How Then Shall We Live
What happens when everyone you know is wrong.
The title was copped from an article by Jem Bendell. (I couldn’t find the specific article, so the link is to his website)
In it, he was talking about how to live in the age of environmental collapse, but there is so much more collapsing now that I think we need to broaden the scope.
I have encountered a disturbing trend in the opinions and reality of almost all my friends and family.
My immediate family I could understand because they are mostly right-wing, conservative, and susceptible to the lies disseminated on outlets like One America News, Fox News, and Newsmax.
The incomprehensible change has come in my friends, all of whom I chose to interact with because they were the opposite of the Fox News crowd, who have now embraced the lies, and misinformation that we have been saturated with over the last 4–5 years regarding COVID.
I formerly respected their intelligence, critical thinking skills, and the ability to discern between fact and fiction.
These are people who I thought were compassionate, caring, and well-informed.
It appears that I was wrong.
They have universally accepted the fiction that COVID is over.
They go to gyms, bars, restaurants, concerts, and restaurants without any thought of taking precautions.
They’re also sick most of the time but don’t make the connection.
When I bring the subject up, they make excuses for why they’re behaving this way.
I have offered, on many occasions, to send them the information that guides my choices and they, without fail, refuse to even look at a body of evidence that would contradict their “reality.”
For years, I labored under the misconception that intelligent people were capable of integrating facts into their ideas and, if necessary, changing those ideas to account for the new information.
This is not the case.
They have pointed up the difference between being COVID aware and COVID conscious, knowing something about it versus doing something about it.
In conversation, some of them will acknowledge that there is a real danger and then turn around and behave in a manner that indicates no desire to protect themselves or others from COVID.
It would be like someone going into a shopping mall during an active shooter situation and ignoring the very real threat to their lives.
Being sick all the time, being permanently disabled, or even dying does not deter them from the dubious benefits of getting on with a “normal” life.
Everything changed and the choice to adapt or die was made in favor of dying.
There is no doubt that aspects of the old world were appealing. Going to bars, restaurants, concerts, sitting in a warm café on a rainy day, indoor family gatherings, parties, or get-togethers with friends are all pleasures that are no longer available if you intend to stay healthy.
Taking public transportation, particularly long train rides, serving on jury duty, getting a job, flying, and even relaxed browsing in bookstores or museums are for the most part denied to anyone who still cares enough about their health and the health of others to be safe.
Just as I would give anything to be wrong about the environmental disaster that faces us, I would give anything to be wrong about COVID and other looming pandemics.
But I’m not.
I'm almost always the only one in the supermarket wearing a mask. My friend Rowan was astounded that I was still masking up. I've given up trying to explain that they should too.
Nearly finished planting my forest garden. It'll be done by spring.
Joe
I just watched an interview with Chris Hedges and Catherine Liu about Catherine's book, Virtue Hoarders. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuIb4j_hxSw). They don't talk about contagion precaution specifically, but about the complete failure of the professional managerial class to care about anything but their own instant gratification, and exiling anyone who does not fawn over them for being this way. Reason and discourse are over, except among a rare few of us. Thank you for creating this space.