Jonathan Kogan

January 28, 2022

[Open Letter] One Size Does Not Fit All

An Unpopular Opinion Against COVID-19


This is something I never thought I would write. If you know me, then you know I haven’t watched the “news” my entire life — all for reasons I don’t agree with but are true: I am an American, I’m white, and I’m a male. Do I believe that these characteristics should make anyone more favorable than another human being? No. With that said, I wanted to experiment with the idea of “censorship” and challenge the notion of “misinformation” with a healthy debate from both sides.

As the French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

I have always told people that I didn’t care about politics because it didn’t impact my life, however, that has recently changed. Yes. The President of the United States is affecting my life, and it isn’t for good reasons. This essay is for all the people across the world whether you’re short or tall, black or white, vaccinated or unknown, Religious or Atheist, American or Non-American, Male or Female, and every other combination in-between.

This essay is intended to challenge the status quo because if there is something I have learned in my short time on earth it’s that the greatest gifts in life come from those that think differently, challenge leadership, and most importantly, having the courage to share your opinion — whether it’s right or wrong — because (at least in the USA) we believe in the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression. That’s special and it’s something I have taken for granted in my life, which I’m embarrassed to say. I think that the saying, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone” might be true, well, in my personal experience it is and I can only speak to my personal experience.

This has been an extremely difficult article to write, but what’s much more scary is that publishing it has been even more difficult. Think about that for a minute. In a Country — The United States of America — where our first amendment says the following:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

all I hear is how “dangerous” it is to express your thoughts or share your opinions. Well, I have a deep, deep feeling that I am not alone and the purpose of this essay is to defeat this false narrative because I genuinely believe the truth will prevail.

Before going any further, I want anyone who is reading this whether it’s making you emotional in a positive or negative way — to think of something and try what might be an uncomfortable exercise. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in your nose, then out your mouth. Repeat two more times. Hopefully, this helps relax your body as it did for me and released the most unforgiving forces upon all of us right now, which is anxiety and fear. Now, think of the best, most intimate times you had with family, close friends, a loved one, or perhaps your kids from before the COVID-19 hysteria. Maybe you see a sunny day on the beach making sand castles with your daughter, sharing ice cream with your spouse at Disney World, or maybe you just see those you care about the most with a smile on their face and the sun at their back, birds chirping, the calming sound of ocean waves, or the beauty of snow flurries in late-December.

The point is: it doesn’t matter what positive times you think of as long as your body remembers what it’s like to be happy, to be heard, and to be loved.

You see, I’m only 32-years-old, which my girlfriend just reminded me of today when I asked for permission to write a blog post that may hold opinions contrary to her own, and most likely, opinions that she disagrees with. This is [sort of] how the conversation went…

“Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good, what’s up?”

“Not much. Well, there’s something. Would you be OK if I wrote a ‘controversial’ blog post that most likely no one will read, but goes against the general narrative and questions topics that are being censored, ruining reputations, or may result in you and I getting “attacked” for having an opinion?”

“Why would anyone come after me?”

“I honestly don’t know but let’s say they do and try everything to tear us apart, whether it’s digging up something from my past, defaming my character, or perhaps, receiving threats for sharing my opinion on the world because correct me if I’m wrong, but it feels to me like this is the most horrific time period of my lifetime. Do you feel the same way?”

“Well, you have only lived a short life so far so…”

“Wait, wait. Yes, that is true, but what other sample size can I go off of? I only know what I have experienced and everything else is from education about the history of people and civilization. Let’s play “What If”. What if the worst happens and somehow this essay is read by a bunch of people, shared, and eventually results in people who have different opinions, more power, and don’t like the concept of ‘freedom of expression’? And what if this results in threats, humiliation, or a segment on Tucker Carlson? I know you don’t like Tucker Carlson so what would happen?”

“That would be awesome if you were on Tucker Carlson! I think…”

“You think that would be awesome? You hate him and you hate Fox News, right? Wouldn’t you be upset?”

“Not at all. You can write anything you want — you don’t need my permission to share your thoughts or opinions even if I disagree. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion whether it’s true or not.”

“Wow, I’m shocked! So you’re saying if my opinion is classified as misinformation that you would be OK with that?”

“Yes. I don’t need to agree with you on anything. Do it.”

Let me do my best to put this into context. My girlfriend and I agree on about 2% of issues when it comes to politics, or anything really. For example, if I say turn right she would turn left. If I said stand up, she would sit down. If I said “Let’s go”, she would say…yes, you guess it…”Let’s stay”.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Great, but what’s your point?” What I’m trying to convey is that the world is grey. Not everything is binary. With every nuance in life, there are always variables that can slightly alter judgement because, well, everyone is different! Would you prescribe the same medications, dosages, and other remedies to Tom Brady and your 90-year-old Grandmother who smoked for 30 years, has diabetes, and has cancer? Or would you give the same exact prescription to Shaq as your 3-year-old daughter? Maybe you would say “yes”, and that’s completely fine, but there might be others who say “no”, which you may not agree with but at least in The United States of America each individual — in my opinion — are allowed to put whatever they want into their bodies.

What makes this so interesting (to me) is that the same group of people who are pro-choice and often say “my body, my choice” are actually the same group that is acting in accordance to a phrase that would sound like, “your body, my choice”. Whether you are pro-choice or pro-life, a debate that has been ongoing on in America for decades. That’s just my observation, meaning, it’s not information or misinformation.

Misinformation

Since I’m not a huge history buff or know much about anything, which is why when I started hearing the words misinformation or disinformation, I needed to research the origin of these words because I never heard of these terms prior to COVID-19. I want to share with you what I learned, and I also want to include a clear disclaimer:

I have no idea if the following is true or false, but just so you can do the research on your own, I have provided all of the resources I have used to learn these things at the end of this essay. In my opinion, it’s your job to take all of the data into account and make the best decision possible based on your own opinion. Whether I agree with you or not, I respect your freedom to think for yourself and share your outlook with others. Healthy debates on extremely difficult issues, which usually fall into the grey zone, or in other words, there will be many different opinions amongst everyone, but everyone deserves to have opinions. Do you agree? It doesn’t matter. I want to hear everyone’s hot take, most especially, those viewpoints that I don’t agree with so I can grow, learn, and connect with other human beings that think differently than I do.

Back to the quick history lesson. I searched “origin of misinformation” on Google and the first thing that came up was this picture:


And this is what it said at the top of the Google search results:

“Russian use began with a "special disinformation office" in 1923. Disinformation was defined in Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1952) as "false information with the intention to deceive public opinion"

Again, I didn’t know anything about these origins, but like others, this result made me interested to learn more. I came across this video, which focused on how Hitler used widespread propaganda, the educational system, and truly a remarkable understanding of persuasion and corruption. Now, hold on. Before you start saying, “He’s trying to compare the USA to Nazi Germany” or “This guy is a racist” (somehow), I’d like to go back to what I said at the top of this section, which is that I don’t know what’s true or not true at this moment in time and I’m going off my research (all cited below for transparency) for the sole purpose of educating myself and sharing my findings with anyone else who may be interested in discussing such hard topics.

In my free opinion, I have tried to be as objective as humanly possible because I have zero interest in shaping your thoughts — or anyone’s thoughts for that matter. My agenda is to promote debate, difficult discussions, and ongoing iterations to improve society in America and every other human on this Earth. Also, let’s be honest, I can barely handle my own thoughts let alone anyone else’s.

Interesting Theory

There is an incredible essay written by the respected physician Robert Malone so I don’t want to take credit for this interesting find, but I think it needs to reach more people for two reasons:

  1. I’m extremely curious what others think about ‘Mass Formation Psychosis’.

  2. It seems to be correct, albeit, it might not be. Hence, it’s a theory.

In the 1930s, the Nazi Party — led by Adolf Hitler — came into power when Hitler became the Chancellor in 1933. At the time, Germany had one of the most educated and wealthy societies in the world. This was not a corrupt Global Force before Hitler was elected, which leads you to ask, “What happened?”. Well, there is an explanation and it’s very interesting (again, this essay has no opinions, propaganda, or anything alike, but just a ‘history lesson’ for you to use or dismiss in your own decision-making process. Here’s the video:

There’s a great question that Peter Thiel says is his favorite interview question to job candidates:

“What important truth do very few people agree with you on?”

So, what is a good answer you may ask? Well, a good answer is one that sparks a unique view of the world and shows the candidate doesn’t think like their peers. This signals that the candidate has three distinct characteristics:

  1. The candidate thinks differently;

  2. Is open-minded, and

  3. Is brave enough to discuss an unpopular opinion.

An employee who thinks differently will identify opportunities the larger group may not see. This employee will see a rabbit-shaped cloud in the sky when everyone else sees a turtle. There’s value in that (especially if it is indeed a rabbit).

An open mind leads to more “yes, ands” and fewer “no, buts.” If you’re looking to drive growth at a small start-up, “yes, ands” are far more valuable. If you work at a large company, “no, but” is likely more valuable to protect the company from significant downside risk. So, someone that performs well on the Thiel question may ultimately be better at a smaller fast-moving company than a larger slower-moving organization.

One would prefer answers that do not just restate the conventional wisdom of a recent TED Talk. It’s okay if the answer is wrong. It’s not okay if everyone agrees with it.

Of course, the best answers are both contrarian and right. Being right is extremely hard (and might take years to prove). But one should be able to immediately know if the answer is contrarian. This video is one of the best representations of this in case you’re interested in hearing theories that you may not agree with.

How does this apply here?

It’s my opinion that what makes us human is having the freedom of thought and freedom of expression. Unfortunately, that is not happening right now anywhere in the world it seems, and to me that’s scary. You are absolutely allowed to share your opinion and be completely wrong. This also applies to the “science” arguments. Science is based on the Scientific Method, which follows an iterative decision-making process. Generate an hypothesis, test that hypothesis, iterate based on your findings, generate a new hypothesis, test the new hypothesis, iterate based on your findings, and repeat…forever. Science, similar to life, is an ongoing, iterative process that is never a binary “true” or “false” because things change.

By the way, this is a great concept. Why? Because it gets us to the truth. And truth is not a political theory, personal preference, or anything like that, but rather an objective conclusion based on first principles (I love how many people say first principles on podcasts — it’s amazing!). That’s why I personally believe it to be important to listen to the opinions that you disagree with. That’s how you learn, how you challenge complicated issues, and ultimately make a decision based on what is best for the common good. It’s for that reason, I wanted to share a long, insightful video that includes some of the top physicians in the world (they say their credentials before each person speaks so you can evaluate for yourself).

This isn’t to be controversial, argumentative, or anything alike. It’s to provide every human being the right to all information even if it’s wrong because sharing information with the public so that each individual can make the best decision possible for themselves, and most especially, for their children.

In all honesty, what is the reason why people should not hear opinions? Shouldn’t you determine for yourself what is true and untrue? Doesn’t that result in the fairest outcome for all? I believe so. If you do have a different outlook on this, I would be super interested in having a healthy debate on this so I can learn why you feel that way and hopefully that can help me learn even more on this subject.

“Health is not a political issue, it’s people’s lives and people deserve to hear all angles because every person is different, which again, is what makes human beings so special.”

Not to harp on this too much, which might be too late, but I also believe that when there is risk, there must be freedom of choice. Everything we do carries risk. For example, getting into a car and driving 60 mph on the freeway is more risky than sitting on your couch watching football or riding your bike in New York City increases your chance of death vs. taking the subway. Should anyone be allowed to force you into risky behavior or should it be your choice? Again, I deeply appreciate my individual rights and never before in my life have I ever encountered a time where you had to think twice before sharing your opinion. Opinions are peoples’ interpretation of the situation. It’s not information or misinformation. It’s an opinion. 

Now, I am not saying you need to have opinions, but wouldn’t it make sense to encourage people to have opinions? If I wanted to change my pronouns or be called a different name; shouldn’t that be my choice or no? Some people may say yes and some people may say no, but isn’t that healthy? I don’t know about you, but if I saw a commercial that said, “take this pill and whether you’re a child, adult, male, female, overweight, underweight, or a different mammal, this will make everyone skinny”, I would be skeptical. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. It’s how we react to events that creates the outcome. Or, simply put: E+R=O. Event+Reaction=Outcome.

The reaction is what you control and that’s why every situation is unique because everyone reacts differently to different events. That is a beautiful thing!

Conclusion

My hope in every situation is that the outcome is for the benefit of humanity as opposed to the demise of humanity. I have been Team Human since I was 0 and I wouldn’t want to be on any other team. I’m also a believer that all humans are innately good, not evil. Are there bad people in this world? Of course. Is the majority of the population “good”. There’s no question. We have more people on this earth than ever before, our lives are better (and safer) than they ever have been in history, and it’s my personal opinion that people are born with a moral compass to help humanity, not hurt humanity.

“OK, that sounds great Jonathan, but what can we do about it?”

Well, I think there is a way out of this or a kryptonite to the forces that are causing this to happen. Love. What do I mean by that? When everyone became isolated and lost ‘social bonds’, we became prey to this controlling entity. We wanted to be apart of something, have purpose, and share social bonds with people we cared about most. In fact, none of this was anyone’s fault who is reading this. Nobody. It happened and it divided us much more than it brought us together. In fact, I bet you lost a relationship over the vaccine mandates. Why? Because some people wanted to happen or because people didn’t want it to happen? Don’t you want to grow, learn, and become a better person? Not everyone makes great decisions all the time, but that isn’t what this is about. If you think this is about true or untrue, black or white, male or female, vaccinated or unknown, then I think we are missing the bigger picture.

“What’s the bigger picture?”

The bigger picture — and the biggest fear to these forces — is if we all come together as a society, as a community, as a family who accepts everyone’s differences and still loves each other anyways because, well, we are all on Team Human. You don’t need to agree with anyone on anything (look at Reid Hoffman and Peter Thiel!), but you can still accept each other and love all people whether you agree or disagree with anything they say. Some people lie, some people don’t. Some people accept others for their different opinions, others don’t. The point is that everyone gets the right to carry themselves in whatever fashion they want and if you don’t want to associate with them, then don’t. However, that will only pull us further apart, increase tensions, make anxiety worse, and allow these horrible entities to ultimately benefit at the cost of everyone regardless of your opinion.

The one thing we all share is that we are all human beings. It’s so important to remember your own principles and your own beliefs, but what is way more important, is accepting others for their views even if they are wrong. No one wants us to come together because if that were to happen and everyone truly cared for one another, then we would all win because if we divide and separate even further, we all end up losing. I’m in this for “us” or “we” because I’m nothing without you.

I love all of you and thank you so much for reading my misspellings and grammar-less essay.

About Jonathan Kogan

Host, The Jonathan Kogan Show. https://jsk.transistor.fm/subscribe