With all that has gone on over the past almost two years it's small wonder that so many people are wondering about how things will finally shake themselves out. The crazy dragged out close of the Donald Trump administration and the reckless behavior of the Republican Party leadership continues to keep us teetering on the brink of social ruin. The strange and careless regard they showed for human life with with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic makes one wonder whether there truly is a parallel, and equally communicable, disease very properly labeled "evil". With the loss of over 700,000 US citizens from this virus there are still people that think the seriousness of the virus is a dramatic hoax concocted by some odd left wing conspiracy group and the Democratic Party.
My heart goes out to all the poor that bought into this madness. It is they that have suffered the most. Having had their hopes deliberately confused and misdirected by people they found credible then followed because they mistakenly equated wealth and political status with knowledge and wisdom. So many, many too many, were sucked into believing the uneducated claims of so called savvy "businessmen and businesswomen” who were more worried about their bank accounts than people. A group of people that had no credibility at all with regard to being judges and purveyors of knowledge regarding medicine, healthcare or science in general. I'm almost frightened at how readily so many accepted without question Kellyanne Conway's notion of "alternative facts". This clearly became the foundation that gave all the disinformation and bad information the ability to spread with credibility.
In communities of color that have suffered the most, it's twisted and out of context information that has been most harmful. Instead of focusing on demonstrating that societal attitudes, policies, procedures, and players have evolved to safeguard against abusive and unethical behavior in the scientific and medical communities, too many politicians and pundits have adopted positions that have stirred and stoked the fires of these suspicions. Add to that social media which exploded with raw information that laypeople of all races had no expertise or experience to refine, and misinformation as will as disinformation has become pervasive and chronic.
I don't know about you but I'm tired, disappointed and drained from trying to fight against all this. Particularly with people I know and care about. But, I am not giving up. We have to fight through this. We have to not let the few that have dug this social hole and with smiling faces and empty promises invited us to jump in gain any more. The notion of being "woke" always struck me as a little odd but as it clearly means "awake", I'm all in for us being that. Quibbling over words is a waste of time when the meaning has been conveyed.
Lots of people have already begun speculating about "progressive" losses in come the national mid-term elections. On that I have two thoughts. First; this is not about progressive or conservative losses. What's at stake is US societal loss. Second; those elections are still a year away and there is time to get a lot done before then if we stop hanging our heads, talking nonsense to one another and get to work doing things, even if they're small. Third, "it ain't over til it's over". We need to wake up as caring people and double down on putting people in office that have demonstrated that they care about people and the way they live rather than some abstract notions about the economy and "big government" and the superiority of "business". That's all hogwash. Yes, all of that's in the mix but if it doesn't translate into a healthy balanced society, it's all just hogwash!