I've been watching 'Rhinoceros' today, and thinking about (well, grieving) all the ordinary, non-nefarious Covid minimisers & denialists, especially those I love or was close to, and I have thoughts:
They are brittle
They are fragile
They are terrified of being terrified
1/
They are brittle
They are fragile
They are terrified of being terrified
1/
When they talk about #livinginfear they are projecting their own fear, and their fear of fear (metafear) onto those of us who simply face what is
2/
2/
We just want them to care
We just want them to *take* (some) care
But they want to play pretend, because caring, for them, means facing their fear, and their metafear, and maybe relinquishing some of their comforts
3/
We just want them to *take* (some) care
But they want to play pretend, because caring, for them, means facing their fear, and their metafear, and maybe relinquishing some of their comforts
3/
So try as we might to get through to them, we're mostly just creating more resistance
The reality is they want us to shut up
No, they NEED us to shut up
They want us to stop making it so hard for them to live in denial
4/
The reality is they want us to shut up
No, they NEED us to shut up
They want us to stop making it so hard for them to live in denial
4/
The choice they have made (when it IS in fact a choice) is to manage away the immediate short-term threats of fear/anxiety/overwhelm instead of responding to the short/mid/long term threats of SARS2, and its cascade effects on society
5/
5/
They assume too that those SARS2 threats probably wont apply to *them* in those rare moments when they allow themselves to even consider it
Not true, but try telling THEM that...
6/
Not true, but try telling THEM that...
6/
Somehow they've convinced themselves that this is all ok because *only others* are suffering
(again, not even true, but try telling them)
That is not a healthy place to be
7/
(again, not even true, but try telling them)
That is not a healthy place to be
7/
So, with teeth clenched and their backs against the wall as Covid closes in, they defend themselves in any way they can
They HAVE to
They pathologise our concerns
They say we are anxious or mad
They other us
Marginalise us
Smear us
Ignore us
8/
They HAVE to
They pathologise our concerns
They say we are anxious or mad
They other us
Marginalise us
Smear us
Ignore us
8/
They don't want to hear or see us
We ARE the pandemic to them
We're a PTSD trigger 😷
We're a mirror held up to their callous, ableist and selfish behaviour
That mirror must be smashed to protect their egos and their desperate need for "normal"
We must be shut down
9/
We ARE the pandemic to them
We're a PTSD trigger 😷
We're a mirror held up to their callous, ableist and selfish behaviour
That mirror must be smashed to protect their egos and their desperate need for "normal"
We must be shut down
9/
Well, fuck 'em all - I aint going quietly
10/
10/
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