Mask hysteria
As I've repeatedly said, I'm agnostic on masks. Wear one or don't, I don't care. Even though I usually wear one, I don't get bothered in the slightest by those who don't. Or by those who do. It really doesn't bother me either way. I'm always against "mandatory" anything-- either requiring masks or forbidding them.
Those who equate not wearing a mask to shooting randomly into a crowd are hysterics. Maybe it's more like shooting a marshmallow gun into a crowd of people who have gathered for a marshmallow battle instead of choosing to stay home. Sure, if someone is deathly allergic to marshmallows they might die if hit, but shouldn't those people have stayed home in the first place? Reasonable people aren't going to lose their minds over the perceived risks. But hysterics? Even if this virus is highly contagious, it just isn't that deadly anymore, and it's getting less so as time goes by. Getting the vapors over it is like having a conniption over rain. Yes, rain can kill you, too, and it almost took my house out once, but it's just not that big a threat.
People are also getting bent out of shape over whether or not masks can starve you of oxygen ("cause hypoxia" ). They cite tests and quote "experts". I don't need tests, I know what my body is telling me-- too much mask wearing makes my body crave oxygen in many situations. It's just like hiding under the covers in bed when you're a kid trying to hide from monsters (or siblings). You know you'd eventually get low on oxygen and need to come up for air. Masks have the exact same effect.
Maybe it's mainly due to the cloth causing the temperature behind the mask to rise. The warmer the air, the less oxygen it contains in a given volume. It's just the way it works. Only someone religiously devoted to the cult of masks could deny this reality.
As with most things, masks only become a problem when politicized. I'm non-political so I can be more objective about it.
Yes, my dad has the Covid-19 coronavirus. His tests came back positive (I am aware of the false positives, but he is sick with something). Everyone in the family, with few exceptions, has now been exposed. How many of us will come down with symptoms severe enough to be noticed? I don't know. Either way, it's not worth being a jerk over masks. That is just stupid-- it's politics.
I feel like a SHTF event is imminent. Notice I don't say I think it is, rather it's just a feeling. Possibly triggered by the upcoming election.
I don't have a crystal ball. I'm almost definitely wrong.
If you can see it coming, it's not going to happen. That's almost a guarantee.
Just like the Coronapocalypse came at us out of nowhere, triggered by unexpected government overreactions to a fairly normal virus, a more serious event will also be a surprise. Consider the Coronapanic a practice run. It should have shown you the holes in your preps if you were paying attention.
I lucked out with the panicdemic because I was ready. Well, maybe it wasn't completely luck; I've prepped for years "just in case", and it finally paid off. I was pretty sure I wouldn't see it coming when it finally happened, and I didn't. But it didn't matter because I stay ready all the time-- and I have done so since well before the Y2K fizzle. I intend to be just as ready, if not more ready, the next time something ...
Sometimes it's good to just listen to people's stories without interrupting, even when you know the stories are nonsense.
My 2nd wife used to tell of a ghost that lived in her house when she was a kid. It was an interesting story even though I didn't believe it. I learned quickly that her family was very prone to believe anything as long as it fit with their magical worldview.
Other people tell me stories about beneficial things political government can do. These stories are no more true-- in the sense of being objective reality-- than ghost stories, but they can still be informative if you want to know which particular superstitions a person is living under.
Interrupt and you'll never hear the whole tale. Listen and you might be entertained by some fantastical tales of magical realms. Just don't bet your life on them being true.
My nature is such that I simply can't see government as a solution to anything. This puts me at odds with most of the rest of my species.
Yes, I think "social media" has become a horror. This doesn't mean I want government to regulate it; it means I think people who don't like it (or are too dumb to know not to take it at face value) should probably stop using it.
The same is true of so many other things I don't like.
Litter/pollution, scammers, sexual predators, abortion, animal cruelty, Hillary Clinton, poverty, drug abuse, pandemics, crime, and all manner of awful things.
I may hate them, but that doesn't mean I want government to step in. Look how often that has the opposite effect anyway; making the original problem worse-- or at least not solving it-- while also creating a host of new problems that never would have existed otherwise (anti-gun legislation being a perfect example).
And even if government intervention doesn't make this specific problem worse this particular ...
