~a column by Colleen O’Brien
Several things in these, our declining years of a democracy, are showing who we really are. We think of ourselves and civilization as we know it as the brilliant species who for about 6,000 years improved the world through ideas, smartness, progress. But if there are any humans left to read their history, it will be about our monumental regret in producing nothing but devastation.
The federal government wants vaccines for all of us, to protect all of us from each other. Individual state governors say no, they will not follow federal government dictates because they don’t want the federal government telling them what to do.
The news out here in our individual states, in our towns and city neighborhoods, in our everyday lives make us question. We are part of a Union of which the federal government oversees mandating Covid-19 vaccines and mask wearing for the health of the citizens of the nation. But many citizens do not believe that Covid exists, or even though it might, they don’t feel like wearing masks or getting vaccinated against a lethal virus.
No matter what stores I visit, all employees wear masks, and shoppers/clients wear masks or don’t. These include grocery stores, restaurants and bars, medical offices, gas stations, farmers markets, food trucks, libraries and bookstores.
No matter what news outlets I peruse – FOX news, New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, OAN, Politico, BBC, the Guardian – too much conflicting news and opinion have me not wanting to peruse another thing.
So, approaching anyone I come across who will talk to me, I ask what they think they should be doing about vaccines, masks, protecting their neighbors. Those who mask say to me, “I’m protecting my children.” Or, “It only makes sense.” Or, “I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Most non-maskers pass me by, will not answer me except for the outraged among them who answer in expletives. For example, as one gentleman roared at me, “I had to wear a mask to go into that $%&> store.”
We are not only in an information/misinformation crisis about Covid and what to do about it– or even if we should believe in it – we are in a climate crisis – what to do about it or even believe in.
So, what is to decide about either of these perils?
Sit back and hope that neither one hits?
But what about the children? Grandchildren? Great grands? These beloveds are the ones who are in deepest peril.
We have, as of today [10-27-21] 735, 703 deaths from COVID-19 in this United States in less than two years.
And, however deep we are into Covid deaths, we are deeper into having no federal plan for climate emergency even as we’ve witnessed in the past couple of years horrific environmental devastation from forest fires, hurricanes and droughts along with absolutely no idea what to do for immigrants fleeing north from even worse environmental crises.
We continue subsidizing oil, the big polluter of the planet. And Congress is slow to subsidize sun, water, geothermal – all self-regenerating – because of the power of the fossil fuel industry, the major lobbyist who tells many of our Congress people what to do and pays them for doing it.
We leave this mess to our heirs, or we bombard Congress, those men and women who are our employees – to do something, for our sake, for the Earth’s sake, for their own grandchildren’s sake.
I hate thinking what I think every day because of the Covid misinformation, and the greed that prefers not to stop our use of petroleum for fuel, and the lying that goes on about both of these human errors of judgment and morality.
