Featured image from Prabakaran Thirumalai. Follow the link for more images.
What we are seeing is the result of a complete lack of integrity. The politicization of everything Covid related during what is arguably the most contested election in this nation’s history hasn’t helped. A media so focused on driving the narrative, inducing panic, fear, and rage continues to raise the collective blood pressure of the country. Big tech companies tweaking their algorithms and banning their members for violations of “community standards,” both real and fictitious, are clamping down on the truth, or at the very least, another side to the story.
And now, we’re back to lockdowns. Distrust among the populace with the media institutions, Congress, the governments at local, state, and federal levels are all running high. And we’re being told by all these people to go along with the program, to comply so that everything will be okay.
The problem isn’t the ask. The problem is the lack of integrity demonstrated by elected officials, medical personnel, scientists, media commentators, and other “experts.” Reports of governors, mayors, pundits, and scientific specialists have percolated in the news and in social media. When businesses are being forced to close down, these special folks are going to fancy restaurants and getting haircuts. When we’re being told to cancel our plans for Thanksgiving, they’re going on vacations and flying internationally. When we’re being asked to keep apart, they’re having Thanksgiving dinner with their elderly grandparents. And when they’re caught in the act, the common refrain is I made a bad decision and “I’m sorry,” though the part left unspoken is, “that I got caught.”
The virus is real, it’s not a hoax. But it is not the ever-present, super deadly apocalyptic thing that the media is trying to suggest. Masking helps, but not in the way that people are going about it.
Integrity matters. Suggesting that the people continue to make sacrifices and hold on while you get your special fridge stocked with chocolate ice cream or have a pissing contest with your political rivals doesn’t tell the people that they matter. Governments that force bars and restaurants to close outdoor dining but exempt movie studios from opening essentially the same thing across the street doesn’t show that you think the rules matter. And we’re seeing a spike in cases and hospitalizations, but we’re unlikely to curb this because we’ve so thoroughly undermined our integrity that people don’t and won’t listen anymore.
The American people want to go back to their lives, their jobs, and their families. And the more we see the “experts” and elected officials doing what they cannot, the less they trust what they have to say. When it looks like the pundits, politicians, and professionals don’t take the virus seriously, why should the people? If we’re being forced to close our businesses, but are allowed to protest injustice, and the science says that we should avoid large crowds, then what should the common person think aside from nobody knows what they’re doing?
I am hopeful that this extended state of psychosis teaches the American people that the government is not there to help you, and that every dollar that comes from them also comes with strings. I am hopeful that veneer we put on our politicians fades and the rose colored glasses that we have been wearing when it comes to the motivations of our elected officials have finally cracked beyond repair. And I am most hopeful that we the people finally realize that integrity matters, and needs to matter in our lives, society, and government again.
A Place 4Politics 