I’m ready to name 2020 the Year of Hypocrisy. The year whe…

Municipal leaders in NYC, who we trust to keep us safe, were far too concerned about their woke credentials than they were about public health. The result was the second-worst hit state in the country (after NJ)

Remember when the Surgeon General told Americans not to wear masks?

Then, a few weeks later reversed himself and taught us how to make them at home?

Wonder why so many people don’t trust government guidance on masks now? Maybe a reason there. https://t.co/cGkb0L328K

Unbelievable.

The Surgeon General, who weeks ago was telling us not to wear masks (instead of resigning) has begun filming "how to make masks out of household materials" videoshttps://t.co/9CrkUwAyUS
— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) April 4, 2020

Remember when Dr. Fauci said not to wear masks in March on 60 minutes.

Then later said he knew masks were good but wanted to protect mask supplies for first responders?

Then he didn’t wear a mask at the ballgame?

Media - where do we even begin? Infinite examples to choose from on both sides of the partisan aisle.

For the vast majority of *national* media, their only consistency in 2020 was that they would take whatever position made Trump look good or bad.

Media companies like @voxdotcom covered themselves in glory with stories like “don’t worry about the Chinese flu but definitely mock people who think it's serious!”

They mocked @balajis and others trying to raise alarm bells about covid early on. https://t.co/NNzmnfBcod

It's 2000+ words. I could go on. But there's a point.

- I assumed bad faith, as I had context
- Not just on this piece, but on tech journalism in 2020
- Some lacked context & didn't understand why I called it out

But as you can see, it was indeed a piece about handshakes! pic.twitter.com/XM5RrxvEes
— balajis.com (@balajis) February 14, 2020

If you casually pay attention to the news, you knew that coronavirus was NO BIG DEAL because your favorite media sources told you so throughout February and March 2020.

In 2020 Big tech made it clear they actively curate what's allowed based on their partisan bias.

The Hunter Biden story is a great example of how Facebook and Twitter moved, ideologically, to ban a negative Biden story from circulating prior to the election.

Educators - This one is personal for me.

In August, Teachers Unions began a shameful campaign to tell parents and taxpayers that in-person education wasn’t essential for children

When Georgia opened schools in early August, the nation mocked them

When that didn't lead to increased transmission for months, there were no apologies

Kids are missing school and the impacts on inequality will be felt for decades, and teachers unions are squarely to blame

Cuomo is the everything for 2020's failures of institutional trust: Government, media, entertainment all rolled together

-Cuomo said covid was no big deal
-He did horribly with covid
-His brother, a popular anchor, helped his image
-THEY GAVE HIM AN EMMY!

126 Republicans cosigned an amicus brief to overturn the results of the electoral college.

Destroying trust and predictability in our election process SHOULD be a third rail of American politics.
https://t.co/WytrFhatGR

Scientists said that outdoor church was unsafe, that anti-lockdown protests were unsafe, but that Black Lives Matter protests were safe

Anyone with a brain in their head trusts these people less going forward.

Even though it's a late entry, I think that the @NewYorker's attempt to resuscitate the public image of convicted child sex offender Anthony Weiner should rank here among one of the most heinous violations of public trust this year. https://t.co/e65gHSQnWZ

I could go on and if there are any good ones share I'll add them to the thread, but the overall takeaway from this is that institutions are losing trust one betrayal at a time.

Soon a time will come when they aren't able to influence behavior the way they once could.

So media won't be able to scare people or shape their ideas, government won't be able to enforce lockdowns, social media platforms won't be able to slow news, and Democrats and Republicans won't be able to control their constituents.

What happens then? Is it freedom or anarchy?

Most people are far too busy to constantly research what's happening in Wuhan to take precautions against faraway threats.

Overall it's probably a net negative that these institutions won't have credibility - but it's better than them having it and abusing it.

If 2021 crossed the rubicon in terms of erosion of institutional trust, it wasn't because of Q, Antifa, or Facebook.

It was because our organizations gave people good reason to stop trusting them.

I’m ready to name 2020 the Year of Hypocrisy.

The year where organizations, governments, and companies destroyed their institutional trust across the board.

A thread of some of the biggest dumpster fires from the last twelve months. 🧵

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I’m ready to name 2020 the Year of Hypocrisy.The year where organizations, governments, and companies destroyed their institutional trust across the board.A thread of some of the biggest dumpster fires from the last twelve months. 🧵

More from Government

You May Also Like

I’m ready to name 2020 the Year of Hypocrisy.

The year where organizations, governments, and companies destroyed their institutional trust across the board.

A thread of some of the biggest dumpster fires from the last twelve months. 🧵