Here’s the real problem

Michael Peebles, Hamilton

Steve Buist has hit the nail squarely on the head with this column. Clear, evidence-based, critical thinking.

Sharon McKibbon, Hamilton

Normally I enjoy Steve Buist’s thoughtful, wellresearched and clearly-presented work in The Spec. Not today.

It’s not just the political right that has lost track of how to think and engage productively. Not a single “moron” is going to change their mind as a result of that column. “F Trudeau” is just a slightly less polite reply to the disdain our PM clearly demonstrates toward anyone not “enlightened enough” to agree with him on COVID-19, feminism, the environment or transgender matters. Insulting skeptics as ignorant is not going to win any converts. It’s a sign of an arrogant, lazy speaker with a weak argument.

Here’s the real problem: There’s a large contingent of people who feel that they’re been ignored, deliberately misled, pushed around and then insulted when they dare question some of the errors and inconsistencies they see. That destroys trust, creating a climate for alternatives and, yes, plenty of quackery.

Taking COVID for example, the scientific consensus was wrong in important ways that have yet to be acknowledged.

Our advanced society works because of basic trust in government, social institutions and our fellow citizens. We’re seeing that eroded and it’s a crisis. Blaming and lecturing “the uneducated” isn’t productive, nor is more education the answer. Maybe we should work to understand why so many people are mistrustful and seeking alternative information. We might just find that arrogance, condescension and lack of nuance from “the educated” are getting in the way.

Jeff Cassidy, Hamilton