99% of those reading this feed get it, but for the 1% who don't: the reason I spend so much time underscoring how bad this is is because the socially responsible thing to do now—for those with *any* sort of platform—is to raise awareness about how seriously we all must take this.
1/ Most of us are taking this *very* seriously. And yet *every person* who *isn't* taking it seriously—who may be carrying the coronavirus asymptomatically—has the potential to, in time, infect hundreds or even *thousands* of others, if they are not engaging in social distancing.
2/ A bad person—someone who isn't a leader, who lacks empathy, who lacks foresight in a crisis, who cares only for themselves; say, someone like Donald Trump—would spend this crisis *only sharing good news* as a way of remaining popular, seeming brave, and not bumming anyone out.
3/ So there's a catch-22 for any feed trying to deliver hard coronavirus news: anyone reading such a feed is already taking coronavirus seriously; which means they don't necessarily need warnings; which means they already feel sad and may *avoid* feeds that make them *more* sad.
4/ A recent tweet of mine received *28 million* impressions. Don't I have a responsibility to write tweets—amidst this crisis—that could raise awareness about the need to (if one can) self-quarantine (shelter-in-place, social distance) even if they only influence just *1* person?
5/ That is, there's a difference between fear-mongering—Denethor (in THE RETURN OF THE KING) shouting, "Flee! Flee for your lives!"—and providing accurate (if dire) info that could influence someone somewhere to start making different decisions, for their own and everyone's sake.
6/ The sick thing about all this is that some morally diseased folks on the right are going around saying of Twitter feeds like this one, "He *wants* people to die. He *wants* the economy to fail." No, *idiots*...and yet, that's *exactly* what a staunch Trump voter *would* think.
7/ Trump has taught half the US to believe *hard* news is *fake* news—that those who tell the truth are unpatriotic, and real patriotism is simply believing, *against all evidence*, that Trump has "Made America Great Again." But we must say it: that attitude is now costing lives.
8/ My point is, while *none* of us should ever fearmonger, and while *none* of us want *anything* but for all this to end and for America to be safe, prosperous, and healthy, do *not* listen to people who tell you not to spread accurate—if dire—info. That's playing Trump's game.
