That is not how it went.

The official line was that it was not airborne, and that if it were, masks wouldn't help. It turned out they were relying on a definition of "airborne" that only applied to tuberculosis. It really is airborne by an actually useful definition, in a way where masks can help. (And, incidentally, where those clear plastic barriers at stores don't.)

Can you please share an US based study which shows that mask mandates are effective? I’m really puzzled but that part.

>They were not harangued for being anti-science or conspiracy theorists.

This is not the least bit true.

There was a PBS interview with one of the scientists on President Biden's Covid advisory council who spoke up about how disappointed he was with his colleagues in public health who would not speak out against the mob on the efficacy of cloth face masks to protect against an airborne virus.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/do-masks...

Good for you. Maybe you should ask yourself why so many people are skeptical? Is it really that they are all crazy wingnuts, or is it perhaps that humans have shown for all of our existence to be untrustworthy, greedy, power-hungry creatures?

But there was one thing they couldn't have more rigor on testing - time.

I got the jab and the booster, but I think it is pretty clear the political pressure to call it good was higher than in any of those previous vaccines. The monetary pressure was probably also higher. I would not be even remotely surprised if we find it was more dangerous than most vaccines from an autoimmune standpoint simply because of the nature of the virus. I still think the risk-reward was good for almost all adults, and probably children too (my kid got theirs when it was approved), and I understand the paternalistic reasons for guilding the lily on its safety are well intentioned. But I also think it is naive to assume all that pressure had no effect.

The instinct to trust others is very strong in our species. I think this is because we needed to trust one another to survive thousands of years ago. The thing is, we lived in small groups where survival was directly dependent on the people immediately around you. Now, we have to "trust" far-off men who have not proven themselves trustworthy in the same way. And yet, our instincts to trust persist.

There appear to be few of us who are inherently mistrustful of others; in recent times, that instinct has proven to be quite beneficial.

"Because 90% of it was not reasonable doubt, it was manipulative BS"

Yes, but the problem is, that the remaining 10% were treated the same way.

(but I think, the numbers are actually more like 98% BS and 2 % legitimate, fact based doubt)

... To balance your point, which tbf has some truth in it, 99% of coverage on that topic from so called respected sources was manipulative bullshit.

Dissenting opinions were censored by the millions across social media.

Meanwhile, anyone who felt the lab leak theory was at least worth investigating was accused of being a Russian, Trumpist, anti-science piece of shit.

Daszak's paper was obvious bullshit. Not in hindsight, not on close reading, but on immediate reading by anyone with basic experience and logic. Yet across government, media and academia it was cited as the definitive scientific position on the matter, case closed, stfu.

... So if you're going to blame people for mixing their discussion with corporate news and political stunts, then you're going to have to share that blame with all responsible parties. They've fully earned the ire and distrust which many across the political spectrum now hold them in.

And we still haven't had a proper investigation in Wuhan, there's been no accountability for Daszak's conflict of interest, there's been no one held to account for the unprecedented censorship across Twitter and FB. No corporate media have been held responsible for their bullying and their bullshit.

If you want people to have smarter discussions about this, I'd remember the above before accusing everyone of just 'getting their info from politicians and FB'.