Living in an Alternate Reality!
America needs a healthy dose of Communist-style discipline to teach its science-denying, semi-literate, Confederacy-devoted, opioid-addicted, gun-toting red necks a lesson! They seem to know their freedoms alright; but do they know their civic responsibilities as citizens?
Trump happened!
On the TV news most nights, you see these obese men in shorts and tees, multiple chins wagging, getting in the face of some poor little salesperson (often an immigrant woman) in a convenience store who’s asking them oh-so-politely to put on a face mask, and they’re spitting at her and cursing her out. What happened to this country? We all know the answer to that! Trump happened!
Obama’s election was an anomaly!
But first Obama happened! Looking back, you can see - with 20/20 hindsight - how and when the seeds of today’s dysfunction were sown. Obama’s election was an anomaly! We were lulled into a false sense of “American exceptionalism” that did not pan out! A black man in the White House for eight long years was more than half the country could bear!
Evil was just lurking out there waiting to rear its ugly head: the evil of rampant racism, police brutality against people of color, rising inequality, and the marginalization of the poor.
This is not new!
Don’t be fooled! The America of today is not new; it’s how it’s always been. You need top notch leaders like a Washington or a Lincoln or an FDR - or an Obama - to keep negative forces (somewhat) in check! Even a cursory look at U.S. history bears this out!
The Founding Fathers were no saints: they bickered and fought among themselves, slandered each other in partisan newspapers of the era, justified the keeping of slaves, and fought duels to the death! Emancipation and Reconstruction were followed by the Ku Klux Klan, lynchings, and Jim Crow. Landmark Civil Rights legislation was followed by Supreme Court reversals of the Voting Rights Act. It’s a weird dance: two steps forward, three steps back!
Conspiracy theorists
Today, America is a bitterly divided nation. What do the naysayers believe? They are the ultimate conspiracy theorists: to them, the government is hiding terrible truths about UFOs, 9/11, and more.
When I first came to the U.S., I remember being taken aback to hear that a third of the country believed in Creationism as opposed to Evolution! That was then! Darwin disbelievers have now jumped to over 40 percent of the population, according to a 2014 Gallup poll (see Weblink below). Think about this for a minute: four in 10 Americans do not believe they’re descended from apes!
Nor do they believe in science or global warming. Climate change, to them, is a hoax perpetrated by scientists, the government, and the liberal media. Climate deniers are more than 50 percent of Americans!
Nor do they believe in science or global warming. Climate change, to them, is a hoax perpetrated by scientists, the government, and the liberal media. Climate deniers are more than 50 percent of Americans!
It’s all a hoax!
According to a 2013 survey (see second Weblink below) by Public Policy Polling, 28 percent of Americans believe that a secretive power elite is conspiring to rule the world through a New World Order; 11 percent believe that U.S. officials were complicit in the 9/11 attacks; 29 percent that aliens live amongst us; 20 percent that vaccines cause autism; and 13 percent that Obama is the anti-Christ!
Not part of the poll but a small group of rabidly conservative right wingers adhere strongly to the belief that Donald Trump is the Second Coming!
Not part of the poll but a small group of rabidly conservative right wingers adhere strongly to the belief that Donald Trump is the Second Coming!
But all this is old hat! The current conspiracy theory roiling America is about Covid-19. Many believe that scientists and the mainstream news media are wildly exaggerating, even fabricating information on pandemic-related infections and deaths; that everyone is lying through their teeth: the medical establishment, the CDC, the Democrats in Congress; and that it is all part of some wickedly devious political agenda!
Lewis Carroll world!
Reality and truth are under attack. We’re living in a Lewis Carroll world!
Reality and truth are under attack. We’re living in a Lewis Carroll world!
Being American seems to mean believing in anything one wants. Digital technology has made this worse; it empowers the creators of political and religious fiction! Before the internet, crazies had a hard time finding traction; now their fantasies are all over the web. Americans today feel they are entitled to their own facts and alternate reality...
Hence they choose not to believe the medical experts that wearing face masks will protect themselves and others from Covid; that their right not to wear a mask is more important than science! They ask: what’s the payoff for my discomfort; why should I protect others? The debate is being framed as a balance between personal rights and collective wellbeing with the demand for mandatory mask wearing impinging on their freedoms!
Heaven help us if this kind of extreme selfcenteredness continues...
Heaven help us if this kind of extreme selfcenteredness continues...
Ludi Joseph
Washington, D.C.
July 19, 2020
NB: the U.S. is not alone! Check out below Daily Mail story about an Aussie folk singer comparing Melbourne’s mandatory mask wearing to Nazi Germany!
NB: the U.S. is not alone! Check out below Daily Mail story about an Aussie folk singer comparing Melbourne’s mandatory mask wearing to Nazi Germany!
https://news.gallup.com/poll/170822/believe-creationist-view-human-origins.aspx
https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/polls/democrats-and-republicans-differ-on-conspiracy-theory-beliefs/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8539963/Folk-singer-Ziggy-Alberts-claims-Melbournes-mask-rules-strips-Australians-basic-rights.html
https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/polls/democrats-and-republicans-differ-on-conspiracy-theory-beliefs/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8539963/Folk-singer-Ziggy-Alberts-claims-Melbournes-mask-rules-strips-Australians-basic-rights.html
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| Anti-Mask Protests |
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| Anti-Mask Protests |
Krishna Kannan, Bangalore. July 20, 2020:
ReplyDeleteVery well done, as usual! Analytical and to the point! You haven't held back all the way through! And rightly so!
Thanks Kannan.
DeleteAppreciate your comments.
Shyam Venkatesan, New York, July 20, 2020:
ReplyDeleteWe are living in troubling times. Strangely, nothing seems to change looking back decades. As we approach Nov 3, and thereafter, I fear more violence is in store for us.
Thanks Shyam! I agree! Scary prospects ahead, for sure!
DeleteSusan Baumel, Falls Church, VA, July 20, 2020:
ReplyDeleteThanks for this very funny read! It was an enjoyable adventure through our current crazy existence. I think you're on to something. The polls are incredible and they do point to a general trend. I see some overlap but not sure where those who believe in aliens fit in exactly - that was hilarious!
Only thing I would caution you about is use of the term “redneck,” which, of course, is a pejorative and comes from white working men whose necks were sunburned, while their faces were protected by hats and shoulders by t-shirts.
Susan - Thanks very much for your comments.
DeleteI did not know the origin of the word “redneck” so thanks for letting me know. In general, it means “crass and politically reactionary,” which is what I was going for - like the 77-year old woman in Costco who threw a tantrum when asked to wear a mask!
I was trying not to use the term “white trash!” I know men and women who’ve used that term as a badge of honor, but some could get offended!
I doubt that anyone I know falls into these categories: belief in creationism; that Trump is the Second Coming; that angels, demons, witches and aliens walk amongst us, but one never knows! I’ve decided to grow a thicker skin and carry on writing...
Ludi,
DeleteI never thought much about the word “red neck” until reading a book by former U.S. Senator Jim Webb. He was from southern Virginia and was very offended by the term.
Actually, I knew at least one Creationist and, even more surprisingly, someone who thinks that way about the Second Coming!
Anyway, just thought you would like to know. It’s the redneck coming out in me; remember I went to school in the South, too - LOL!
Susan
DeleteI was happy to learn something new! It’s a “teaching moment” - as they say in America - for both myself and other readers!
Keith LaPersonne, New Delhi, July 21, 2020:
ReplyDeleteRead your blog with interest, at least thrice! I find it hard to believe that Americans today - irrespective of the percentage - think and act in the manner you've described. All I can say is, “heaven help us in our hour of need!”
Some people here think that Covid-19 has nothing to do with any virus: it’s an international conspiracy to keep the world in “Lockdown” or “Shutdown” mode to enable a handful of corporates, bankers (including the Vatican and “Jewish Lobby”) to rule as they see fit!
Keith - Glad you found the blog interesting!
DeleteIt’s remarkable that I’m discussing conspiracy theories in America and you’re telling me about a similar whopper making the rounds in India! I guess there’s no shortage of them worldwide; and it’s usually the less educated and the less aware that believe in them! Thank you for letting me know!
Keith - I too recall a couple of videos doing the rounds in May: one claimed that the virus outbreak was planned by people in power; the other that it was part of a scheme by global elites to profit off of infectious diseases. Acc. to the Pew Research Center (June 29, 2020), about a third of those who heard these claims (36%) – a quarter of all U.S. adults – said they think they are “definitely” (8%) or “probably” (28%) true!
DeleteBut why are Americans so ready to believe these conspiracy theories? Because of social isolation, the crashing economy, joblessness, mixed messages from the White House, etc. They cause feelings of powerlessness, stress, anxiety, which in turn encourage bizarre conspiracy beliefs! My theory anyway!
Deepak Kochhar, New Delhi, July 21, 2020;
ReplyDeleteLudi - Extremely thought provoking article. It is very well-researched and written.
Thank you Deepak.
DeleteI appreciate your comments very much!
Ramesh K.T., Bangalore, July 21, 2020:
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading it, Ludi.
I still don't know why people are refusing mandated masks. When you are fighting a war you have to be in uniform! Maybe it has not reached a warlike situation for them!
Thanks Ramesh!
DeleteI like that bit about wearing a uniform to fight a war! Haven’t come across it before!
Angela Bennet, Sydney, Australia, July 24, 2020:
ReplyDeleteLudi - Your blog covered a lot of interesting history about the current situation in the US. The first paragraph certainly demonstrated that you were going to tell it like it is!
It is so bad what has happened to the US in recent years... As you said, America is a bitterly divided nation.
Thanks Angela.
DeleteYes, we are at a critical point in our history. Who can tell what’s on the other side...
Trish Dew, Washington, D.C., July 24, 2020:
ReplyDeleteLudi
You brilliantly capture the social climate! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Trish. I loved the poem you wrote. You have a real gift for rhyme!
DeleteThe first paragraph pretty much summed it upYou’re the best
DeleteThanks Rodney!
DeleteGlad you thought so!