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The Thrill Of Denial
Fear Leads To Overcompensation
Denial is an expression of ignorance and fear.
I find it ironic that those Americans who most loudly profess to be realists, to have no fear of danger, and to treat freedom as the guarantor of their reckless behavior, are the least likely to accept the reality of our present situation.
The virus is real, but they try their hardest to rationalize it away.
If you wear a mask, then you’re scared; if you practice social distancing, then you’re a conformist, if you believe the virus is real, then you’re part of the “deep state”. These arguments are stage props used to bolster their fragile ideas.
I’m sorry the virus is here. I’m sorry you can’t tackle or shoot it. I’m sorry you are trained to apply a tourniquet in the middle of a gunfight, but that you find wearing a mask is too much of an inconvenience to save the life of another human being. I’m sorry that defeating this enemy requires the demanding skill sets of either being a doctor or having common sense. I’m sorry you’re disappointed with this situation, and I’m sorry you’ve gone into hiding inside of your own head.
After two-hundred thousand years of learning, we can observe phenomena a billion light years away, but some of us still can’t see what is happening right in front of us. We have returned to an age of intellectual darkness where misinformation provides a warm, fuzzy, camouflaged blanket of denial we can conveniently pull over our heads. And like most people who run away from reality, I’m not sure Americans will be willing to give up their hard-won delusion, because, apparently, for some of us, needlessly dying or causing death is a cherished way of life.
