Apparently I am dangerous. Uninformed. A Sell Out. And the Editor of the Echo. This was news to me. Some friends pointed me in the direction of the Stop 5G Northern Rivers NSW page, which was almost in meltdown in response to my recent missive satirising the plethora of COVID-19 conspiracy theories – one of which was about 5G. Although it invoked a tirade of hate speech, it was rather flattering for a humble comedian to be bestowed with such power. There I was, trying to lighten the load with laugher, but as it turns out I am brainwashed. I am in the employ of the government. Others touted that I had political sway, and a few more declared me Editor of the Echo.
I would suggest that before anyone calls another person uninformed, they should perhaps do some very basic fact checking, such that can be done by simply picking up the locally distributed newspaper. There’s probably one on your lawn. I am sorry it’s not accessible via a YouTube link (where all good science lives) but must be sourced locally in black and white.
Hans Lovejoy is the Editor of the Echo. I am the entertainment Editor, which I have been for nearly 20 years. So, for that fact to have escaped them, perhaps I am not the only ‘uninformed’ person in the region…
One bloke went a little further than the others – advocating my violent demise. I will not name that person, because the abuse of oneself shouldn’t be cause for uncompassionate treatment of others. Ironically – the Group Rules from the STOP 5G Admins agree. They state ‘Be Kind and Courteous: Let’s treat everyone with respect. Healthy debates are natural, but kindness is required.’ And number 2: ‘No Hate Speech or Bullying… bullying of any kind isn’t allowed.’ Kind of at odds with this statement which [as we went to print] still stands un-moderated: ‘…we can feed her to the dogs with the rest of them.’ That sounds like a threat of violence. Does the STOP 5G page condone threats of violence from men to women? I thought this was all about supporting ‘healthy community’? Or is it just about supporting those who share your belief?
Fervent fundamentalism is underpinned by assertions that somehow these disparate community members are the truly enlightened. They alone have claim to the real truth – as they have access to what they assert is real science – accessed and distributed through a variety of links on the 4G Network.
To be authentically aligned with their values though, shouldn’t they be running this group via pigeons, not the internet?
On this site they talk a lot about the evidence they have – like they are the gatekeepers of the truth. If you find this evidence questionable, unfounded and unscientific, then you are brainwashed by the system. The ‘logic’ they employ underpins a world view of ‘Us v Them’. Their ‘Them’ are the government (all levels, everywhere) who are in cohoots with ‘The Other Unspecified Them’ to kill ‘Us’.
I have never worked out why they want to kill ‘Us’, but apparently the Chinese are in on it. There’s significant anti-Chinese vitriol on this page which should be moderated as ‘racist’ because racism is also something that the page’s admin states they won’t tolerate.
Here’s a fact. It is not possible to have scientific evidence about the relationship between 5G and coronavirus – because there hasn’t been enough time to conduct a proper study, since the disease was only identified less than six months ago. It would only be speculation. It takes a minimum of 12–18 months for research to be validated – it has to pass through an ethics procedure, it then needs to be accepted by a legitimate and recognised publication like The Lancet and then the science needs to be peer reviewed, and then published. This is a robust process to ensure that unfounded theories don’t circulate as fact.
Unfortunately, the evidence that STOP 5G refer to, has only had its ‘research’ peer reviewed through the comments stream on YouTube. We live in an era where we are able to curate and choose ‘evidence’ that supports our belief bias – then we use our shared bias to form a tribe.
I might add that I made no comment in my article on endorsing or not endorsing the implementation of 5G; just that the conspiracy theories are rampant bullshit, and dangerous to public health as those who believe it think social distancing isn’t for disease control – just crowd control. If the Stop 5G lobby want to be taken seriously, they need to distance themselves from outlandish conspiracy. It’s not unreasonable to insist on the investigation of impacts of any technology on human and animal health – it is however entering the realm of a Monty Python farce to suggest it’s all part of Huwaei’s quest for world domination. Although I do like the opening scene theme song – aka Frankie’s hit, ‘I did it Huwaei!’.
The 5G conspiracy theory is straddled by this overarching belief that all governments have conspired to move us into a New World Order. Basically it’s a plot to keep us home so they can get the towers up all over the world, whack the robots on the streets, then immunise us with the new vaccine that has a 5G chip. (You might want to put the bong down now). Have a look at history. Ever since we attempted to dominate nature and embarked on The Silk Road, humans have dealt with pandemics. We moved goods, spices and new ideas; from China, to Central Asia, to Europe and we also carried the Bubonic plague that killed half of all Europeans, in seven years. (Shit! The Chinese again! Conspiring for world domination by manufacturing a disease – in the 1300s! Clever bastards.)
The world has always been adversarial – to conspire in the interests of world domination would suggest a kind of unity that governments, and the rest of us, have never shared. Perhaps we are being run by the lizard-people overlords after all! (I am eager to see the evidence for their existence.) So as we are never going to agree on evidence, let’s try something Aristotelian: logic.
If we accept that 5G is deadly to our immune systems, and we’ll all die, or get cancer or have a major health meltdown – then who benefits from its implementation? If all of us are affected, then who is the beneficiary of this New World Order? Won’t ‘They’ be affected too? Won’t their families also perish?
It’s ludicrous.
This is a time when the world is actually united with a shared objective, to pull their populations through a pandemic, to care for the vulnerable!
So stay inside, but do us another favour, and stay off Facebook as well. And hey, on the upside, if we do get 5G, how much faster will we be able to send conspiracy theories around the planet?
So let’s start first with a 5K network. Kindness V Conspiracy.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
