I have heard of and witnessed an incredible amount of cognitive dissonance, horizontal and other ableism, anti-science, anti-masking, anti-vaccine and anti-health behavior and misinformation in my “thank god we live here” blue state, most often by folks who are less marginalized and otherwise less effected by the problems I listed above (but not always) and I don’t necessarily blame these people for being overwhelmed and confused because they’ve been intentionally captured in a disinfo bubble that is the result of being the target of concerted efforts by multiple actors at up to and including the state level to keep them that way for their own purposes, although I do hold them individually responsible for harm they are directly causing as a result, or partially responsible for harm they help to perpetuate that is done by systems or groups which can be massive. The work to undo the programming/socializing needs to start asap on an individual level or if we ever have the chance to make something new it will end up having the same problems. Deconstruction of harmful behaviors and thoughts is necessary, with professionals or loved ones or on ones own, whatever the case, the point is to stop doing the dirty work for corporations and billionaires and anyone else who benefits from these hierarchies by reinforcing the values they want us to have such as obedience to authority and individualism.
This is even more of a specific personal anecdote, but here goes:
My brother is a self described tankie.
Used to live with him.
His entire personality could be described as constantly having a nervous breakdown, and barely masking this with a thin veneer of absurd overconfidence and unchallengable moral superiority.
Just a bubbling cauldron of insecurity.
He spent tons of time following the progression of COVID, and was well informed.
He spent months keeping up with all the updates on vaccine types and availability and different kinds of masks, talking about it all the time.
… Then, after about 9 months of constantly being either having or being on the verge of a nervous breakdown… he managed to convince himself that it would be a great idea to fly to an in person work related convention, in Vegas, during the height of a COVID wave.
He did so, came back with COVID, got me sick, and I lost 2 weeks of work from it.
I was paying more than half the rent, and his finances were way more fucked than he let on, and then proceeded to freak out about that.
… He… knew that even if everyone is wearing masks, it doesn’t work as well when you’re in an enclosed area with a lot of people, and that a convention should be avoided at all costs to minimize exposure risk.
We’d talked about these scenarios in the months prior, in detail.
He knew that I had a bunch of comorbidities at the time for having a way worse time with COVID. Overweight, only recently stopped smoking cigarettes, other chronic health problems.
But nope, it was somehow my fault for causing him stress by … assuming I didn’t have vacation/sick time I could use, assuming I wouldn’t be able to pay my share of the rent…
Not his fault for nearly fucking killing me via COVID, when he knew that was a fairly likely result of his own actions.
… And all of that is even more insane in the context of our shared history, which includes 3 instances where I dropped everything, abandoned commitments to other friends or family, spent a lot of my own money… to save him from being homeless and/or save his life from ODing or carrying through with a very credible suicide attempt.
… I got him the job that he went to the convention for… I got him that job a decade earlier when he was homeless, connected him to some of my friends who worked at the same place and convinced them to convince the owner to pity hire him.
He just stayed there and worked his way up the ranks of a small family business.
Sorry, I’m just having a therapy session for myself at this point, but… jesus fuck, I am so glad I am far away from him.
I have heard of and witnessed an incredible amount of cognitive dissonance, horizontal and other ableism, anti-science, anti-masking, anti-vaccine and anti-health behavior and misinformation in my “thank god we live here” blue state, most often by folks who are less marginalized and otherwise less effected by the problems I listed above (but not always) and I don’t necessarily blame these people for being overwhelmed and confused because they’ve been intentionally captured in a disinfo bubble that is the result of being the target of concerted efforts by multiple actors at up to and including the state level to keep them that way for their own purposes, although I do hold them individually responsible for harm they are directly causing as a result, or partially responsible for harm they help to perpetuate that is done by systems or groups which can be massive. The work to undo the programming/socializing needs to start asap on an individual level or if we ever have the chance to make something new it will end up having the same problems. Deconstruction of harmful behaviors and thoughts is necessary, with professionals or loved ones or on ones own, whatever the case, the point is to stop doing the dirty work for corporations and billionaires and anyone else who benefits from these hierarchies by reinforcing the values they want us to have such as obedience to authority and individualism.
This is even more of a specific personal anecdote, but here goes:
My brother is a self described tankie.
Used to live with him.
His entire personality could be described as constantly having a nervous breakdown, and barely masking this with a thin veneer of absurd overconfidence and unchallengable moral superiority.
Just a bubbling cauldron of insecurity.
He spent tons of time following the progression of COVID, and was well informed.
He spent months keeping up with all the updates on vaccine types and availability and different kinds of masks, talking about it all the time.
… Then, after about 9 months of constantly being either having or being on the verge of a nervous breakdown… he managed to convince himself that it would be a great idea to fly to an in person work related convention, in Vegas, during the height of a COVID wave.
He did so, came back with COVID, got me sick, and I lost 2 weeks of work from it.
I was paying more than half the rent, and his finances were way more fucked than he let on, and then proceeded to freak out about that.
… He… knew that even if everyone is wearing masks, it doesn’t work as well when you’re in an enclosed area with a lot of people, and that a convention should be avoided at all costs to minimize exposure risk.
We’d talked about these scenarios in the months prior, in detail.
He knew that I had a bunch of comorbidities at the time for having a way worse time with COVID. Overweight, only recently stopped smoking cigarettes, other chronic health problems.
But nope, it was somehow my fault for causing him stress by … assuming I didn’t have vacation/sick time I could use, assuming I wouldn’t be able to pay my share of the rent…
Not his fault for nearly fucking killing me via COVID, when he knew that was a fairly likely result of his own actions.
… And all of that is even more insane in the context of our shared history, which includes 3 instances where I dropped everything, abandoned commitments to other friends or family, spent a lot of my own money… to save him from being homeless and/or save his life from ODing or carrying through with a very credible suicide attempt.
… I got him the job that he went to the convention for… I got him that job a decade earlier when he was homeless, connected him to some of my friends who worked at the same place and convinced them to convince the owner to pity hire him.
He just stayed there and worked his way up the ranks of a small family business.
Sorry, I’m just having a therapy session for myself at this point, but… jesus fuck, I am so glad I am far away from him.