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Suggested correlation between pandemics and societal changes

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  • Suggested correlation between pandemics and societal changes

    The following are selected sections from a New Scientist article that appeared this week [23 July 2022] that discusses research examining a possible connection between pandemics and changes within societies, particularly with regard to a rise in religious interest as well a move towards choosing authoritarian governments, and an increase in xenophobia.

    There has certainly been a rise in both the alt-Right and the Right in Europe and elsewhere. Hungary has been alarmingly successful in establishing a RW state, and other nations like Indian, Poland, and Britain seem to prefer populist and/or authoritarian administrations,. All of which presents a worrying [albeit interesting] prospect for the future of democracy..

    https://www.newscientist.com/article...s-do-the-same/

    The Network Contagion Research Institute [NCRI] based in New Jersey has been tracking information trends across social media networks and has correlated them to real-world events. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic Joel Finkelstein, at the Institute, comments that it has has observed the rise of "essentially religious revolutionary groups that are breaking off from society in order to start something that will usher in a utopian era".


    The article starts with a brief comment on Akhenaten's new religion and new city and other academics have suggested that a flight from a plague might be part of the reason. However, with regard to the present day

    Others too have observed people turning to religion in times of pestilence, even in today’s increasingly secular age. Jeanet Bentzen at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found “a massive rise” in the intensity of prayer in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic, as measured by Google searches for prayer texts across 107 countries. And in April 2020, the Pew Research Center in the US reported that a quarter of adults there said their faith had strengthened since covid-19 erupted. What people look for in religion at such times is less clear, but there is a strong case that for many it is a stricter social order. Michele Gelfand at Stanford University in California has long argued that a society’s norms tighten up in response to ecological threats such as disease, famine and natural hazards. These demand prosocial behaviour and large-scale cooperation, and one way to encourage such action is to invoke a vengeful god who punishes norm violators. In 2021, Gelfand’s group reported that US states with high historical levels of ecological threat also have high levels of belief in punitive gods.

    Religion isn’t the only way to tighten a culture. In a study involving nearly 250,000 people in 47 countries, Leor Zmigrod at the University of Cambridge and her colleagues found that as infectious diseases become more prevalent, so do conservative, authoritarian attitudes – even after controlling for income, education and other factors. Intriguingly, the correlation only holds for diseases that are transmitted from person to person, rather than via an intermediate host or vector. This suggests that whatever is driving the authoritarian turn is profoundly social – to do with how we perceive others. Although the research predates covid-19, people’s behaviour during the current pandemic has reinforced these findings. “This very social disease, this disease that can be acquired from other people, has led to a wave of authoritarianism around the world,” says Zmigrod.

    In a worrying historical parallel, Kristian Blickle at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that, among German cities, the higher the death rate during the 1918 flu pandemic, the greater the share of the city’s votes for the Nazi party in the early 1930s – again controlling for factors such as income and unemployment. “There is a real fear of chaos in [epidemic] settings, so it’s this desire for tightness that I think predicts support for strict gods and governments,” says Gelfand. And wherever people seek control, she adds, it seems to involve reinforcing group boundaries and a greater preference for one’s in-group.

    Last year, Brian O’Shea at the University of Nottingham, UK, and his colleagues reported that the main factor driving this is aversion to germs in “outsiders” – whether they are foreigners different ethnic, religious or other subgroup. We have seen this in the past two years, of course. For example, the NCRI has tracked the rise of the anti-government boogaloo movement, which includes white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Although it predates the pandemic, it really took off at the reopen rallies held across the US in spring 2020. Its followers, some of whom have since been charged with serious crimes, stood out with their Hawaiian shirts and Pepe the Frog badges, and online with apocalyptic memes including #DOTR for “day of the rope” and #RWDS for “right wing death squad”

    Covid-19 has also brought a wave of xenophobic attacks on people of Asian origin and a deluge of antiSemitic disinformation online.[...] Control and exclusion aren’t the only possible reasons for the coincidence of pandemics and social upheaval, though. Nina Witoszek at the University of Oslo, Norway, and Mads Larsen at the University of California, Los Angeles, study the role of narrative in cultural evolution, and they believe that what people are looking for is a new story. When we feel threatened, we have anxiety,” says Larsen. “To ameliorate that anxiety, humans need a story to commit to. ”A plague challenges the “master narrative” told by the spiritual or secular leaders and allows new stories to emerge that explain where things went wrong, and how to put them right. [...]

    We have a lot of clear evidence that major transformative change comes on the heels of big societal disasters – but it’s not automatic,” says Daniel Hoyer, project manager of Seshat, a repository for global historical data. For change to happen, the society must take advantage of the disruption by correcting course, he says. If it doesn’t, it risks being even more vulnerable to the next shock. “Few if any society so far has collapsed solely as a result of an epidemic,” says Kelder. But it is true that the same forces that make societies vulnerable to contagion – widening inequality, population explosion, globalisation – also make them susceptible to revolutionary ideas, and they ignore these ideas at their peril. So, we should expect today’s pandemic to bring change, says Hitchcock. “History suggests that…the post-covid normal is unlikely to look much like the old normal.”




    "It ain't necessarily so
    The things that you're liable
    To read in the Bible
    It ain't necessarily so
    ."

    Sportin' Life
    Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

  • #2
    They could look back at the Black Death and how it pretty much restructured European society

    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
      They could look back at the Black Death and how it pretty much restructured European society
      That event is also briefly referenced in the article, albeit with regard to the religious aspects.
      "It ain't necessarily so
      The things that you're liable
      To read in the Bible
      It ain't necessarily so
      ."

      Sportin' Life
      Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post

        That event is also briefly referenced in the article, albeit with regard to the religious aspects.
        It is nice that they would briefly reference the penultimate example of what they are discussing.

        I'm always still in trouble again

        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
          It is nice that they would briefly reference the penultimate example of what they are discussing.
          Have you read the article? If not, should I put this down to yet a further example of your uninformed opinion on a text?
          "It ain't necessarily so
          The things that you're liable
          To read in the Bible
          It ain't necessarily so
          ."

          Sportin' Life
          Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post

            Have you read the article? If not, should I put this down to yet a further example of your uninformed opinion on a text?
            Were you lying when you wrote

            That event is also briefly referenced in the article


            I'm always still in trouble again

            "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
            "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
            "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

            Comment


            • #7
              Well the liberals are not wasting the opportunity to use the pandemic as a power grab. Fear is an effective leash.

              Comment


              • #8
                Yes, in America progressive liberals attempted to assert their unbridled authoritarianism.

                Canada has been quite successful at converting to an authoritarian style of government, as has Australia.

                As voters remove these leftist authoritarians from power the world will see increases in liberty and freedom.

                ​​​​​​Leftist authoritarian tendencies are something the whole world needs to fight against, thank you for supporting this effort.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post

                  There has certainly been a rise in both the alt-Right and the Right in Europe and elsewhere. Hungary has been alarmingly successful in establishing a RW state, and other nations like Indian, Poland, and Britain seem to prefer populist and/or authoritarian administrations,. All of which presents a worrying [albeit interesting] prospect for the future of democracy..
                  But those movements were underway long before COVID. And it was mostly the right that pushed against the left's totalitarian tendencies during the pandemic lockdowns...
                  Last edited by seer; 07-25-2022, 11:09 AM.
                  Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Maranatha View Post
                    Yes, in America progressive liberals attempted to assert their unbridled authoritarianism.

                    Canada has been quite successful at converting to an authoritarian style of government, as has Australia.

                    As voters remove these leftist authoritarians from power the world will see increases in liberty and freedom.

                    ​​​​​​Leftist authoritarian tendencies are something the whole world needs to fight against, thank you for supporting this effort.
                    So glad we have HA on our side!
                    Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by seer View Post

                      But those movements were underway long before COVID. And it was mostly the right that pushed against the left's totalitarian tendencies during the pandemic lockdowns...
                      As the section from the article I cited noted: - My emphasis

                      For example, the NCRI has tracked the rise of the anti-government boogaloo movement, which includes white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Although it predates the pandemic, it really took off at the reopen rallies held across the US in spring 2020. Its followers, some of whom have since been charged with serious crimes, stood out with their Hawaiian shirts and Pepe the Frog badges, and online with apocalyptic memes including #DOTR for “day of the rope” and #RWDS for “right wing death squad”

                      "It ain't necessarily so
                      The things that you're liable
                      To read in the Bible
                      It ain't necessarily so
                      ."

                      Sportin' Life
                      Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                        Were you lying when you wrote

                        That event is also briefly referenced in the article
                        You omitted the final section of my reply:

                        albeit with regard to the religious aspects.
                        "It ain't necessarily so
                        The things that you're liable
                        To read in the Bible
                        It ain't necessarily so
                        ."

                        Sportin' Life
                        Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post

                          As the section from the article I cited noted: - My emphasis

                          For example, the NCRI has tracked the rise of the anti-government boogaloo movement, which includes white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Although it predates the pandemic, it really took off at the reopen rallies held across the US in spring 2020. Its followers, some of whom have since been charged with serious crimes, stood out with their Hawaiian shirts and Pepe the Frog badges, and online with apocalyptic memes including #DOTR for “day of the rope” and #RWDS for “right wing death squad”
                          Except it was leftist governments that have shown totalitarian tendencies during he pandemic. The groups you are speaking of have little or no political power...
                          Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by seer View Post

                            Except it was leftist governments that have shown totalitarian tendencies during he pandemic.
                            Do you consider that to have been wrong? And if so, why?

                            Originally posted by seer View Post
                            The groups you are speaking of have little or no political power...
                            I am not "speaking" about anything. I cited a section from a written article.

                            "It ain't necessarily so
                            The things that you're liable
                            To read in the Bible
                            It ain't necessarily so
                            ."

                            Sportin' Life
                            Porgy & Bess, DuBose Heyward, George & Ira Gershwin

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria View Post
                              Do you consider that to have been wrong? And if so, why?
                              You mean like the draconian lock downs, masking kids, suspending in school teaching otherwise, destroying businesses, forcing people to get an experimental shots/drugs or lose their jobs, etc.

                              I am not "speaking" about anything. I cited a section from a written article.
                              Then your article is bunk, the left was much more totalitarian during the pandemic. And it is the left that is now pushing the great reset...
                              Last edited by seer; 07-25-2022, 06:17 PM.
                              Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                              Comment

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