You know what really upsets me about public health officials who forced draconian COVID-19 policies on us normal folk while they were off having wild orgies? The fact that they're not transparent about it.

Kristen Brown is actually arguing this for The Atlantic, in a somehow-published article with this non-satirical headline.

After giving a brief overview of New York City's former Covid czar Jay Varma, who attended private sex parties in 2020 to "blow off steam every now and then" so he could handle the pressure of COVID, the author first notes that "it's not clear whether Varma personally violated any COVID rules," because the sex parties involved "like, 10 people" — condoms optional, as long as you're wearing a mask.

Dude was having orgies during Covid — taking ecstasy and visiting underground clubs — while telling citizens to stay home and social distance. He knew it was all a lie, and he needed to "blow off some steam" to clear his mind of his dishonest Covid policy.

But then we get to the sausage in this Atlantic piece: Elites breaking the rules they force us to follow isn't really a problem as long as they make it relatable.

Perhaps it would have helped if he'd shared his own struggles with that tension at the time. Social-science research tells us that public-health messaging wins trust most effectively when it leads with empathy — when leaders show that they understand how people feel and what they want, rather than barraging them with rules and facts. Clearly Varma struggled in the way that many others did as he tried to navigate the crushing isolation of the pandemic. In preparation for the holidays, his family was faced with tough, familiar choices, which resulted in his being separated from his loved ones.

The end result may seem hypocritical, but it's also relatable. (Well, maybe not entirely relatable, but in principle.) 'We know that transparency can increase public trust in public health and medical experts,' Matt Motta, who studies vaccine hesitancy at the Boston University School of Public Health, told me. What if Varma had been forthright with the public from the start, even on the subject of his sex parties? Perhaps he could have shown that he understood the need to get together with your friends as safely as you can, in whatever ways make you happy. Even now, his description of that moment strikes a chord. 'It wasn't so much sex,' he told the woman who was trying to embarrass him. 'It was just like, I need to get this energy out of me.' So did the rest of us.

So if your relative was forced into a nursing home and died alone, or your business shut down, or your child lost years of educational and social development, maybe the real problem was you just weren't having enough sex at a sex party.

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