Len and I are finally watching Downton Abbey. When Spanish Flu hits the house, it's very interesting that nobody panics. They're concerned about those who are sick, yes, but everyone stands around the bed of the sick person, visitors are welcomed, etc.
1/7
1/7
This doesn't really say anything about the mindset in 1918 because it's fiction; what it tells us is that the writers didn't see any reason for the characters to panic, although it was well known at the time that many were dying.
And no masks!
2/7
And no masks!
2/7
I suspect those same writers are now huddled in their homes, begging everyone to stay home and wear masks.
What's the difference? I'm not even talking about motives... the difference is that media and social media went all in on making us afraid.
3/7
What's the difference? I'm not even talking about motives... the difference is that media and social media went all in on making us afraid.
3/7
Instead of providing info on how to take care of the vulnerable while keeping supply chains going, keeping kids in school, keeping the medical system functioning, the media, academia, and government decided to sacrifice everyone else's livelihood.
4/7
4/7
Most of them are still getting paid, while many people in the private sector are succumbing to despair and going into debt that they have no chance of digging out of. Those who still have jobs don't have the luxury of staying home.
5/7
5/7
It's easy to criticize the class divisions in the era of Downton Abbey, but we have those same divisions now - they're just between people who can comfortably work at home and get necessities delivered and people who can't.
6/7
6/7
The comfortable-work-at-homes are making decisions for those who have no job or have to work outside the home, and they feel none of the responsibility that the Crawleys felt to employ the lower class. Their safety is above all, and their decisions must not be questioned.
7/7
7/7
