The mainstream media was finally forced to admit the truth last week after research published in the Lancet revealed that natural immunity acquired from COVID infection provided protection either equal to or superior to that granted by two doses of mRNA vaccine. Outlets like NBC News ran headlines prominently displaying a medical fact that was dismissed as a “right-wing conspiracy theory” for years by those same media outlets.

Conservative commentators, politicians, and even prominent physicians were regularly deplatformed from social media for stating simple medical facts that have been later proven scientifically, but no apology will be coming from the cult of COVID. Due to the constant stream of propaganda coming from both the media and government, trust in American institutions is cratering, especially among conservatives.

We are all seeking truth, but average people do not have time to sift every piece of data or read every study — they need reliable authorities that can be trusted to help evaluate and understand information. When the authorities charged with this task prove completely corrupt, individuals will speculate and grasp for narratives that help them make sense of the world around them. Many of those narratives will prove true, but just as many will prove false, which allows the left to smear all opposing narratives as “conspiracy theories” that can be easily dismissed.

The right lacks a network of parallel sense-making institutions to offer credible alternatives to the lies of the progressive left, and this puts conservatives at a distinct disadvantage in the battle for truth.