Tipping Point to Backlash
Posted by delta on April 9th, 2020
We’re Americans…
We’re not the smartest, most read or thoughtful of countries – but, there is one thing we are above all: we are arrogant as hell. We choose to be ignorant in many ways – first and foremost, when choosing the news (we watch/read) or (online) searches we make for our information we typically choose to watch or read that which perpetuates our existing prejudices. We do not intentionally go out of our way to read both sides to a story; we do not go out of our way to see the whole picture (just that which effects us in the here and now); we do not go out of our own way to change our own minds…
We choose to let fear set the pace for our way of thinking…
From the outset, fear started this country. Fleeing persecution people came here for a better life – it was definitely harder than they thought it would be once they got here, but the initial spark in their brain that got them to come here in the first place was the thought of this place where they didn’t have to live in fear, could be free and work their own land.
We became free from England because we feared what would happen if we had taxation without representation – our fear was so intense that we went to war over it. The thing we still don’t really see today (because we choose not to see the whole picture) is that the entire thing was initially about rich folks being taxed, in debt and not wanting to pay up. It became what it was because of the way England handled it – it quickly became a cry for freedom. The population of America was somewhere around 2.8 million at the time, of that about 250,000 served the American cause, another 25,000 served the British cause and the rest of the population tried to stay out of it (for fear of choosing the wrong side most likely)…
The Civil War began with the South’s fear of their way of life being changed. They feared Lincoln so much that they left the Union before he was sworn in. Lincoln did not start out wanting to free anyone, he simply wanted to keep the country/Union together. It became a cry for freedom when he needed to motivate those who were on the fence about whether or not they should fight. Of the (roughly) 35.5 million Americans at the time, the North had close to 2.2 million troops serve their cause and the South had close to 1 million troops serve their cause. The rest of the country (again) chose to stay out of it…
Fear is our motivator. It is why we watch what we watch, it is why we read what we read, it is why we do what we do. Roughly 5% of our population serves to protect the rest of us (as active duty military)and another 5% of the population are veterans. That’s right, 90% of the population is afraid to put their money where their mouth is (of course, they are completely willing to tell you what they think of almost anything) – but I digress and will move on (before I go off on a harsh tangent)…
The above being said, at what point does everyone realize that the numbers dying from this thing simply are not worth the numbers who are going to die from starvation or freezing to death (or any derivative of not having the money to pay for bills or food) or suicide (for getting too much in debt and seeing “no way out”)? I mean, yes, we need to sit it out for a month to give the hospitals the time they need to prepare for the onslaught they will have in the ER – I think (I hope) we all get that at this point. We are not going to stop this thing, we can slow it down a bit so the emergency response folks can prepare for what is to come, but WE WILL GET THIS THING. For most of us it will be no worse than the seasonal flu – but this is much more contagious, so the ER’s have to be ready for it. We will all have the anti-bodies in our blood before a shot comes out for it and if this thing mutates we will just have to fight it off again (and the shot will be useless) – so that is a huge waste of time, money and resources that can be used in other directions…
The tipping point is going to occur when all those folks who are fearful of it realize there is no way to stop it and that there never was. The tipping point is going to happen when they realize they gave up their freedoms, their jobs, their way of life, their sanity and went completely into debt for absolutely no reason… I went over that quickly, but let it sink in a little: WE ARE FREELY GIVING UP OUR FREEDOM AND WAY OF LIFE AND GOING COMPLETELY INTO DEBT FOR SOMETHING THAT CAN NOT BE STOPPED…
We have to give the ER’s time to prepare for this thing, ok – fine… Stopping an entire economy out of fear is going to have a backlash of unimaginable proportions and I hope they are preparing for that as well…
I hope every American realizes that our way of life has changed permanently. Nothing is going to go back to the way is was…