I would take the time to explain that cartoon to you, but you'd simply hear what you wanted to hear (here's a hint: the blue characters are Leftists. Any red characters represent conservatives.)

Anyway, drink deeply from the well of uninformed arrogance. . .

I'm quite sure that meme wasn't created by you but it's a failed one. The name is Paul McCartney, not MacCartney. Misspelling his last name ruins the joke.

Just to let you know...

That's not what Frank McZappa told me . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=17&v=nwR9pZ74j8Q&feature=emb_logo

It is a shame you do not understand how cruel that meme is.

Why do coronavirus sceptics and deniers continue to downplay the disease?

Coronavirus has killed more than 200,000 people, shut down global economies, left millions of people out of work, and had drastic impacts on daily life.

Key points:

• Coronavirus scepticism cuts across the political spectrum, and is evident on both the left and the right
• It has prompted political rallies and is widespread on social media and online
• Experts say it is being driven by factors including fear and ignorance, and is frequently politicised

But a sizeable minority across the world continues to insist the threat is overblown.

In videos circulating online, on social media pages, at US political rallies and sometimes in the mainstream media, doubts about the severity of the disease continue to be expressed by coronavirus sceptics, naysayers and deniers.

"More than a few politicians and millions of citizens still don't believe [the coronavirus pandemic] is happening," University of Sydney politics professor John Keane wrote recently.

"Dogged in their stupidity, thinking only of themselves, they are sure that it's all a hoax, or a media-hyped exaggeration whose falsity will soon be exposed."

Fake news and misinformation have spread as fast and as far as the virus itself, infecting social media newsfeeds across the world.

While those obsessed with 5G and bioweapon conspiracy theories have been vocal, they are by no means the only ones advocating views contrary to the scientific consensus surrounding the virus.

Continued...

Who is downplaying it, and why?

Coronavirus scepticism has cut across the political spectrum, and can be found among those of conservative and progressive political persuasions.

University of Adelaide political expert Carol Johnson said while some left-wing civil libertarians opposed to the lockdowns had questioned the severity of the virus, the strongest opposition has come from the political right.

Professor Johnson said the global response to the pandemic had accorded well with the pre-existing beliefs of some fringe political groups "who see it as an infringement of their individual liberties".

"For example, right-wing groups who believe everything is a conspiracy by government, and big government is trying to intrude into our lives — basically they interpret the coronavirus in terms of that," she said.

Professor Johnson said it was likely that many climate change deniers had now morphed into coronavirus deniers.

"It is often related, in terms of those groups, to the anti-science argument, [and] there could be links to anti-vaxxers as well," she said.

"There's also a general distrust of science and experts who are seen as elitists who are out of touch with the needs of ordinary people."

University of Queensland virologist Ian Mackay agreed that those denying the seriousness of the virus had a similar perspective to anti-vaxxers.

"It does seem to be the same kind of mindset that will deny vaccines work, that will embrace treatments that clearly don't work for diseases and that will deny that the earth is round and that the moon landing happened," Associate Professor Mackay said.

"They are the kind of person who isn't happy with [what] they are told by experts and prefer to go and seek their own narrative."

Continued

But 200,000 people have died — why are sceptics persisting?

Conspiracy theorists probably only obtain news from sources that reinforce their own beliefs, Professor Mackay said.

He said that, among such individuals, there seemed to be a reluctance bordering on outright refusal to recognise the impact the coronavirus has had at a global level.

"The social media bubbles, the way they gather their news is very specific and comes from certain sources that reinforce their own biases," he said.

"It may be that they are just not seeing the reality. But it's not hard to look at somewhere like Italy or the US or the UK, and see how badly this virus can go."

Professor Johnson agreed, and said the crisis was being exploited by racists and other bigots for their own political ends.

"It can be interpreted as a foreign virus that is coming in from overseas to destroy our way of life," she said.

"In some parts of Europe … [some believe] that the virus has been sent by God as a punishment for support of same-sex rights and for challenging traditional gender roles between men and women."

Continued