In a neighborhood not far from my usual roost, there is a bar with a big old neon sign, proclaiming to one and all that it was once a country music bar. I stopped by one night, to find if it still was. Nope. Just a bar. People in the neighborhood used to go dancing there. What happened?
In Sioux Falls North Dakota, there is a meatpacking plant, owned by Smithfield. It is a coronavirus hotspot, yet people were working there until the CDC shut them down. Why was there no strike?
All over the USA, Amazon endangers people’s lives. Why are there no strikes, no protests. Why?
In Minnesota, Vice President Michael Pence is visited the Mayo Clinic and refused to wear a mask, in defiance of the hospital's “everyone masks” policy. No-one at the clinic is required to obey his orders yet they do not protest. Why?
On the other hand, tiny numbers of people are protesting against coronavirus quarantine measures, brandishing battlefield weapons. The police do nothing. The press reports this as though it were a major movement. Why?
It is like a disease, an epidemic of depression. Somehow, this people that once conquered a continent have turned passive. Only the worst are willing to act.
Why?
Have we given up? The work gets done by those that show up. So why aren't people showing up? Have we become serfs, enduring our lot because that is how it is meant to be?
ReplyDeleteMy impression is that it is some political analog of depression, perhaps even an actual epidemic of depression. I don't know what to make of that.
ReplyDeletelazy, complacent.
ReplyDeleteDepression, yes. America is the largest market for fast food, and both illicit drugs and anti-depressants. Overweight or overdose, take your pick. The American Dream has turned into a nightmare. In Russia, it is vodka to help make reality go away.
ReplyDeleteDealing with the symptoms is no answer. Dealing with the system is but how? And who? These are the questions you rightfully raise in yor posts.