Trump, Rand Paul, and their ilk always talk about herd immunity. Activist Eleanor Goldfield’s roots are Swedish, and she deconstructs the reality.
Eleanor Goldfield saw herd immunity first hand
Eleanor Goldfield is a woman of many skills in the activist community. Above and beyond art and music, she is an excellent writer.
I subscribe to Eleanor’s newsletter. The last one she sent out linked to her most recent article titled “No Socialist Paradise: Sweden’s COVID-19 Response Is Nothing to Envy,” which described part of her visit to Sweden, her other homeland. Be sure to read it after listening to her entire interview in this post.
Eleanor pointed out the dichotomy of the tourist areas versus the local areas. It was the description of part of the Swedish population that accepted their government’s tenet of herd immunity. Tourist areas were bare while local hangouts were business-as-usual. It is much the same as what many on the Right would like Americans to practice.
One paragraph gave me hope for both Sweden and the United States.
If anyone can be thanked for avoiding all-out disaster, it is (some of) the Swedish people themselves. A recent analysis from researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden and the University of Virginia School of Medicine show that nearly a third of Swedish residents voluntarily self-isolated. Many people, particularly those in high-risk groups, ignored Tegnell and donned masks and face shields in order to go shopping, using creative hand signals to remind people to respect the time-honored Swedish tradition of social distancing. Some families, including high-risk households, even tried to keep kids at home when schools reopened this fall, precipitating either fines or harassment from social services. Experts and academics signed on to a letter demanding a “more responsible policy” at the start of the school year, citing ongoing research that shows children do spread the virus, even if they are asymptomatic themselves.
Later in the interview we discussed the state of America. She also talked a bit about urban farming.