Comfortable people discomfited by injustice are always asked to “understand different perspectives,” and it never ever means the people who are actually harmed by injustice, who have an actually different perspective. It always means those who are comfortable with injustice.
Yes, and what do we mean when we say “we’ve never been so polarized,” anyway?
What if instead we said “It’s been a long time since the reality of injustice has been made so unavoidably present to otherwise comfortable people”?
Whenever you “agree to disagree” with somebody on matters of justice that don’t affect you personally, whenever you decide to stop paying attention because it’s too hard or divisive, somebody you’re erasing from your equation who will not be permitted to opt out in the same way.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
The human capacity to ignore the most relevant part of an issue in order to believe what they want to believe is extraordinary.
In the case of the pandemic, that thing is increasingly this: that we are still in a pandemic, and the pandemic is still a destabilizing problem.
There are many reasons we remain in pandemic. Some may prove endemic. Most are systemic political blocks to coordinated responses that are possible and necessary, but not yet attempted.
It's tiring. It's awful.
Nevertheless, we remain in a pandemic, which remains destabilizing.
The problem of the virus is a systemic one, and the system is the human body.
The unwillingness/inability to effectively counter it is a political one, which is its own type of systemic problem.
In this country especially, the problem is cultural. We have a culture of neglect.
“I want my life back” is a hell of a thing to say much less publish when 5.5 million people have actually lost their actual lives.
We still insist on prevention measures because there are still at risk people who are very much in danger and for whom vaccination is not an option, who can’t simply opt out of caring.
So tired of these articles that frame it as if we’ve chosen this because we like it somehow.
Yes! I also want life to return to normal! We all do! Everyone wants this!
It’s hasn’t, because our leaders have refused to do what is necessary to make it happen, I guess in the hopes that those of us who can afford the risk of just shrugging and moving on will do so.
I can't believe we're forced into arguing over whether or not preventing a potentially crippling or deadly disease is good with the same people with whom we argued over whether or not a terminally ignorant fascist rodeo clown should be president.
"Preventing disease is good, actually."
"Oh? I'm sure you have proof. Be detailed. I'll wait."
"Ok, one second. Here."
"What you haven't considered is that preventing disease is inconvenient."
"Not to people who might die."
"No I mean inconvenient to me. Slightly."
"I see, OK. Well have you considered this:"
Right now I'm thinking about a certain type of journalist/media figure who scolds: "twitter isn't real life" meaning "the thing of vital importance that you all are aware of is not something most people are aware of or care about."
As if there is some moral fault in being aware.
Right now I'm thinking about a certain type of journalist who looks at a critical mass of the population that doesn't care about something of vital importance, and decides that collective nonchalance is "real life," and not a failure of journalism's mandate to inform the public.
I mean, sure, "Twitter isn't real life" when it comes to Green Glewald's latest snippy beef with whatever other social media personality, or Jorts the cat, or whatever.
But when it comes to matters of public health, environment, social justice?
I'll start "learning to live with Covid" when "learning to live with Covid" means "doing the things that allow us to live with Covid" and not "acting as if the way to end a pandemic is to pretend the pandemic isn't real."
You want to live with Covid? Great. Support:
1) Vaccine mandates; 2) Worldwide coordinated manufacture/distribution of free vaccines/boosters; 3) Masking and shutdowns during outbreaks; 4) Universal safety nets for rent, child care, healthcare, wages.
OR
1) Shut the fuck up.
You want to just go back to normal without doing any of the things that allow normalcy—things we have yet to actually try in any coordinated way?
You don't want to "live with Covid." You want to make other people die with it, and you feel personally safe.