Life’s Often Astonishing

A fellow who is five years my senior at the Quaker-based independent school William Penn Charter in Philadelphia (pictured) went on to graduate from Princeton University.  Because Quakers are pacifists and Princeton is such a venerable institution, when I reconnected with him on Facebook recently I had expected that he’d be sharing articles on world diplomacy, environmental stewardship, the inherent equality of all humankind, or perhaps the wisdom of Confucius.

What I’m seeing are rants about the infestation of migrants at the southern border, the imperative to make English the official language of the United States, and now this:

Tony Heller, who has for years been exposing the sham of human-induced climate change, turns his attention to the Wuhan virus, claiming that world health authorities are inventing or grossly exaggerating all the data we see on COVID-19, and that there is no reason (other than an attempt at world domination by some unnamed organization) for any of us to protect ourselves and others.

I’m speechless.  I’m more than aware that there are anti-science bigoted hill-billies all over the country, but did this guy need a world-class education to become one?  Those college reunions must be quite interesting–sipping martinis with some of the most intelligent and well-read people on Earth, wearing a red MAGA cap.