We human beings are complicated creatures (well, most of us). We want to know everything (well, most of us). We seek out knowledge (well, most of us). And when we have questions with no answers, we are insanely creative at filling in the blanks. (Pretty much all of us.) And never to our own benefit.
Think not? When was the last time you were awaiting test results? Scanning WebMD trying to diagnose a simple skin rash on your arm that inevitably leads you to believe you have some exotic disease you cannot even sound out - too many vowels.
We like the reassurance of knowing. Even if it's bad news, results, relationship fallout, we are stronger when we have just the facts, ma'am.
That is what has been so completing bamboozling about our nation's run in with a deadly pandemic. We have answers. We have data. We have charts, graphs, predictions. We have experts, doctors, researchers working around the clock to gather more information, steer us through this maelstrom and safely to shore.
Most importantly, we have FACTS.
That so many have turned their backs on them is confounding. Yes, a good conspiracy theory is always more exciting than most truths, but in this case, our truths are laden with death, disease, proven incompetence, and every expert's warnings about what is still to come our way.
Here is a new fact - we are now finding 1,000 people testing positive every 15 minutes in this country, with 5 more dying in that same time frame.
Another fact, we set a new record last night - nearly 77,000 new cases in a single day. Quantifiable actual numbers.
Our dead now populate a town the size of Syracuse, New York. We have lost 141,801 people so far. THAT. WE. KNOW. OF.
Yet somehow, in the face of those truly frightening, "exciting" facts, there are entire swaths of people who opt to believe that the entire world is involved in a massive conspiracy against Donald Trump. That COVID is actually a cover for rounding up and executing celebrity pedophiles like Tom Hanks, Ellen Degeneres, Oprah Winfrey. Yesterday’s latest from the low IQanon set is that Bill and Hillary have already been executed and soon there will be - wait for it, wait for it, Burr - a PAY-PER-VIEW special to watch the video.
That last one is as much a jaw dropper as it is an absurd knee slapper, yet there are huge numbers of people who believe it.
Dr. Fauci predicted that without proper precautions, we could see the states charting 100,000 new cases per day. 77,000 is getting uncomfortably close, wouldn't you say?
Three days ago, former game show host turned Trump lover, Chuck Woolery was continuing his Twitter rants about it all being a lie, a hoax, a media driven hysteria. Oops. Literally, within hours of his last post jeering at the experts, his own son turned up positive. Instead of sticking around to say, Hey, I was wrong, take this seriously, he admonished all to be gentle with those suffering from it, and then removed himself from Twitter.
Chuck showed the trademark move of the conservative set - Don't give a damn about something until it affects them personally.
It is crucially important that everyone wrap their minds - large and small - around the fact that COVID-19 is real, it is here, it does not discriminate, and it is deadly. And that the least we can do for one another is to mask up and distance whenever possible.
No, it's not sexy. It's not titillating. It doesn't give you that tingle of believing you know something everyone else doesn't. But it just may keep you alive long enough to find out just how full of shit you are.
A recent study by Oxford found that a full 25% of people lean towards conspiracy theories in the face of this pandemic. Somehow the science is too "big" to understand so they gravitate to online scripts that would never be made into movies because they are far too far fetched.
Masks? A contingent actually believes that the metal strip at the nose portion is an antenna controlled by 5G cellular networks that 1. track your movements and/or 2. Infect you with the virus.
That sure is sexier than the alternative that a mask is just a mask and that thin metal bendy bit is to insure a closer fit to your face.
Bill Gates is another favorite target. Instead of accepting the fact that he and his wife are two of the biggest medical philanthropists on the planet, it is far more exciting to believe that they are behind a vaccine development that will insert a chip into your body.
I have found it deeply disturbing from the beginning how many people are willing to blindly follow a reality TV host instead of a world renowned virologist. Donald Trump is not a learned man, he never has been. He is a trust fund baby who lucked into money and went on to bankrupt and defraud everything he touched. He has zero intellectual curiosity. Yet there are still 30% who trust him instead of experts who have dedicated their lives to study.
Donald Trump does not deal in facts. He never has. He makes up dangerous, fast approaching caravans when they are politically convenient - caravans that magically disappear (flat tires?) when they no longer fit the narrative of his day. He has been found to have lied nearly 20,000 times since taking office. He is not a man of science. Science fiction? Absolutely. But not science.
Still his gathering of gullibles cling to his every word. And for that, they are losing their lives. This virus is not just killing democrats. Every day there is another news story about a MAGAt who did not believe until too late, and now they are dead. Donald Trump is not coming to their funerals. He is not paying the exorbitant hospital bills left behind for loved ones. He will never know your lost husband's/wive's/son's/daughter's/parent's/friend's name.
We now have refrigerated semis filling with our dead, morgues overflowing. Miami Dade county ICUs are cramming people in and now operating over 100% capacity. But we still have people violently opposed to having to don a mask to enter a store.
One last time for the hard of hearing - NO ONE LIKES HAVING TO WEAR ONE. THEY ARE HOT. THEY FEEL CONFINING. THEY MAY EVEN GIVE YOU A PIMPLE OR THREE. BUT THEY ARE OUR CURRENT BEST DEFENSE AGAINST SHARING OR INHALING THE AEROSOLIZED DROPLETS WE HUMANS NATURALLY EMIT AND TAKE IN.
A mask is not a tracking device. Can you hear me now? A mask is not connected to a 5G system at Sprint. A mask will not pollute your body with carbon dioxide. A mask will not kill you. And being asked to wear one infringes on your freedumb no more than does a seatbelt law, or law against drunk driving. We are required to have auto insurance. Think of a mask as cheap insurance against dying too early.
All the facts are available to us. We are blessed to have people like Dr. Fauci who do not care whether you like the science or not, just that you heed its warnings.
The fact is our government failed us when we needed it most. Months ago they could have taken swift, decisive, coherent action. Months ago, Donald Trump could have actually been PRESIDENTIAL and led this nation. Instead he chose ignorance, obtuseness, obstreperousness.
And because of that, we are faced with the fact that 148 more people have died while I have been typing.
COVID is not titillating, but it is dangerous and deadly. And that should be enough to get you out of your own ass and paying attention. Potential death is the ultimate in provocation. That you could succumb is pretty exciting, isn't it? I mean, not in a Chrissy Teigen buys kidnapped children in Wayfair storage cabinets way (yes, a real thing that is out there), but still.
The bottom line is that you do not need conspiracy theories from some rabbit hole 4Chan thread. All you need is "Just the facts, ma'am." They are scary enough on their own.
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