Conspiracy theorists are bad for our health
After watching footage of patients hit by the coronavirus, and hearing nursing and medical staff expressing how exhausted they are from the relentless fight they’re having to wage against this lethal virus, I feel nothing but contempt for those idiotic conspiracy theorists in the United States who are spreading their dangerous, contemptible lies about the virus, claiming that it’s all a hoax.
Is it fear which drives their resistance to acknowledging the truth about the current situation? A need to feel in control of events?
If so, it’s too late – they’ve already succumbed to the biggest danger arising from this pandemic. Scepticism leads to a refusal to follow health and safety advice, making the sceptics not only vulnerable to infection, but also a potential threat to the wider public.
Research links belief in conspiracy theories to prejudice, violence and terrorism. We see the results on our television screens on a regular basis.
Which is the greater evil – a virus which can be controlled by a vaccine which has been thoroughly vetted and found to be safe and efficacious, or rumours, misinformation and downright untruths which spread faster than any virus? The answer should be obvious to anyone who has a modicum of common sense, and who believes in the integrity and professionalism of health workers.
CAROLYN TAYLOR Gagiebank, Wellbank, Broughty
Ferry
Acalltoarms
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) becomes international law today. It bans the use and the threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as their production, possession, and any activities that could enable anyone to acquire them.
It’s worth remembering that eliminating nuclear weapons was the very first UN resolution back in 1946. 75 years later, the nine nuclear armed states – including Britain – possess many thousands of weapons, all far more powerful than those that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
So, progress towards eliminating these ultimate weapons of mass destruction has been lamentable, but the TPNW represents a real opportunity for change. It is supported by 122 national governments, so those countries that fail to sign up will increasingly be regarded as outliers on the international stage, and the possession of nuclear weapons will become a badge of shame.
We need to do everything we can to persuade our government to sign the TPNW. In the meantime, we can keep up the pressure on those companies that manufacture nuclear weapons and support systems, some based in Scotland, by pressing banks , public bodies and pension funds, to stop investing in and lending to these companies. Many local authority pension funds are held on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Scottish people who don’t want a nuclear weapons base a few miles down the clyde from glasgow.
Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland is a network working hard to remove funding from nuclear weapons. There’s still a way to go, but let’s celebrate the TPNW.
GUY JOHNSON Findhorn Place, Edinburgh