Deaths are approaching 1,000 per day in our country, and many of those deaths are senior citizens who have not been vaccinated. Lots of children and middle-aged adults are getting Covid, but relatively few are dying.
Someone told me that the pandemic was actually a "blessing" for many old-timers, imagining them as welcoming death as their faculties diminished and life becomes increasingly tired. That is quite a mixed blessing, as far as I can tell. The rare videos we can find online showing seniors hospitalized, using oxygen masks and clearly in distress, don't look like a smooth transition to the Great Beyond.
I mentioned in yesterday's post the awkward booing of Trump when he recommended getting vaccinated. I've been thinking that this is an example of the beast being unleashed, and of the master not being able to control the beast anymore.
This should not be a surprise. If we teach out children to be critical, independent thinkers, we should not be surprised when they end up with some ideas we parents are not comfortable with. When we create platforms that allow everyone to "publish" their ideas, and that thrive on controversy, which creates more engagement, what did we expect? Puppy videos and nostalgic quizzes about our favorite TV shows from the 1960s?
Last year at this time, we could comfort ourselves with the knowledge that relatively few school children were getting sick and dying of Covid. We rushed the vaccine to seniors, and it turns out many of them are somewhat fatalistic about their health and are downright stubborn. Imagine that: a stubborn 75-year-old who refuses to change a habit or belief!
This fall, seniors are dying -- but no one really cares -- and school kids are getting sick -- and no one really cares -- and business is in danger of dropping off the cliff once again -- and business leaders DO CARE. Hence, the mandates that are just starting to pick up steam.
Betting on Americans to "do the right thing?" That's a sucker's bet.
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