Many thanks to Tom for reprinting this piece. The original appeared in Philosophical Salon, a Los Angeles Review of Books channel (and an interesting outlet to check out for those with a philosophical bent).
Gabrielle, I appreciate your optimistic take on the current state of things. To me it feels temporary and precarious. Those people who yelled at my unmasked family on the neighborhood bike path, who thought their unvaccinated coworkers deserved to lose their jobs-- they will fall back in line as soon as the next Dangerous Thing is declared by governments. No laws have been passed to prevent any of this stuff from happening again, and most court cases seem to have been dismissed or else deferred to health authorities and the CDC. Plus the younger generation is strongly bought in to the collective good and safetyism. I worry a lot for the future.
I fully agree with you. My optimism is limited to the Covid war. Somehow, improbably, Team Reality appears to have won. But as you say, there are no safeguards to prevent this from happening again. And you’re spot-on about the younger generation.
Many thanks to Tom for reprinting this piece. The original appeared in Philosophical Salon, a Los Angeles Review of Books channel (and an interesting outlet to check out for those with a philosophical bent).
Gabrielle, I appreciate your optimistic take on the current state of things. To me it feels temporary and precarious. Those people who yelled at my unmasked family on the neighborhood bike path, who thought their unvaccinated coworkers deserved to lose their jobs-- they will fall back in line as soon as the next Dangerous Thing is declared by governments. No laws have been passed to prevent any of this stuff from happening again, and most court cases seem to have been dismissed or else deferred to health authorities and the CDC. Plus the younger generation is strongly bought in to the collective good and safetyism. I worry a lot for the future.
I fully agree with you. My optimism is limited to the Covid war. Somehow, improbably, Team Reality appears to have won. But as you say, there are no safeguards to prevent this from happening again. And you’re spot-on about the younger generation.