We never had a 'grip.' The more I read about the Spanish Flu the more I am certain it's going to take at least triple the current body count before anyone decides to get at all serious about addressing the pandemic. Mass death, and nothing else moves history.
I agree. As a mass of people, I’m afraid we’ have a certain terrible moment of inertia to overcome before we’re all ready to recognize the inconveniences that Come along with COVID-19 safety measures. What is that certain number of grandparents or friends and family that must bite the dust before this becomes real? On some level, do we all realize this? Could it also be one of the reasons that so many of us are recognizing systemic racism at the moment? They seem to be similar problems. Aren’t there a few parallels between eliminating COVID-19 eliminating systemic racism? Not one of us can get either job done alone. We can pretend neither exist, yet there they are. Time for a few of us to do a little growing up, do some adulting and solve some problems.
The cult of American individualism has progressed to the point that we can't solve problems when the only solution is collective action sustained over time, even when the solution is as simple as a scrap of cloth over the face. I don't know how to overcome that inertia. I don't know how to make grown men and women grow up.
I think the discourse we have here is fantastic, but the bar for entry is set past the point of willingness to inconvenience yourself for the good of society. It's really, really hard to have conversations like this with someone that doesn't even speak the same political language as you