I met the enemy face to face yesterday.
I had just finished workout and as my body doesn't recover like it used to, I headed for the hot tub in hopes of easing the aftereffects. The hot tub itself is huge and can easily fit 20 people and because I'm not big on idle chit-chat, I wear a pair a headphones so I can listen to a podcast while I soak.
Most times the hot tub is empty but yesterday I wasn't that lucky. The man started talking as soon as I entered the room but I couldn't hear him so I had to turn off my headphones. He continued to talk though I was too far away to hear over the sound of the whirlpool's action. In hindsight I wish I had hit the record button on my cell phone as what followed still doesn't seem believable.
He said, "All those vaccines have nanites in them."
Those were the first words I heard and while they came as a shock, I really shouldn't have been surprised. As I waded past him I noticed he wore a hat in the hot tub. No one wears a hat to a hot tub unless they want someone to see it. His read 'Gun Owners for Trump'. I hadn't noticed before entering because the hat's coloring scheme was two-tone camouflage which made seeing the words impossible from more than 10 feet away.
For the past year most of America has sat in isolation seeing images of the other. Black vs White. City vs. Rural. Biden vs Trump. Now we are finally more able to venture out and meeting one another and the first results aren't encouraging.
These days many people who proclaim to love freedom have willing taken labels that has replaced free thought. Sometimes I wonder how many of us really listen to the words we hear but instead take marching orders from our group without question. The ability to pick and chose our own news source has conditioned us to toe the line for our side. I'm sure he made some assumptions about me since I am white, over 50, and male. In America these days, that demographic means there's an 80% chance you're a Trump voter and also more likely anti-vaxx. People just assume.
My first reaction was to call him a 'fucking idiot'. Nothing frustrates me more than stupid people and this was a stupid statement. I am not the type to look for confrontation especially with someone whose hat proclaims he has a gun, though I doubt he had one under his swimming trunks.
"Oh?" I decided to see where the conversation might lead.
"They got video of them injecting someone and then using a magnet to pull the nanites back to the person's skin. You can only see it viewed under a black light though."
"Really?"
I wasn't really sure how to respond but I know I had a hundred thoughts going through my brain right then. The man clearly wasn't vaccinated and by law should have been wearing a mask obviously me pointing it out would have been useless. I wasn't wearing my mask because I am fully vaccinated though I do wear it in enclosed places where distancing is impossible or in places clearly marked as needing masks.
This guy looked to be about 70 years old with broad shoulders and a beer gut that that mostly likely caused the scale to tip somewhere north of 250 lbs. In other words, a prime candidate for problems if he caught Covid but I didn't dare ask. I really didn't want a follow up questions, as I didn't want an argument and I have a bad tendency to go from 0 to 100 when I get angry.
I asked, "Can people who've gotten the shot get these nanites out with magnets?"
"Oh no. The chips are embedded in their brains now. They haven't started transmitting yet though."
"Interesting." At this point I have to admit being a bit worried. Even the most logical among us has that brief thought of 'What if he's right?'. I mean it sounds crazy but it's human nature to think through the crazy. 'Nah'. I told myself after a brief internal discussion. 'It's an insane theory.' I mean, hell, if a global conspiracy wanted to put chips in us, there are a thousand other ways to do it. A global pandemic and a vaccine that anyone could put under a microscope is very public.
That did lead me to the logical next question.
"Who is controlling the chips?" I knew the answer could only be a half dozen places. I honestly expected him to say the Jews. Bill Gates was another clear possibility as his charity has spent a lot of money to reduce the spread of disease in places like Africa. Of course another option was the Democrats themselves.
"China."
"China is putting nanites in the vaccines?"
"Yeah. China created Covid in a lab, released it, and then put nanites in the vaccine."
That raised a bunch of questions for me. "How would they do that? If I remember correct, the vaccines used in the United States are being made in Michigan and New Jersey by Americans. China and Russia have their own vaccines but that's not being used here."
"China is working through the CDC."
"Oh." I nodded, not sure how to respond to that kind of conspiracy. Whenever I'm faced with a situation like this I always try to meet the other person halfway. I always try to see merit in every person's views but this guy was clearly off the rails. My only thought now was to possibly get him to question his beliefs.
"I do agree that China is an increasing problem for the United States and it's going to get worse."
"Yeah." He nodded back.
"Do you know the history of China?"
He nodded but didn't say anything.
I said, "They were probably the strongest country in the world for much of history. Many ancient inventions including things like the printing press and gunpowder were invented there first but they grew too big and complacent just about the time Europe started down the path to the Industrial Revolution. Europe used that growth to dominate the world for most of the 19th and 20th century. China calls this time the 'Century of Humiliation'."
I could see him nodded at what I was saying, as it fit his narrative. I decided to indulge it a bit more.
I said, "China is a society built from the top down. The United States is a society built from the bottom up. By that I mean, communism sets plans to push their people to state-set goals. Capitalism uses the profit motive to satisfy demand for goods and gives a better standard of living."
"The American way." He said.
I said, "Yep but the problem is the Chinese turned capitalism against us. They used their underdeveloped economy and cheap but well educated labor to entice American companies to build there. They did whatever these companies wanted and that gave anyone who invested in China an advantage in price and quality. Soon, if a manufacturing company hadn't moved their company to China, they weren't competitive. The American business watchword in the 1990s and 2000s became outsourcing. It slowly enriched the Chinese economy who relied on American markets for the goods they now produced. But the Chinese didn't use this increasing power against us at first. They are too smart for that. After all, they had once endured a century of humiliation. They know how to be patient."
"Exactly."
I said, "One question I wonder is how can our country respond? Our leadership in Washington is divided. That's part of the nature of democracy but ours is so broken that nothing gets done. Meanwhile the leadership in Beijing is unified because that's the nature of a dictatorship."
I see the guy nodding and agreeing with me which was great but also knew this was probably where we would split ways.
I continued, "The only solution is our people and our government leaders have to start working with each other. They have to compromise and form a unified vision. They can't continue to only block the other side or we will see China patiently destroy our economic advantage little by little. We need long term planning for our economy. We need aggressive regional trade agreements. NAFTA and TPP were a good starting points but imagine if we encouraged American companies to build those Chinese factories in Mexico instead. American workers would complain mightily but we'd weaken China and strengthen a neighbor whose citizens are coming across our border looking for jobs. It's a win/win solution but instead all we hear from Washington is hot air."
He didn't respond but I could tell I got him thinking.
I said, "And the one thing we have to always remember is China is patient and as they are a dictatorship their leaders don't have to win a popularity contest. It's why we need to insist our leaders start doing this for the benefit of the country but right now the Chines know we aren't working together."
He said, "We need a revolution."
"That would kill our economy. Right now the only thing propping up China's industries is American markets but American markets rely on the power of the dollar and the financial system. China isn't ready to go on its own right now. Why would they risk that by releasing a pandemic on purpose right now? Why not wait another ten years when they have more control of the world's economy?"
He said, "Because of they have control chips."
I shook my head. I didn't have a good answer to that which wouldn't involve insulting the man's intelligence so I made a joke.
I said, "I guess if this is true and as most vaccines are from four countries - America, Europe, Russia, and China, then I'm glad Americans are getting the American vaccine. That way the chips will be controlled by Americans and not Chinese or Russians." I could see on his face, I thought this joke much funnier than him.
At this point the timer on the whirlpool action had long run out and he decided to get out. I did notice he was giving me an odd look. Perhaps he now saw me a double agent. Or maybe I'm overthinking it and he just saw me as a know-it-all blowhard. I decided not to say anything as he he got out of the hot tub and dried off. Just before leaving he asked, "Do you want another 15 minutes?"
I said, "Sure. Thanks."
Just before pushing the button he asked, "Did you know anyone who has taken the vaccine is going to die in three years?"
I shook my head, my brief thoughts of fear dissuaded by the rational part of my brain a second later. "I hadn't heard that." I'm not sure if he heard my response over the roar of the pulsing water.
As I watched him leave, I thought it probable he'd pegged me as a liberal who had taken the vaccine and his final comment was a passive-aggressive way of saying 'fuck you' to me in parting. And if so, perhaps my first instinct was correct and I should have correctly called him a 'fucking idiot' from the very start.
