Overview
This week, Eric Kohn, Stephen Barrows, and Dan Hugger discuss the emergence of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19. With so little known about it, are political leaders and public health officials getting too far ahead of themselves? Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “represent[s] science.” When did we come to have such a malformed understanding of the scientific process that we moved into an ideological understanding of science? And how unsurprised should we be that the World Health Organization skipped over the “Xi” variant name? Finally, they discuss Yuval Levin's recent essay "The changing face of social breakdown.” What's holding people back from starting their lives? Has the pandemic made these problems worse or just revealed trends already at work? And how can we learn to better deal with our changing world to establish more communion, not just communication?
Subscribe to Acton Unwind, Acton Line & Acton Vault
Omicron Rises, but Our Fears Should Not | National Review
Fauci: Republican detractors are "criticizing science” | Axios
In Naming Omicron Variant, Authorities Skipped ‘Xi’ and ‘Nu’ | Wall Street Journal
A ‘Simpsons’ Episode Lampooned Chinese Censorship. In Hong Kong, It Vanished. | New York Times
The changing face of social breakdown | The Dispatch
For first time, India’s fertility rate below replacement level | Times of India
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali | B. K. S. Iyengar
