The human species may be the first to finally begin devolving, and Charles Darwin is likely spinning in his grave. The issue here isn’t some radiation poisoning or a lack of evolution; humans are actively denying science and studies with esoteric ideas of mind control and fake truths that are opinions masquerading as fact.
This is leading to the wholesale dumbing down of individuals on a fascinatingly global level, and the fecal matter known as hope for the human species gets brought down the drain. Human rights take an interesting spin when we add belief to the mix. There is a group where fact is stronger than opinion, or at the very least, fact remains stronger than opinion. A separate group finds that their beliefs are far more vital than fact, with fact contorting towards that person’s belief. Both groups want to supersede the other.
Now, I’m personally all for individual liberties. I think if a man wants to rub ripe cantaloupe flesh on his areolas, that’s his damned prerogative. The difficulty comes in when beliefs are offered the same platform, or strength, as fact – I’m far less indifferent when that same gentleman starts screaming about everyone rubbing cantaloupe on their areolas, or a great and magical fate plunges the world into darkness.
My Beliefs Are Special!
Some people believe that the pandemic, or the virus itself, is fake. They whisper of clandestine meetings between government officials as to where the population-controlling vaccine1 should be used, they refuse to wear masks, and have opted to not social distance throughout the entirety of this damned plague.
There is a heft of science that shows that it’s all real, made even more prominent by the egregious body count that has been racking up on an international scale, but that isn’t enough. Somehow, masks become the equivalent of a muzzle, taking sanctimonious rights away from freedom-loving families.
This pandemic has been the litmus test of stupidity for the human species, and we’ve failed it miserably.
A lockdown that was supposed to last a month has stretched well beyond a year at this point, and people are still failing to conduct themselves in the most easily followed guidelines laid out by professionals who have studied virology their entire professional careers. Granted, in the United States, at least, this was ushered in by politicians using insider knowledge of the catastrophic reach of the incoming virus to make millions in stock options while simultaneously downplaying it to the public.
The Politicization of Health
This left the public segregated – some believed their favored politicians by their own words, and others believed science. Public officials continued to downplay the growing catastrophe as the death toll began to concerningly increase. The public had a wildly simple task in front of them: wear a freaking mask, hole up inside your house for a month, and social distance so we can get back to the proverbial grind.
What happened, however, was an absolutely wild ride of stupidity taking the reins from intelligence, and people began protesting the existence of a pandemic. What in the flying fuck are they hoping to achieve by trying to cockblock a virus? One month stretched into two as we watched, mildly entertained, yet another video of a white dude in a supermarket freaking out about civil liberties as others begged them to not continue spreading death.
The Fallout
Children have lost a full year of play from their lives, a consequence of the ongoing pandemic that scientists aren’t yet sure of the complete ramifications2. Others were encouraged by their parents to pretend the pandemic doesn’t exist (which became the norm for those children), likely receiving the virus and the heft of long-term effects that COVID-19 can bring, such as: infertility, incontinence, heart and lung scarring, limited usage of limbs and digits, memory loss, and a whole slew of others that we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of3.
Many lost jobs around the world as the economy shut down, while we simultaneously heralded grocery store employees as ‘heroes’ 😠 of the lowest-paid form. Kroger’s offered an additional $2/hr ‘hero pay’ for roughly six months, which was stopped around March of 2020. Hot damn.
This Hero Bullshit
The Litmus Test
Throughout all of this, people were simply asked to socially distance and wear a fucking mask. This proved to be far too difficult for many to understand and comprehend, and the virus spread freely as people held ‘spreader parties’4 with the intent of receiving the disease, people argued about mask mandates, and many publicly pondered if this was anything other than a conspiracy.
All humans had to do to ensure the safety of those around them was to mildly inconvenience themselves. This proved too much of a request for many, and there have been unmitigated consequences for the buffoonery of all.
Despite humanity’s best efforts, we’ve started to reach the end game: a vaccine is available, and medical authorities are running tests to try to get everyone vaccinated against the disease that had us all hiding inside for months with little interaction. Now, people are claiming the vaccines are ‘too politicized’ to be vaccinated, and they’ll wait a while longer.
These, of course, are many of the same individuals that have struggled to follow anything the CDC has begged people to do already, which invites far more opportunities for the virus to mutate into something else. This mutation means that everyone that did get immunized now will likely need a booster shot to supplement the drooling stupidity of people who somehow still believe this shit is a hoax.
Throughout the entirety of this pandemic, intelligent people had to foot the bill for, and as nicely as can be put, the stupidest humans who haven’t had the good graces to excuse themselves from humanity for the betterment of all. This is now going to continue as we move forward, where those attempting to protect others are going to suffer on behalf of those who need protection.
Citations
1.Carmichael, J. G. and F. (2020, May 29). Coronavirus: Bill Gates ‘microchip’ conspiracy theory and other vaccine claims fact-checked. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/52847648.
2. Clemens, V., Deschamps, P., Fegert, J. M., Anagnostopoulos, D., Bailey, S., Doyle, M., … Visnapuu‑Bernadt, P. (2020). Potential effects of “social” distancing measures and school lockdown on child and adolescent mental health. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00787-020-01549-w.pdf.
3. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, February 23). NIH launches new initiative to study “Long COVID”. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/who-we-are/nih-director/statements/nih-launches-new-initiative-study-long-covid.
4. Karimi, F., & Lynch, J. (2020, July 2). Young people are throwing coronavirus parties with a payout when one gets infected, official says. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/02/us/alabama-coronavirus-parties-trnd/index.html.
Feature Image: Mulyadi
