PSA: this is about „Merck & Co“, the US Company internationally known as „Merck Sharp & Dohme“ (MSD), which is distinct from the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck KGaA (though they share history until 1917).
Merck (based in the US) is only called Merck in the US and Canada. Outside of those territories it should be referred to as MSD. Outside of the US, Merck is the company from Germany (which is the real one in the first place, until WW changed things with the nationalization of several German assets in the US).
And yet we currently uncritically accept the denouncement and suppression of “misinformation” championed by our various media institutions, all of which either derive a plurality of their income (television) or a significant fraction from pharmaceutical companies.
I am continually amazed at how quickly people are willing to wholeheartedly believe everything that comes out of the PR offices of organizations they once rightfully recognized as being corrupt and unethical simply because it now fits their needed personal political narratives.
We see it with sudden insta-faith in governing institutions, corporations (tech and pharmaceutical are just the most recent examples), and NGOs with what can only be termed as having a very checkered past to put it unduly mildly.
It truly does border on strict religious adherence and fervor. Those like Bellah and Ellul were more right than they could have ever known.
There is a part of me that wonders sometimes if the push to go back to the office is not about the middle managers or even real estate, but about something simpler. It is much harder to coordinate things like that via email without leaving a trace. In the office, you just have a meeting with relevant players.
