By Tom Woods
January 25, 2023
From the Tom Woods Letter:
Last week I pointed out that a robust study in the Journal of Medical Ethics showing net harm for college populations from booster shots was sent to student newspapers at dozens of institutions that require them for attendance, and I noted that not one bothered to respond to an invitation to interview the authors.
Well, now we do have a response at the institutional level, and it's stupid.
Health directors at Boston University, Tufts University, Harvard, and MIT sent a response to the journal. They made no effort to contest its data. They said instead that there's more to health than number of hospitalizations averted, so they're not really going to focus too much on that:
We read with interest this risk-benefit and ethical analysis of the utility of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine boosters in university students. We have some major concerns about the choice of hospitalization as the primary measure of benefit....
Hospitalizations averted is not the only marker of morbidity that is relevant to the college student population and given the rarity of severe disease requiring hospitalization in young, generally very healthy adults, hospitalization is not a good choice for a marker of COVID-19 related morbidity.
Stop right there. They admit that the risk of hospitalization, much less death, in student populations is very low. So we're halfway there. But they say nothing - as in not one single word - about the myocarditis risk, which is the whole point of the paper.
Then this:
We are also cautious about changing policy in reaction to a single study, although we are actively reviewing new information. As the authors allude to in their discussion of limitations, it was not possible to comprehensively address the impacts of the COVID-19 on mental health, time lost from academics, and other activities that are uniquely relevant to a college population.
We're supposed to be impressed with how scientific they are - why, they're not going to change their policy in response to a single study!
So where is their study showing net benefit of boosters for college students? Crickets.
I might add that Harvard alone received nearly $2 billion in research grants from the National Institutes of Health in 2021, so one wonders if there's a chance - just a chance, I say - that university administrators and health officials might be inclined to toe the party line.
There's a graphic going around social media that says, "I keep trying to follow the science, but it keeps leading me back to the money."
Cynical? Sure. But it's hard not to be these days.
And now an action item for you, dear reader.
Over the weekend I held my optional in-person event for my School of Life program, and we spent the weekend teaching and learning practical things.
One of our members lives in a blue state and yet has had repeated victories on controversial issues. She taught us how to replicate her success.
A fitness expert taught us which exercises are a waste of time (or even carry a disproportionate risk of injury) and which give us the most bang for our buck.
A former college professor taught us how to de-program people who have been heavily propagandized (i.e., most of the American population).
Lots of other great presentations, too. Adam Schneider, who created the merch store for the Mises Caucus, told us he's aiming to pull in $1 million in his eCommerce business this year, and laid out the basics for everyone in the room. (Adam got his start in eCommerce thanks to a recommendation from me, I am happy to note.)
The point is: we're all helping each other prosper in a hostile world.
I overheard a conversation in which one of my marketing friends advised someone who has a very valuable website he's looking to sell. The advice my friend gave him will save the guy around $300K.
So yes, this is a community it will benefit you to join. (We reopen to new folks in a week and a half.)
But another way I help my folks, whether in or out of that program, is that I'll help you promote your new website to get you that elusive first wave of visitors, and it won't cost you a thing.
I also have a private group for everyone whose website I promote. We help each other with tech issues, marketing questions, etc. This also costs nothing.
I also give everyone free tutorials to get them up and running fast.
Before you start that new site, just check out all the free goodies I'll give you, and the instructions on how to get them, at the link below: