- Joined
- Apr 17, 2019
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584,487. That is how many Americans we have lost to COVID-19. At least 40% of those deaths were easily preventable, but the pandemic struck us when we had a flagrantly anti-science, anti-truth president, and a loud minority of citizens who were willing to literally jump off a cliff for him if so ordered. We've had to deal with this level of toxic selfishness for over a year now, and we have every right to be sick and tired of it.
Those who had to continue to work in person during lockdown had to hope that today wasn't the day that they got this life-threatening disease. For a hot minute, we as a country decided to do what we needed to do to stay safe, even if it was hard. But then, the selfishness, hubris, and freedumb fetish kicked back in. A loud minority of Americans proved that they were not "pro-life" despite their howling to the contrary.
Here's the thing about trauma: It doesn't end when the source of abuse ends. Just because trump is no longer president doesn't mean that we don't continue to have bad memories of him. Just because some of us are vaccinated doesn't mean we don't remember what it's like to have to navigate the minefield of covidiots.
So it's perfectly normal when sane people are nervous over the new, relaxed CDC guidelines on COVID-19. It's perfectly normal to keep an eye on the horrible situation in India and recognize that a virulent mutation could cause a problem here. Your freedumb fetish does not make trauma disappear. In fact it makes us distrust you even more.
It's understandable, but not really rational. It's starting to appear that allowing people to decide whether to wear masks didn't make a dramatic difference in states that made that decision, and anyone who is still nervous about it is perfectly free to continue double masking and social distancing. On top of that, it's getting pretty easy to get actual N95 masks, so people who are really worried can get that extra protection.