The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Do You Have A Misinformation Spreader In Your House?

Episode Date: June 22, 2020

Week fifteen starts with lots to discuss including this question from the Atlantic about misinformation, and whether some of the biggest spreaders are at family gatherings.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Listen to that applause. Still going on after we pass the half million mark on the Bridge Daily. Alright, alright, alright. So, that was canned applause. Just like that's canned laughter. Oh boy. What happens when you get a new control board for a podcast? You find all these interesting little things on it. Anyway, I'm Peter Mansbridge. This is the Bridge Daily. We're entering week 15.

Can you imagine? Week 15 of the Bridge Daily as it's been covering Monday to Friday the situation surrounding COVID-19 and the questions surrounding systemic racism, which has also obviously come so much to the forefront over the last few weeks since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. So let's bring you up to date on a few things on today's broadcast. Everything is related on this day to COVID-19 and there are a number of new developments and I want to touch base on them. You know that I have been a big proponent of Angela Merkel and the way she has run things in Germany in terms of how they have been dealing with the pandemic.

Well, we should also mention when things aren't quite going the way that they were hoping for, and this has not been a good past few days for the German government. There have been spikes in the numbers of cases reported, the number of positive cases reported, and much of it seems to be traced to a major outbreak at a slaughterhouse in Germany. The outbreak near Gürtelstow was first reported last Wednesday when 400 workers were tested positive. In two days, that number doubled to 803, and it hasn't been going well since then. So they are in a major lockdown mode in those areas and trying to contain what has been a major outbreak of the coronavirus in Germany.

So obviously we wish them luck on that front. Moving on to a couple of interesting pieces that I saw over the weekend. The Economist has a piece on the science behind social distancing measures, which are sometimes more considered as guidelines than stringent rules. And the piece includes an interesting note that the WHO, the World Health Organization, which, as we know, has had its reputation battered about over these last few months in terms of the way things have been handled by the WHO.

And I've got to say, as one who defended it at the beginning, I have had increasing trouble with some of their actions in the last month or so. Nevertheless, this article in The Economist includes the interesting note that the WHO's one meter rule, that's three feet. Remember the WHO, when it came out with its social distancing, physical distancing rules, was suggesting one meter, three feet, as opposed to what most people are recommending, which is two metres, six feet roughly.

And so where did the WHO get its background, its research to come up with one metre? Well, the economists say the roots for that one-meter decision were in a study that was done in the 1930s. So the WHO may have to be explaining that one. Now, also, many of the letters that I've received, incredible letters, and there were a couple more last week in the weekend special. In fact, the last couple of weeks have been letters that dealt with the issue of mental health and how some people are struggling to ensure

that they have a healthy situation when it comes to their mental health that has been tested both at home and at work because of COVID-19. And it's usually coming from mothers who are dealing with a number of things at home in isolation. They're dealing with their kids. They're dealing with homeschooling.

And they're dealing in many cases with work as well. And just how much can they handle. So we have the New York Times over the weekend suggesting that the pandemic's mental health toll on humans around the world is actually less a certainty and more of an open question. Why? Not because there isn't stress, that there aren't tensions. But it's an open question because, the New York Times argues,

humans have a resiliency which is indeed formidable. Now, once again, the WHO factors into this story because the WHO was warned of massive increases in mental health conditions. But despite that, the Times argues that psychiatrists and therapists who they have talked to, who work with people in the wake of earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters, have noted that surges in anxiety and helplessness were natural reactions that seldom become traumatic or chronic. Now, you know, I read that and I think back to some of these letters that I've read

and I actually see some symmetry between the letters and what I just read from the times because in most of these letters almost all of them written by women who share the experiences that I just mentioned earlier Most of these letters, almost all of them written by women, who share the experiences that I just mentioned earlier that they've had to go through during the pandemic. Most of these letters kind of end up arguing that they're dealing with it. You know, there could be any number of ways they're dealing with it.

They've taken a break from one of the areas that has factored into their stress level. They've had help from other family members, from their husbands, from their mothers, their sisters. And they've kind of found a balance. So maybe that's what the times is getting at. That we kind of know when we're in this situation. And we find ways of dealing with it.

Now, not everybody can do that. And some people's stress level is higher than others. Some people are forced to deal with much greater stress than the rest of us. And they need help. They need help beyond just simply taking a break. But I think what the Times is getting at is that in the overall nature of this, human beings are pretty resilient, and they're finding ways to deal with it. And once we get past this, they too will move on,

just like they do with earthquakes and hurricanes and other disasters that have noted, as the New York Times says, surges in anxiety and helplessness were natural reactions that seldom become traumatic or chronic. Well, I hope that's right. Here's one that deals with diet, and it was in the Washington Post. The Post shares that McDonald's has adjusted its offerings on the menu after the impact of the coronavirus

has shown significantly reduced consumer demand for dining out. Okay, so how exactly, Washington Post, has McDonald's adjusted its offerings on its menu? Well, that's what the Post says. More comfort food as Bacon McDouble. Now, I have no idea what a Bacon McDouble is, but I assume it's a lot of bacon. Apparently that's on there. That's on the adjusted menu. Vanilla ice cream cones.

I know what those are. Apparently people are liking those. And chocolate chip cookies. You know, I have a number of weaknesses in life. Chocolate chip cookies are right up there, near the top. As much as I swear I'm not going to have another chocolate chip cookie because it's not good for me, I can't walk past a chocolate chip cookie. You know, I'm in Toronto today. Last night when I left Stratford, I saw in a cupboard that Cynthia had just bought a bag of gluten-free. She's gluten-free, which is getting better and better tasting all the time now,

gluten-free products. It used to be awful. Pretty good right now. Anyway, I saw she just bought a bag, and it was kind of positioned in the cupboard, so as I wouldn't see it, of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies. You don't know how hard it was to walk past that bag and not break the seal and open it.

Anyway, I digress. That's on the comfort food adjusted menu. Bacon McDouble, vanilla ice cream cones, and chocolate chip cookies are making a comeback. But yogurts, salad, and grilled chicken's return have been postponed. All-day breakfasts are also eliminated. Now, I don't know whether this is on the Canadian McDonald's menu as well. Clearly, the Post is talking about what they see in the States.

But those are some significant changes, especially when you get to the healthy things like salad, yogurt, unless it's the chocolate chip yogurt, and grilled chicken. Those are being postponed. All-day breakfast, eliminated. Not sure how healthy all day breakfasts are. Anyway, moving on. Okay, here's the last topic for today. And I found this, you know, I saw this last week. I've been waiting for the moment to use it.

I find it really quite fascinating. It was in the Atlantic. And it's written by Kushboo Shah. The headline is, When Your Family Spreads Misinformation. In times of crisis, family group chats can become dangerous platforms for the spread of false claims. And when I saw that headline, I thought, oh, boy, here we go again. But then when I read it, I thought, okay, I get it. I get it. I see the issue here. And I think there's some truth in it.

And I started thinking back on my own personal experiences of, you know, family gatherings over the years and how you're kind of more accepting because it's family of things that are said around the dinner table, even when you know them to be either not true or conspiratorial, how you kind of let it pass. But how dangerous that is in this moment. So here's what, I'm going to read the first couple of paragraphs from Kushbusha's article in The Atlantic.

It's pretty good. I mean, it's good in the sense that he's got a flair. One morning in April, I woke up to 77 alerts from my family WhatsApp group. Now, I don't know whether you know what WhatsApp is. As borderline as I am on social media, I actually have a WhatsApp account and it's handy to have and you can create your own groups if you want.

In this case it's a family WhatsApp group so all members of the family see it and they all members of the family see it. And they're the only ones who see it. One morning in April, I woke up to 77 alerts from my family WhatsApp group. Usually, that many messages mean only one of two things. Either it's someone's birthday, or someone has posted a video of their child singing a classical Indian song. This time, though, my family was talking about the coronavirus.

One relative had sent a chart ranking the virus in less lethal than a dozen of other diseases and implying that it was not a global pandemic. Another had posted a video of a Gujarati-speaking man in scrubs telling people that a reliable, free coronavirus test involved holding one's breath. If you don't cough after the first three seconds, you don't have coronavirus, he said. An ant sent a message suggesting that everyone build immunity by drinking warm, turmeric-infused water with ginger. Psychologists have found that people are quicker to share unverifiable information with those closest to them, and they are more likely to believe fake news when it's sent by friends and family. These factors can turn family group chats into dangerous

platforms for the spread of misinformation. Before the coronavirus commandeered our thoughts, careers, and freedom of movement, my family was just a scattered group of people popping in and out of one another's lives. We rarely discussed politics or climate change, and the most intense arguments occurred when parents attempted to outdo one another with pictures of their children skiing or running a half marathon. Now, coronavirus misinformation has poisoned the usually mundane feed as it has many family conversations worldwide. Now I wonder, do you find that too?

And if you do, like how are you dealing with it? When you have, whether it's a group chat on WhatsApp or whether it's a group discussion on Zoom. The family gets together and you all sit around and talk. Virtually, remotely, or in the cases that we're seeing in some areas now today, where your get-togethers are okay. Small, but they're okay. So I find this, and the article obviously goes on and on. You can find it on Amazon.com. But I think it's an interesting issue.

We talk often about fake news and about misinformation. And maybe one of the areas we're seeing, at least argued here, is one of the areas we're seeing it most is right in our own homes, around our own dinner table or around the Zoom chat or around the WhatsApp conversation. So what do you do about it well at the conclusion of this article Kushboo Shah writes to squelch the spread of misinformation

family members will have to be proactive in flagging fake news in group chats even if it leads to uncomfortable conversations with loved ones. One of my family told me that she has noticed many members of the younger generation taking on the necessary responsibility of pushing back against misinformation sent by older relatives. Now, you know, I get that kind of pushback in conversations we have around the table from my son not about misinformation about any number of things and i think

the younger generation as we've witnessed especially in this last month are not shy about letting their feelings be known. And they're finding different ways to show that. And whether it's in a protest march or whether it's around the dining room table, good for them. We are living through a moment. We are living through a huge moment in history.

And a lot of it is generated by young people who want change. And we have gone through a number of periods of the last couple of years of change. The Me Too movement was change. The push for social justice, equality, the end to systemic racism. Any movement on those issues will be huge change in the way we live. And at times of change, you need strong voices. And you need strong voices who are willing to speak up.

And if that causes some uncomfortable situations around the family table, well, then it causes uncomfortable situations around the family table. And we all have to be big enough and mature enough to learn from that. All right. You may have thoughts on any of these things. And as always, I'd love to hear them. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com. The Mansbridge Podcast at gmail.com.

A lot of what you're seeing in the news in the last few days as it comes to the coronavirus has not been positive in terms of the worldwide situation. More cases than ever worldwide. The death tolls keep going up. The situation for our neighbors to the south is not good. Not good at all. More states now with rising numbers than states with numbers that are dropping.

Concerns about Americans who are crossing the border. We saw it again on the weekend. We've heard it in some of the letters that we've had on the weekend specials the last few weeks. Concern, especially in Western Canada, that Americans are crossing the border saying they're on their way to Alaska, which they're allowed to do, but in fact they're not going to Alaska. And evidence this past weekend that a number of Americans were stopped

and fined in Banff, Alberta, who had claimed at the border they were going to Alaska, but really were just on a holiday. We've seen the same thing about marinas on the West Coast. None of those things are good news. Here's the good news. We're doing well in Canada so far. We've flattened the curve. Numbers have gone down dramatically from coast to coast to coast. That's good. You know, just in Ontario today, Ontario where, you know, the country's most populous province, where a couple of weeks ago, it was regularly over 400 new cases a day.

Today, once again, below 200. I think the lowest there's been since mid-March, 160, I think it was, of new cases. But far more cases resolved than new ones created. Those are all, that's all good news. Quebec, as terrible as the situation has been there, so far, they went back to school in Quebec a couple of weeks ago. So far, there have not been issues surrounding that. That's good news. So while there are still difficulties and some

families are still challenged in ways that none of us want to be, things have been looking up here in Canada. Thanks to the way Canadians have responded, and hopefully will continue to respond, continue in a way that we won't see the spikes that we're seeing in other countries, especially to our neighbors to the south.

All right. Enough is enough for day one of week 15. I'm Peter Mansbridge. This has been the Bridge Daily. What do you want to go out with? Do you want to go out with laughter? Do you want to go out with laughter? Do you want to go out with applause? Or do you want to go out with just a signature sound?

That's a signature sound. That's nice. I like that. How about this? That was pretty good too. All right. We'll be back in 24 hours.