Posted on 05/16/2020 6:15:27 PM PDT by sickoflibs
Earlier today on Facebook (where all good ideas go to die) I read three separate posts from friends telling people to “stay home, stay safe.” Every single one of them was dripping in self-righteousness and condescension. You must be an idiot if you’re clamoring to go eat in a restaurant or swim at the beach – that was the tone and continues to be the tone of quite literally every single person who is proudly and publicly toeing the “stay home, stay safe” (SHSS) line right now. I’m using “literally” literally. I’ve yet to see one SHSS post that isn’t bathed in Karenism.
Three weeks ago Georgia and Florida began opening up their economies and the SHSS crowd went crazy. They weren’t just annoyed, they were enraged. Many spit out hateful wishes that those going to the beach or stores would contract the virus themselves…it would serve them right. Some posted mock “contracts” for the “morons” to sign to give up their right to medical treatment or publicly funded services should they contract the virus. Many others expressed genuine fear at the possible consequences, making desperate posts predicting tragically surging infection rates and deaths if the toothless rednecks in the South didn’t come to their senses soon.
Fast forward to today and not only have the worst of the predictions not come true, both Georgia and Florida continue to post declining infection rates and fatality rates due to COVID-19. The consequences have been exactly the opposite of what the SHSS crowd had feared.
This is good news…right?
Not according to my social media timelines. The reactions from my SHSS friends and followers has ranged from begrudging recognition – “Fine but what happens when it gets cold/the kids go back to school/the second or third wave hits”– to utter silence. I have literally (and again, I use that word genuinely) not seen one post congratulating those states for surviving the reopening in tact or expressing relief and gratitude that the worst (and even the moderate) predictions of doom did not come true. These people actually seem disappointed that people aren’t dying in droves.
It is a bizarre phenomenon to watch. I’m sure smarter op ed writers than I have analyzed exactly why so many people are digging in like this but it’s my opinion that the COVID-19 panic has become nearly completely politicized. We’re no longer looking at data; we’ve stopped reading the articles and instead are stopping at headlines; we are no longer sharing information about the science of it all. Instead, our positions on the virus and our response to it have come to represent our partisan political positions. You want to go back to work? You must be a Trump voter and thusly, a moron. Want to stay in quarantine until there’s a vaccine? You must be zombie Brown Shirt and probably a trust fund baby or welfare recipient who isn’t worrying about working to eat.
Somehow the fears most of us originally shared have now devolved into sanctimonious bludgeons. “Stay Home, Stay Safe” in particular has come be synonymous with “You blithering idiots in red states gave us Trump so whatever you say about this virus is wrong, simply by virtue of how I think you voted.”
Where are the cheers? Where are the mea culpas? At the very least, where are expressions of excitement that the models were wrong? Don’t we want them to be wrong? Don’t we want to have grossly overestimated the death count in those states that opened? We’ve had weeks of tedious lectures about “science” and “data” and when the science and data finally shows that people can get back to their lives the SHSS crowd suddenly has no interest in such things. Worse, they have no interest in celebrating lives saved alongside jobs saved.
“Stay home, stay safe” has now become a virtue signal. Like #MeToo, it began in earnest. Also like #MeToo the goalposts supporting the movement keep shifting and people started politicizing it and now it’s just a hashtag instead of an expression that provokes thought and self-reflection.
I am shocked and so very disappointed to see so many people actively wishing death upon their fellow citizens just to prove themselves right. We should be happy that every day evidence is mounting that we can all go back to work and life and feel relatively safe about it. We should be happy that people are reopening their businesses and rehiring their workers. We should be happy that Georgia and Florida have been so successful in their handling of this situation.
The SHSS crowd has spent three weeks saying all they care about is saving lives. I can think of no earthly reason why these things wouldn’t fill all of us with joy and relief.
Unless, of course, you never really meant it in the first place and secretly hoped to see devastating fatality spikes among those people you’ve already been hating for quite a while.
Kira ✔ @RealKiraDavis I can't believe how many people out there are actually sad that that the south didn't get crushed by COVID deaths like they predicted. You'd think they'd be sharing the good news after being oh-so-concerned with saving lives. We live in bizarre times. #everythingispolitical
538 1:10 PM - May 16, 2020
Well, I’m not sure what to make of that TV station graph. It seems to indicate eight dates with over 1,000 new cases, and one day with over 1,600. The GA Dept of Health graph has no days with more than 900. Some sort of error in the station’s Excel spreadsheet, maybe.
That’s called cognitive dissonance. Confirmation bias news stories drive the agenda.
I’ve said from the begining that we are being managed. There is a lot to that seemingly singular statement; it is both complex in its implications, yet simple in its overall effect.
This is the attitude that got this country where we (sadly) are today.
You are 100% correct. But, I’ll say that it has more to do with apathy, not paying attention to who we’re voting for and then regretting our decisions later.
Some argue that McConnell is doing a great job because of how he’s handling the judicial picks. And he’s to be commended for that. But what about all the other stuff. What about the first 2 years of the administration trying to get things done and he and Ryan blocking the President at every turn.
The left is a death cult.
But they will bring that crap to your neighborhood and to your childrens schools etc etc.Its what they do.You give em an inch and they will take a mile.
It’s almost as if there’s a secret playbook that they follow. Find a nice safe place with low crime, low taxes, good schools, nice neighborhoods and then move in, get a foothold, get more liberals to move in and destroy it. However, the destruction does not take place where they all live. It takes place outside of their liberal enclaves. Move on to the next town, rinse and repeat.
Death threats...that’s nuts.
I used to say, “Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home” until April ended. Now, when I’m inclined, I just say “Stay safe, stay healthy.” This lockdown crap has got to end.
The peaches seem to be doing things right. No spikes, even though the governor is opening up things at a pace that even shocked Trump.
True. I’m at home earning money, and I STILL want everybody else to safely get back to work.
Heya TSR, hope all is well with you. Yes...this is the hard end of living in a blue state for me.
But that is what the Founders had in mind with keeping power in the hands of the States. If one state wanted to jump off a cliff, you can live in a state that chooses not to.
I live in Howard county where the Columbia socialists elected lib Calvin Ball.
So Calvin couldn't even go along with Hogan's phase 1, nearby Carrol County did.
Yet go over to the Columbia mall parking lots late afternoons and weekends when it's warm and sunny and see multiple encampments of vehicles back to back, lawn chairs even a fold up table in one case, with NO masks.
The vast majority of these folks are black, no doubt voted for Calvin.
HC police don't even come around there anymore, they want nothing to do with it.
I’m in a yellow (partially Phase 1 re-opening) county — I can frequent a given business as long as its doing curbside pickup. Can’t go into the place yet, however.
I’m also guessing that the Texas spike is partly due to all the cases in the Amarillo meat processing biz. Testing was ramped up in that city, and about 700 meat processors were discovered to be infected. These folks will go (or have gone) around infecting other Amarillians, and so on.
I’m one of those people...
From what we have seen over the past 3 years(and beyond) and to see the Democrat “friends” blindly defend the actions of their party, and I believe MOST know about the outright lies being spewed forth, told me to draw a line in the sand. I unfriended and absolutely refuse to even be cordial to those who lean left, and I even went as far as dumping those “Moderates” like to play neutral so they dont have to make a stand with anyone.
It’s become total bullshit that we as Conservatives have to play the “Nice” game while the other side still lies, connives and cheats. It’s okay to stand your ground. the reason weve got this far into the abyss is because not enough people have done it!
I believe MOST know about the outright lies being spewed forth
They ALL KNOW but not one cares, as long as they get what they want.
The affluent Leftists can afford to insulate themselves from the consequences of their ideology. Go to any city in America and you’ll find their UBER WHITE, LIBERAL enclaves in the urban areas. Stay at home mom’s wearing yoga pants, pushing a $1000 stroller. But, don’t you dare let some Section 8, asylum seekers or refugees in that neighborhood. In the Atlanta area one needs to go to: Virginia Highlands, Morninside, TocoHills, City of Decatur, East Atlanta, Reynoldstown, for starters. It’s actually happening all over the city, as white liberals are moving in so fast, it’s hard to keep up and all the old time black folks are being forced out because things are getting too expensive. But, not one of those neighborhoods has to deal with the chaos like they do in places like Doraville, Norcross, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, etc.
They love their Liberal policies, as long as they don’t have to deal with them.
At this point, for me, I don’t even try to interact with them. My views, which aren’t really that radical, I think, are so opposite theirs that it isn’t worth the bother.
I agree.
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