In his recent article on openDemocracy, Matthias Wasser points out the fact that misinformation is not the prerogative of the radical right or the right for that matter. Indeed, the Covid-19 conspiratorial cesspool is populated both by right-wing extremists and by parts of the liberal left that views itself as woke, progressive and definitely anti-racist. These different ideological strands meet in their denunciation of the “medical industrial complex” and a deep suspicion of the market forces behind any governmental decision—although this is mostly contradictory for the radical right. Thus, the organic food-anti-vaxx-alternative medicine-crowd has been at least confused during the pandemic, as they seem to be wavering between denial of its existence and a conviction that it is a Bill Gates scheme. Interestingly, when we look at the so-called “anti-lockdown” protests, we can see evidence of this ideologically bizarre coexistence: The militiaman Ammon Bundy and his friends transferred their protest outside the home of a policeman who arrested an anti-vaxxer for violating lockdown and in California, anti-vaccination activists joined stay-at-home protesters.
Nowhere is the liberal conspiracy enclave more obvious than in the highly profitable wellness industry—mostly sustained by the well-off alternative medicine liberals—which now confronts both an economic and an ontological threat in the face of Covid-19. But they have not gone into panic mode. Take, for example, the power couple of Kelly Brogan and her husband Sayer Ji who have wedded their products into a medley of unconventional holistic health counselling. Kelly Brogan is a medical doctor (Psychiatrist) and a New York Times best-selling author who has actually helped a great amount of people overcome depression and a variety of other problems as is evident from countless testimonials. But her claim that the SARS-CoV-2 virus does not actually exist has been met with incredulity by a section of her following, some of whom decided to publicly part ways with her.
Matthias Wasser
Miranda Christou
Brogan, a frequent GOOP contributor who was recently called out for not having her American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology license renewed, conducted a video talk with her husband (Livecast: Love in the time of COVID, channeling Gabriel García Márquez) where they hit all the right buzzwords (authentic connection, essential humanity, love) in order to advocate for “health freedom.” Ji, who has a Philosophy degree, used medical jargon to explain that a virus is often confused with an exosome, implying that all molecular biologists around the world made a tragic mistake. Their final message: fear of invisible viruses jumping from person to person is a myth leading to our subjugation and wearing a mask is a form of dehumanization.
