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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Social-Distancing Culture War Has Begun
Across the country, social distancing is morphing from a public-health to political act. The consequences could be disastrous.
McKay Coppins
March 30, 2020
For Geoff Frost, the first sign of the coronavirus culture war came last weekend on the golf course. His country club, located in an affluent suburb of Atlanta, had recently introduced a slew of new policies to encourage social distancing. The communal water jugs were gone, the restaurant was closed, and golfers had been asked to limit themselves to one person per cart. Frost, a 43-year-old Democrat, told me the clubs mix of younger liberals and older conservatives had always gotten along just finebut the guidelines were proving divisive.
At the driving range, while Frost and his like-minded friends slathered on hand sanitizer and kept six feet apart, the white-haired Republicans seemed to delight in breaking the new rules. They made a show of shaking hands, and complained loudly about the stupid hoax being propagated by virus alarmists. When their tee times were up, they piled defiantly into golf carts, shoulder to shoulder, and sped off toward the first hole.
Frost felt conflicted. He wanted to encourage the men, some of whom hed known for years, to be more careful. I care about their well-being, he told me. But its a tough call, just personally, because its become a political thing.
For a brief moment earlier this month, it seemed as if social distancing might be the one new part of American life that wasnt polarized along party lines. Schools were closed in red states and blue; people across the political spectrum retreated into their home. Though President Donald Trump had played down the pandemic at first, he was starting to take the threat more seriouslyand his media allies followed suit. Reminders to wash your hands and avoid crowds became commonplace on both Fox News and MSNBC. Those who chose to ignore this guidancethe spring-breakers clogging beaches, the revelers on Bourbon Streetappeared to do so for apolitical reasons. For the most part, it seemed, everyone was on the same page.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/social-distancing-culture/609019/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
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Katherine Vincent-Crowson, a 35-year-old self-defense instructor from Slidell, Louisiana, has watched in horror this month as businesses around her city were forced to close by state decree. A devotee of Ayn Rand, Vincent-Crowson told me Louisianas shelter-in-place order was a frightening example of government overreach.
It feels very militaristic, she said. Im just like, What the hell, is this 1940s Germany?
But when we spoke, she seemed even more aggravated by the self-righteous people on social media who spend their time publicly shaming anyone who isnt staying locked in their house. It really reminds me of my kids who tattle on their siblings when they do something bad, she said. Im a libertarian
I dont really like being told what to do.
Your a idiot.....................in my opinion.................
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)has brought it's share of shaming. That seems to be a universal human need, the nagging feeling that in order to prove myself right, I'm required to call out others as wrong.
Initech
(100,060 posts)You get doxxed and called a murderer. I mean shit, people need to get a fucking grip right now.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)How would anyone know if that person at Costco loading two packs of TP is not making the trip for a neighbor or family member who cannot get out to travel to a Costco?
MLAA
(17,274 posts)doesnt mind being told to die early and take family and friends with her
Cirque du So-What
(25,922 posts)Is going to be left hanging. 'We're not doing that anymore' will be my standard reply. This goes for everyone.
Miguelito Loveless
(4,458 posts)and by all means, band together. But wear those hats so we can see you coming and cross the street.
IcyPeas
(21,856 posts)any of them got Covid-19, wouldn't it?
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)of the "they're getting what they deserve" attitude when it was believed that only gay people got HIV.
CountAllVotes
(20,868 posts)When Rock died, that changed is *suddenly* some 7 years after it first appeared in 1978 ...
It too was allowed to spread and they knew ...
Bradshaw3
(7,505 posts)People don't choose to be gay. They do choose who to vote for and to gleefuly flaunt basic guidelines because they think it is funny, and they think are owning the libs.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Analogies limp.
It just seems like the culture is coarsening. Of course, I can blame the Trump administration for a lot of that, but we don't have to get down in the mud with them.
Certainly, I can see the stupidity of people's bad behaviors, but I don't wish any physical harm on them.
Squinch
(50,935 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Of course, it's apples and oranges, but the idea of wishing ill on other people who are different is the same,
Squinch
(50,935 posts)disaster, and then when some asshole courts disaster despite all those efforts, and nothing can be done to stop them from courting disaster frivolously, accepting the fact that some of them are going to pay for it.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)was being snarky about people getting C-19. The OP is something I agree with.
Squinch
(50,935 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Maybe you didn't. In any case, there are a lot of posts every time there is a too-well-attended church service or a spring break party where it is obvious that some here are wishing ill on someone else.
Joe Biden's gonna have to work his ass off to unite this country.
Celerity
(43,280 posts)They are human evolutionary culs-de-sac.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,661 posts)The idiot libertarians and Trumpers will be killed off by their own stupidity. I just hope they don't take their communities with them.
BComplex
(8,029 posts)I mean, most democrats are better informed anyway, and we are all taking precautions against the germs these people are spreading around to one another. As long as we keep our kids in the house, and don't let them out to play with republican's kids, I'm sorry for the folks on the other side, but hey - they're making their choices.
KSNY
(315 posts)BComplex
(8,029 posts)I'd sure hate to work for these guys.
renate
(13,776 posts)... grocery store employees and letter carriers and the like, in addition to the health care professionals who know they are risking their own lives to save these absolute bottom-dwellers and still courageously go to work every day.
It INFURIATES me to think of these golf-course morons blithely flouting the guidelines, getting sick, getting treatment and exposing others, then getting better themselves while people they infected die. That has surely happened already. Innocent, brave people have paid the price for the "nobody's going to tell me what to do" asswipes. The people who have the least control over their own exposure are, proportionally, going to pay the highest price. It sickens me and every other person with a conscience.
If only what you said were true.
BComplex
(8,029 posts)They'll have a rude awakening when one of theirs dies.
renate
(13,776 posts)I genuinely don't wish loss and grief on them, but their deliberate ignorance is going to have to come at a cost since they didn't choose to learn anything for free. I just hope the cost to innocent others can be kept to a minimum... but it won't be.
la-trucker
(283 posts)who handled a rattlesnake saying "I don't think it is that poisonous and I don't think it will bite me."
Darwin was laughing.
Baked Potato
(7,733 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,295 posts)well after the advice against it was clear. It's already notable that major outbreaks in France and South Korea were linked to huge church meetings - but they had the excuse it was so early, they didn't know it was already significantly spread beyond China. No such excuse now.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Hitchens wasn't right about everything by any means, but boy was he sure right about that.
wnylib
(21,420 posts)endagernent. I'm sure there are other applicable charges.
Impose huge fines for violating group gathering rules. Ridiculous to give them a pass.
Beringia
(4,316 posts)unfortunately they can't do that
Chainfire
(17,526 posts)The bad part is they are liable to take good people out with them.
Fighting for breath in the last hours of you life would be a good time to review past stupid behavior.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Azathoth
(4,607 posts)why they are obsessed with the need for force without compassion or coddling. It's because, deep down, they know *they* are the ones who would break the laws and take advantage of things if there wasn't something preventing them from doing so.
It's an entire worldview built on psychological projection, and we're seeing it play out in realtime as they flout recommended-but-unenforced social distancing.
misanthrope
(7,411 posts)"Scratch a cynic and you'll find a disappointed idealist." -George Carlin
Why am I admittedly cynical? Because I think most people are a mixed bag capable of being far "better" than they are but, sadly, so many just don't try that hard. If we lived in a culture that truly valued empathy, intellect and community instead of materialism and selfishness, it would be a far better place. I live in a very conservative place and what it says about humanity's future is bleak.
niyad
(113,232 posts)Are not required viewing before these morons open their mouths. But that would require that their brains be open.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)[Wonder where the 'anti-vaxxers' are in actual practice?]
OhZone
(3,212 posts)He is only good to like three people.
He's like a sociopath to everyone else.
I've come to the conclusion that's how a lot of Cons think. Tribalistic sociopathy.
I'm glad he went to visit one of the relatives he treats Oh-k down south and is kind of stuck there. Long story.
Last I heard he thought the virus was just a cold.
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)wnylib
(21,420 posts)the lives of others. When they fill hospitals so that it becomes necessary to ration beds, ventilators, and meds, they will not just be foolish. They will be murderers.
Response to turbinetree (Original post)
pnwest This message was self-deleted by its author.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,578 posts)From Stephen Colbert's bit, "Big Questions for Even Bigger Stars," with Jennifer Lawrence:
Stephen: "Jennifer, what do you think happens after you die?"
Jennifer: "I think they give your hospital bed to someone else."
#DarkHumor
manhattan123
(302 posts)I wouldn't give a shit. Unfortunately, they walk among normal people too.
wnylib
(21,420 posts)PaulRevere08
(449 posts)combover who is fouling up the WH.
spike jones
(1,678 posts)[link:
|hadEnuf
(2,186 posts)regular Right Wing GOP scum, it's always all about them. They could give a shit about the next person, even to the point where they are endangering themselves and their own family.
You are correct. They are idiots. And they are such selfish little assholes to boot.
renate
(13,776 posts)I assume there's something going on with their brain chemistries or maybe their childhoods that make it especially difficult for them to accept sound advice. But why do they think that gives them the right to put their "I gotta be me" attitude above other people's health?
kcr
(15,315 posts)They should be reminded they're not allowed to jump off a bridge, then pointed in the direction of the nearest one.
denbot
(9,899 posts)Fuckem.
treestar
(82,383 posts)that they "want" to stay home so as not to get the disease? Even Ayn Rand would say your self-interest was to isolate.
Which is why the free market and libertarianism and Ayn Randism doesn't work. In theory everyone does what is in their best interests. But many people are just unable to figure out their self interest - making money is the only thing they can think of - like isn't it in your self interest not to get a communicable disease if you don't have to?
ProfessorGAC
(64,988 posts)...it's unlikely she actually read Rand. More likely an internet synopsis.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,105 posts)I'm seeing this all over. It's more than frustrating.
underpants
(182,736 posts)I play by myself whenever I can. I can get in 9 holes playing two balls or best ball in no time.
I checked last week and courses are still open. Gov. Northam was asked about it a few days ago and he said that they could stay open with a lot of the restrictions in this article. Common sense.
ProfessorGAC
(64,988 posts)...a few Chicago Forrest Preserve courses, 4 in DuPage and in Lake counties were reported for doubling up in carts, letting people come in clubhouse, etc.
According to what I read, the only rule they followed was sanitizing to surface of the carts.
So, Pritzker rescinded the exemption. Now they're all closed. When he announced it, he basically did the "ruined it for everyone else" thing.
There are a bunch of course operators who are pissed because they were doing the right things.
Per some FB stuff I got emailed to me, they're not pissed at the governor. I'm sure some are, but those I read have them upset with the people who messed this up!
Brainfodder
(6,423 posts)Dear Leader said once that he wouldn't have time for golfing!
I'll avoid any Republicans once they show their cards and their deck is minus a few?
Caliman73
(11,728 posts)People like to believe that things are "apolitical" but public behavior is typically informed by a person's values which are informed by religion, family upbrining, social norms, and political ideology. I am not saying that you behave as a Democratic Party member or Republican or even conservative/liberal however, that we are liberals or conservatives certainly has an effect on how we act especially when it comes to things like public health.
Of course social distancing is political. The government and health authorities are suggesting and sometimes directing us on how to behave. We might think that it is "just a health decision" but it isn't and we need to understand that the recommendations are based on balancing safety and civil liberties. That is political.
That said, libertarians seem to be a special breed of stupid. They don't like being told what to do? Society is "being told what to do".
radius777
(3,635 posts)If she gets sick hope this 'rugged individual' doesn't call upon 'society' to save her...