Since the early days of the pandemic, the sane people kept pointing out the biggest risk was overwhelming the hospitals. We knew this a year and a half ago. And yet here we are.
Experts kept telling us that the risk wasn’t just getting serious COVID (which is a big risk alone, with 600,000+ dead) - it was taking away hospitals’ ability to save people from other things.
“IT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS IF I MASK OR GET VACCINATED!” they cried. Even without the risk of them spreading the virus or helping mutations along, that was never true.
And now people are going to die (and not just from COVID) because a lot of moron-Americans can’t do basic science or separate partisanship from public health.
And much of this suffering is going to be because political hacks and grifters want to leverage it for political and financial gain.
But in the end what’s really happened is that a huge percentage of Americans now think that “freedom” means “nobody can ever tell me what to do” which is not how society works.
You don’t get to drive drunk. You don’t get to walk around the city center naked. You have laws to follow and rules that apply to the public good. But more than that, people have RESPONSIBILITIES. I cannot believe how many purported adults have forgotten that.
I believe in an America where people take care of their fellow citizens, where they chip in to help out others. Where they worry about something other than themselves. I don’t think MAGA believes in that. And it’s killing people.
I hear this, but I don't know how you analyze this without the disconnect from community. Having seen the community I grew up in dissolve (along with all the bonds, responsibilities and joys that went with it) as people spread out around the country for a better economic life.
Maybe this is covered in the book (I haven't seen it for sale over here and it's really expensive to ship crap here), but it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about "what happened to America."
Growing up, so much of my life was taken up by community-oriented activity. We didn't need to work so hard to find meaning or fill time, because we were busy participating in the group. And it was just expected; not really optional.
If your message is that you’re okay with people dying because you refuse to learn science or listen to anyone but your political cult leaders and their assorted hangers-on: yeah, you’re despicable.