Folly, according to Webster, is a “lack of good judgment; an instance of foolishness; an excessively costly and often unprofitable undertaking.”
Quoting from Barbara W. Tuchman, “… the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkable large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts.” It is epitomized in a historian’s statement about Philip II of Spain … “No experience of the failure of his policy could shake the belief in its essential excellence.”
It is easy to point at follies of the past. We could start with Troy and the decision to bring the wooden horse into the city. Today we struggle with what to do about the pandemic caused by the COVID virus. The answer by most of the governments around the world has been mandates on masks, vaccination, and business closures. None of these actions have had a significant effect in reducing infection rates. These same leaders point at Sweden with puzzlement because they have not instituted all of the cautionary demands. How dare Sweden not shut things down and have the lowest infection rate in the industrialized world.
In Africa only 3% of the people are vaccinated and yet they are experiencing very low infection rates. In the rest of the world vaccinations keep going up. First it was two shots, then three and now they are talking about a fourth booster and the deaths this year are higher than last.
When do we recognize FOLLY? When do we listen to physiologists that know a vaccine based on RNA will be transitory? When will we ask how heavily invested are some of the leaders in the pharmaceutical industry that is reaping great financial rewards from vaccine sales? When will we recognize folly?
Paul Strong
Bigfork