never countered with actually substantive dialogue or solid opinions. Instead I am greeting with emotional hyperbole, threats, insults, and comments to try and guilt me into compliance.

It took me 9 months to get here, you are not going to change my mind by telling me "Your being selfish" or "your saving lives", Yea, heard them all before. That's not science, it's not data, it's not facts, it's not even intelligent dialogue or a well formed opinion. It's simply emotional and hyperbolic diatribe, used in the absence of any real qualitative understanding or thought. Most of the chatter is regurgitated narratives that have no foundation in truth.

Let's be clear. I am advocating for a reasonable effort to protect the elderly and at-risk population. Wash your hands, social distance, sanitize and take all the precautions we can. Those who are at risk should take the necessary precautions and we should support them.

I am not in favour of healthy people being shunned as killers and watching others being dragged out of stores and arrested for simply not wearing a mask, with no regard to the risk they pose. Innocent, healthy people, simply trying to engage in commerce and earn an income should be allowed to live, and not dread being assaulted by the police, store owners, other members of the public for no other reason than fear.

I don't want to live in a country where you can be dragged off the street simply because people are fearful of you, in absence of any evidence of wrong doing. I blame the media and the government for creating this fear, and doing nothing to calm people.

People, educate yourself. Do better.

Kim Dobranski, Kelowna



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