gaudior

I've had agoraphobia and been disabled for a veeeery long time, and it's....often discomfiting to hear people talk about how UNBEARABLE their current lives are now (can't go out shopping! can't see friends! can't go to movies! &c &c &c) when that's....been my reality for a long long time. And yeah, I get the feeling that a LOT of people who are not used to thinking of their lives as limited (because if they're white, permanently employed, fairly well-off, &c &c, why should they) are running up against it hard, and maybe it'll be a Teachable Moment. But my fear is that a slim minority of people will be able to go back to life pretty much as they enjoyed it before, and the rest of us will be left reeling. I dunno. Some of the stats already coming out about possible long-term damage by the plague from inflammation, cognitive and physical, look really daunting. There may be a lot more disabled and unprivileged people in the US in the future.

I guess the mask wars shouldn't have surprised me because I've seen rancid arguments over wearing seatbelts and curb cuts in my time, and those also benefit everybody, but that wasn't with the force of a PANDEMIC behind the argument (and not only that, a pandemic that the government seems not only to be ignoring but in some cases hastening along....?). But it's like, no really! If we take care of each other to some extent, everyone benefits! Dog-eat-dog does not work as a social guide!