It’s funny, er maybe somewhat comforting, I came across this post on my Facebook feed today because I had just been asking myself if there are uniquely evil people residing in my state because the slightest amount of criticism I have made on the health department or governor’s posts got people swarming me, calling me names, telling me I need to be put away, and even wishing for my death and for those around me. They made all these assumptions about me that were spelled out for them in advance by this propaganda.

Fact is that I took things very seriously early on, before anyone was being ordered to wear masks that do not block out viral particles (every mask I have bought carries an explicit warning that they cannot guarantee this) because I was worried about the release of a biological warfare agent. In March I gave out PPE I had stocked years prior to people who asked me for it and brought it to those who are more vulnerable in advance of them asking for it. I’ve continued to participate in my local food drive which donated record numbers of food starting at the very beginning of the crisis.

But these harpies tell me how selfish and dangerous I am. It is unbelievable and so demoralizing how willing everyday people you could encounter anywhere are to sacrifice the well-being of others for something they have a >99% chance of recovering from. They ignore all the evidence I provide, and that isn’t too hard to find, about the denial of basic care that is currently or will be killing people long term — that 1000s of doctors now agree with — the record number of people out of work, the wealth that is being sucked up from our pension funds as those at the very top of the pyramid have gotten lightyears richer, and the starvation and regular food insecurity that people now face.

They scream at you for doubting the veracity of this pandemic, which as many of us predicted turned to a “casedemic” around July, and have nothing to say about the erosion of due process for people who actually do have a higher chance of getting sick in piss poor jail and prison conditions and the enhanced surveillance methods for those given faulty tests. They tell us to shut up, listen to the people smarter than us, and that we can’t believe our lying eyes regarding deserted ERs and urgent care clinics.

Maybe considering other reasons for this destruction of society is too scary and daunting a task. I pity the the unquestioning and those riddled with cognitive dissonance because this is a frighteningly unprecedented worldwide emergency situation, just not for the reasons they have accepted. And because they do, they are actually the ones harming people on an immediate level with their ridicule and psychological manipulation and on the broader scale, they really do push for measures that are ruining people’s livelihoods as we speak.

There are so many cultural and varying ethnic contributions made to society through medium and small-sized businesses that will not rebound from this, and that is immensely sad. There is a level of grief that has been imposed upon us all in record time in a society that has struggled for so long for multicultural harmony at large, imperfect as it may be, that recognized or not is profoundly damaging to the public consciousness/collective psyche down to the individual level. This results in the poisonous reactiveness of people who refuse to realize that they are closer to the food and unemployment lines than to those “smarter people” telling them it is a single virus that could seal their fate.

Well for now I have gotten rid of these pages on my feed. It’s not worth it. These officials can continue telling their lies to their flying monkeys and the rest of us will ignore their overreach because it’s completely voluntary to follow their crap advice, scare mongering, and alarmist warnings. But the fact is it’s to their detriment institutionally to let that go on without critique or disagreement if they do in fact represent the health of our state’s citizens in any way.