Personal & Political in Book Seven: Reconstruction 2020

Personal:

Here’s a thing. I’m rather on the fence about having a child. The world is burning, child raising expenses are outpacing affordability by leaps and bounds, it is more likely to have a child master a computer than master friendships… lots of reasons to be one the fence. Though, I think from an irrational (therefore, emotional) place… I would rather like to have one.

And it is quite funny. My friends are solidly split into two very separate camps. Either completely childless with no plans to change that… or loving being parents and sharing it all the time. So my social media can go days of “video games, political theory, memes, and news.” And then suddenly there’s a day where it’s just wall to wall baby to toddler photos and proud parents or struggling parents all sharing the joys and struggle of parenthood.

It just… it strikes me. Points out that where I am in life is a transition period for a lot of people and… my transition is… just another one. Even if not the transition I was hoping for at 35.

Now onto the political.

I am not surprised that Trump’s Trolls are still so passionately supporting his every utterance of bullshit. It shouldn’t surprise any of us, I suppose. But I’m shocked at how there is absolutely nothing that isn’t “all about pwning the libs.”
COVID19 is one of those interesting news items. Globally? It is a very serious issue. Nationally? It is an issue that… perhaps… some media outlets are blowing out of proportion. YET our President is trying to sweep it under the rug. Both are wrong.

Here are some solid and undisputed facts:
COVID19 is not a Chinese Weapons Project.
COVID19 has spread to over 60 different countries and has been confirmed in people as varied as “the very poor” to “world leaders.”
NOT every confirmed case is easily traced back to Wuhan, China.
We have no way of knowing how many cases are actually in the United States as the USA has one of the worst systems for testing in the industrial world… including, but not limited to, a large number of the testing kits that have been used have returned “inconclusive” results as opposed to Positive/Negative results.
Despite misinformation to the contrary, COVID19 is more deadly than the flu purely as a matter of statistical mortality. The flu’s mortality rate is 0.1% As far as we know, the mortality rate for COVID19 is 2%. However, as a matter of pure numbers… there is reason to argue that more people get the flu. So if 100 people get COVID19 and 2 people die? 2% If 10,000 people get flu and 10 people die? 0.1%
The ultimate question is… are YOU likely to die of COVID19? The biggest factors, that we know of right now, are questions about your present age and health. Like most sicknesses, the very old, the very young, and the already susceptible are in the most danger. HOWEVER since the US has been so slow and so shit with any kind of detection, the very real concerns is that people could be walking around with mild or imperceptible COVID19 and increasing the spread of the virus, which could make the lethal affects grow.

So in short… factually… this isn’t “The New Black Death” and should not be treated as such. BUT IT IS ALSO not a nothing burger to mock and ignore.

Re-enter Trump’s trolls. Donald Trump has handled COVID19 the same way a small child handles shitting their pants at school. It never happened… if it did happen, it isn’t as bad as people say… if it is as bad as people say, I won’t allow anyone to discuss it… if someone is discussing it, it’s someone else’s responsibility… if it is someone else’s responsibility it has nothing to do with me and shouldn’t be discussed. Checkmate!

Trump is talking about it, periodically, with his usual “I can make stuff up whenever I want to” approach. AND AS ALWAYS Trump’s Troll Army is out in spades spreading his message in ridiculous ways. I get to see all of this due to my Trumpeter Cousin who spent most of yesterday posting a meme or video every 10 minutes for 4 hours.

Shit like, “First they tried Russia, and we proved victorious. Then they tried Ukraine, and we proved victorious. Now, they’re trying a virus. Don’t let Libs control the narrative!!” and “This virus exists only to make Trump look bad. Reject FakeNews bullshit!” and a video of a guy openly mocking people for washing their hands. I’d think that was even too insane for Trump Trolls, but it isn’t the first time “hand washing” has been seen as “a liberal plot” (looking at you Pete Hegseth). And I’m… flabbergasted and not at the same time. This is cult behavior. This is terrifying shit that has become part of our daily lives. UP TO 60 million Americans who think “Praise Trump, Fuck Facts.” The kind of people that would gladly pull the pin out of a grenade to mock those who flinched… and then when the grenade destroys something… act surprised and blame someone else.

No matter WHO the Democrat nominee is… if they lose in November? I’ll have information I need but never wanted. Because if Trump gets a second term? Shit. One of the most passionate conservatives I know said that, as long as Bernie isn’t the nominee, he’ll vote Democrat for the first time in his life. Because even HE can see how dangerous, self-serving, and incompetent Donald Trump is. But if dangerous, self-serving, and incompetent wins re-election? That will absolutely 100% without question and without doubt prove to me… that our country no longer deserves to continue. Because when the Trolls win so profoundly? We no longer have a country based on policy or law or even popularity… if the Trolls win, the only defining feature of our country is hate.