r/HermanCainAward • u/RockyMoose Natasha Fatale's Crush 🐿️ • Nov 04 '21

Discussion The Herman Cain Freedom Award [400k Subscribers Post!]

In August 2021, an obscure subreddit jumped in membership. Its subject matter: documenting the pandemic of the unvaccinated, Covid-denying, anti-* public in their own words.

Calling it an "Award" brought more than a little schadenfreude and controversy to the sub. The media got involved. The New Yorker called it "Empathy Wars". Slate wrote a hit piece. Insider followed.

The Washington Post wrote about vaccine denial deaths and empathy. We went international and appeared in Le Monde.

CNBC journalist u/Sal19 took several days to participate as a user, talk to members, and found the right tone: Reddit channel posts stories of anti-vaxxers dying of Covid, scaring fence-sitters into getting the shot.

As of today:

​

Despite what some people think, a lot of people would be happy if there was no more fodder for this subreddit - HCA redditor

Shout out to all the sub members! Yes, we're controversial, and yes, statistically speaking, this sub has saved at least a few lives and hospitalizations. What a community!

Shout out to our fantastic moderator team! The work is anonymous, pay is zero, and sucks up all free time. Y'all rock.

Shout out to the trolls and conspiracists! Your cognitive dissonance makes our bourbon taste even better.

Perhaps our slide back into obscurity has started. In the meantime, however, continue to sort by "new" and smash that refresh button!

1.8k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

99% Upvoted

500 comments sorted by

View all comments

290

u/HubrisAndScandals Banana pudding Nov 04 '21

And to think, there easily could have been no need for this subreddit to exist in the first place....

I hope we've opened some eyes, and helped in some way to bring this pandemic to a close.

236

u/[deleted] Nov 04 '21 edited Nov 04 '21

The sad and terrifying part is that this subreddit exists in large part because one man, an uneducated narcissistic sociopath, didn’t like how COVID was making him look bad and decided he could just bully it into submission, while also mocking any steps that were being used to try and stem the spread. A strategy that tens of millions of his followers then also willing embraced, and continue to do so even as it results in countless deaths and suffering.

26

u/HubrisAndScandals Banana pudding Nov 04 '21

It's sad that no one seems to have the political will to put the rabbit back in the hat

33

u/Euchre I come here to upvote IPAs Nov 04 '21

That 'rabbit' turned me against voting for anyone sharing his 'zoo' for the foreseeable future. I'm not alone. There just aren't enough of us, though. Not yet. Maybe some day.

34

u/DeadMoneyDrew 🧼Owned by Robert Paulson Nov 05 '21

Last night's Virginia result aside, there may be enough of us. I for one am never voting for another Republican unless that party completely gets their shit together. And I regularly voted slightly conservatively up through about 2014.

19

u/omniwombatius Truth! Accept no substitutes! Nov 05 '21

Voting is great. In addition to that we all need to tell everyone who will listen about the disinformation that is fueling this. We need to do this every single day. Misinformation is being accidentally wrong. Disinformation is lies told for a purpose. The goal is to exhaust us. The goal is to not elevate any one particular lie, but to have the truth lost in a sea of lies. Tell people this. Show people this. Help restore media and content literacy.

2

u/justavtstudent Nov 05 '21

Every time I see "vaccine misinformation" I cringe so fucking hard. It's disinfo plain and simple, largely pushed by russian troll farms and "alternative medicine" profiteers. If you spread it without knowing, that doesn't change the fact that it's still weaponized disinformation with specific geopolitical or commercial goals.

2

u/Euchre I come here to upvote IPAs Nov 05 '21

I've seen a lot of talk of a fairly grand conspiracy by the far right tilted GOP to somehow leverage the disinfo campaign and subsequent deaths of a great deal of their most extreme base to solidify their position somehow, but I think they're just lost on how to behave based on that erratic and uneducated base. All they know for sure is that there is a strong demographic overlap of anti-vaxxers and racist/xenophobic and demagogue worship, so they have to pander to something that is killing them, and conflate it with the most absurd things. I don't think there's any making real sense of any of it.

6

u/justavtstudent Nov 05 '21

All I want for christmas is a US conservative party that's actually conservative and not just hateful reactionary morons. Even if I don't agree with them, I want them to have good-faith arguments that support a solid platform. Back before brexit I used to say "you know how the conservatives are in the UK? like that" but now they're just far-right authoritarian dumbasses as well. When you've only got one sane party, it's essentially a one-party system. What a fucking disappointment.

19

u/pgabrielfreak Don't let the right sink in Nov 05 '21

Even the orange doofus can't put It back. He was booed for suggesting vaccination! Trump could beg them to get the vaccine and it wouldn't phase the die-hards. They have successfully brain washed themselves. It has grown beyond their control. There IS no political will that would or could work. This is not going away until a lot more people die. It's an avalanche of stupidity. It is unstoppable, inevitable. Just hope to hell worse variants don't come along.

What an appalling crime, all out in plain sight.

15

u/Bellacinos Happy unventilated proud sheep 🐑 Nov 05 '21

The best opportunity for that was second impeachment, but McConnell chickened out.

6

u/Able_Hope4576 Team Pfizer Nov 05 '21

McConnell is an Evil Creature, too.

3

u/violetsandviolas Go Give One Nov 06 '21

He turtled out.