"COVID Isn’t a Cold. It’s Cigarettes All Over Again" by David Ramsey

Chandelier

Chandelier

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
www.dilatemag.com

COVID Isn’t a Cold. It’s Cigarettes All Over Again

Look, we’ve been here before.My grandpa smoked two packs a day for most of my memory of him. Everyone did. Doctors literally prescribed cigarettes for stress. They said it was good for you. Made you look cool. Helped you lose weight. Whatever.He felt fine until he didn’t.That’s exactly what’s...
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AI Summary of “COVID Isn’t a Cold. It’s Cigarettes All Over Again” by David Ramsey:

David Ramsey argues that society is dangerously underestimating the long-term health impacts of COVID-19, much like it did with cigarette smoking decades ago. Using a blunt, urgent tone, he compares repeated COVID infections to accumulating damage from years of smoking—effects may seem invisible now but will become catastrophic over time.

Key Points:​

1. COVID Is Not “Just a Cold”​

  • Despite repeated infections being mild or asymptomatic, the virus causes systemic damage—especially to blood vessels, the heart, brain, and organs.
  • It binds to ACE2 receptors found throughout the body, allowing it to cause more than just respiratory illness.

2. The Long-Term Risks Are Real​

  • Scientific studies show the virus can persist in the body long after initial infection, causing chronic inflammation and long-term health problems.
  • Conditions like heart attacks, strokes, cognitive decline, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders are rising—especially among young and previously healthy individuals.

3. Every Infection Carries a Cost​

  • Reinfections increase the risk of organ damage and Long COVID.
  • Rather than building immunity, repeat exposures accumulate injury.

4. Children Are Particularly Vulnerable​

  • Kids are getting infected multiple times a year, and we don’t yet know the long-term effects on their developing bodies and brains.
  • Sharp increases in childhood diabetes, cardiac issues, and academic struggles are being ignored or misattributed.

5. Society Is in Denial​

  • We’ve normalized a serious vascular disease and dismissed it as a mild inconvenience.
  • Public health systems have largely abandoned proactive measures, favoring comfort and economic stability over prevention.

6. The Virus Persists and Damages Over Time​

  • Evidence shows SARS-CoV-2 lingers in organs, potentially causing lifelong complications.
  • Long COVID is not rare—it's a sign of ongoing internal battles, even after “recovery.”

7. What We Should Do (But Aren’t)​

  • Mask in crowded spaces with high-quality masks (e.g., N95).
  • Improve indoor air quality with purifiers or DIY Corsi-Rosenthal boxes.
  • Demand better vaccines and treatments.
  • Stop mocking or dismissing those who continue to take precautions.

8. The Ugly Truth​

  • We had a choice to invest in protections, but chose denial and convenience instead.
  • The consequences—chronic illness, lost productivity, and damaged lives—are already unfolding.

9. The Final Warning​

  • The damage is cumulative. Like smoking, the health bill may take years to fully arrive, but it will come.
  • The science is clear. We’re just refusing to act on it.
Bottom Line:
Ramsey’s piece is a warning: COVID isn’t over, and it never was “just a cold.” Repeated infections carry real risks that could define public health for generations, especially if society continues to ignore mounting evidence.
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Very scary and depressing but I couldn't get a sense of how comparable Covid is with long-term smoking. Is there evidence that Covid persisting in the body is common, or that it does it for great lengths of time?

Not wanting to minimise what it does on a short-term basis but just want to give myself a bit of hope for the future, having quite possibly had two Covid infections already (though not confirmed by testing).
 
In my area these days, local news isn't covering information about asymptomatic covid. On another thread, I talked about how my ENT's office had 3 asymptomatic cases diagnosed through PCR in 1 1/2 weeks. The patients had no idea they had covid.

I think there's an assumption that mild and asymptotic cases are no big deal since people aren't hearing about the severe cases we had in earlier years. I had wondered if asymptomatic cases could cause long covid and found out it can, which is really scary. I have never read that in the local news or other news sources I read daily. Public health messaging is practically nonexistent anymore in the U.S.
 
Kitty said:
We might have an idea in about 25 years' time. In the meantime I'm reserving judgement, as the author can't be sure of this any more than I could.
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Agreed and I’m not completely sure how this is even helpful as an analogy or comparison other than it trying to use that ‘smoking is bad’ assumption

People can give up smoking and .. again who knows because all we get inundated with is behavioural nudge storytelling rather than any striving for facts … but apparently then the damage of risk of what not will heal with each year. And is that more complicated than lung cancer risk or things like emphysema asthma etc. So there is a difference obviously if they continue to be exposed/smoking.

I guess the point being made is exposing eg kids however often to bouts of different types of covid is just being assumed as fine/hand waived as ‘we can’t spend our lives worrying about that’ and there probably might be some down short or long term who might be affected and everyone is just hoping it’s not them.

But it all then starts becoming much more of a harder stretch trying to relate any issues one might want to flag in such a way that it has to compare back to smoking ?

If they’d kept it simple on the exposure front and noted that through the generations we always have the situation where be it smoking around kids or coal fires or asbestos everyone looks back and thinks why were they not just do casual about exposure but many insustent on looking for reasons not to do things about clean air or at least monitoring to even check if some poor kids eg are getting iller/more disabled than they would by getting a twice a year bout then at least I’d get it better
 
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I secretly switched on the air purifier in the waiting room at my dental appointment yesterday. I was the only person in the room.

I was eyeing the one in the exam room but couldn't tell if it was plugged in so I wasn't going to leap over to the wall. I'm hoping they recognize that I am wearing a mask and decided to turn it on in the future. The staff did once during a previous appointment.
 
@SecKennedy
: *Sneezes in the Oval Office*
@POTUS
: "God bless you Bobby. I hope I didn't catch COVID just there.""Give me a Paxlovid immediately," he says to the CEO of Pfizer.



:speechless:
 
Sasha said:
Is there evidence that Covid persisting in the body is common, or that it does it for great lengths of time?
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It hasn’t been proved conclusively. There’s decent quality evidence of viral fragments remaining in the body long term, which is not uncommon for pathogens. Macrophages can hold onto junk for years. Whether or not these fragments are the cause of long term problems in some people is an open question as well. Actively replicating persistent COVID has not been proven as far as I know, just some very indirect indications that people claim are proof of active replication.
 
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