It was a normal Tuesday

“…Around lunch I dip into the firehose of discourse, paranoia, contempt, overreaction, and mischaracterization that is Twitter, and hoo boy: that’s where the pandemic rages. I mean, that’s where people rage, about the pandemic…

And

…What I’ve heard a lot recently is the idea that the people who want to return to the old normal and fill up the restaurants are a direct threat to the people who do not ever leave the house…

And

…Almost 60% of the respondents approved of lockdowns and restrictions. Something had taken hold: Perma-concern. I don’t know what it’ll take to change it, aside from everyone getting it. I was surprised when the news about anti-viral treatments in pill form (there are four, I think, of varying efficacy) didn’t seem to make a dent in the mindset of the Perma-concerned.

The only comparable mindset: Cold War nuclear dread. Fear of Climate doesn’t match, because it’s indistinct and slow and elsewhere. Nuclear dread was immediate and personal. Same here.

The difference is that no one wanted to live in constant worry over Soviet nukes. Everyone was happy when the USSR fell, except for the hectoring misanthropic collectivists who used their participation in a mass movement and hatred of their own society as a cover for their own unhappiness.

I don’t know, maybe some parallels apply…”