Disasters in Slow Motion (pt. 12) - May 23, 2020

May 10 (14:52 GMT) - Actual Numbers
Worldwide Cases: 4,132,953
Worldwide Deaths: 281,078
Worldwide Mortality Rate: 6.80%
US Cases: 1,349,605
US Deaths: 80,101
US Mortality Rate: 5.93%
US Total Recovered: 238,081

May 23 (17:41 GMT) - Actual Numbers
Worldwide Cases: 5,369,039
Worldwide Deaths: 342,393
Worldwide Mortality Rate: 6.37%
US Cases: 1,655,670
US Deaths: 98,145
US Mortality Rate: 5.92%
US Total Recovered: 438,562

Of course, the figures above don’t factor in the people murdered over Covid-19. While that number isn’t statistically significant, I’d say it is pretty important to the families of those murdered. Thankfully, most of the shootings have not resulted in deaths.

We Americans are a privileged bunch. Even during a pandemic, we can sit on our couches, eat good food, watch Netflix, there is very little universal sacrifice that Americans must make. The two things that we are asked to do is wear masks and socially distance. That is it. We aren’t using rationing books, we (as a nation) aren’t going without, we just need to wear masks and socially distance. Hell, a study has shown that if 80% of the population wore masks that were 60% effective we could get past this pretty quickly.

Instead, people are shooting folks for daring to ask them to wear a mask. In a nation where “No shoes, No shirt, No service” is an accepted policy (despite possibly having been coined as an anti-hippy measure) but heaven forbid someone add “No Mask” to that sign because... freedom? Seriously, there are armed protesters out there. There are people shooting people for telling them that they are required to wear a mask in a business. If wearing a mask to save, not only your own life, but the lives of your fellow Americans around you, is too much? Then American freedom is a brittle-fragile construct that is reaching its breaking point.

Rights without responsibilities is what people want. The so-called Libertarians (who do not remotely resemble actual Libertarians), far right, and loony left (let’s not forget that most anti-vaxxers are leftists - in America, no side has cornered the market on stupid) have howled their voices into a screeching crescendo that is being amplified by bots. That’s right, nearly half of the Twitter accounts calling to “reopen America” are bots.

It is no secret that the USA is not loved around the world - I’d be willing to lay odds that those who hate us are behind the bots. The end result is chaos and death in the US on a scale that no terror organization could ever hope for. The death toll in NYC alone is greater than that of 9/11 and nationally?

Today is likely the day we will hit 100,000 dead - tomorrow at the latest.

Meanwhile, the White House has made all of this VERY political. Threatening to override State governments to force the re-openings of churches,threatening to cut off funding for states taking measures to expand voting by mail, and so much more.

These are the last days of the “American Empire”. Those in power are not “making America great again”, they are dividing us, threatening us, killing us, and destroying us. I’d say that these are deliberate actions - it is far too comprehensive a set of actions to merely be stupidity. Time will tell.

Two weeks ago, Florida started reopening beaches.
Thirteen days ago there were 40,001 cases of Covid in Florida.
Today there are 50,127 cases (if we can still believe the Florida numbers at all) 

2,190 Floridians are dead

Yeah, Florida is not ready to reopen, but then again, most of the US itself isn’t ready to reopen - according to the US Government guidelines!

But here we are, rushing to our deaths for freedom while the rest of the world watches in horror as our nation commits collective suicide. Its rough out there, 12.9% unemployment here in Florida for example, but the wealthiest nation on earth should be able to handle such things. Instead people scream and protest “handouts” meant to keep their fellow Americans alive during a time of crisis.

Yeah, maybe America truly deserves what is happening. The greed, the entitlement, the just plain nastiness - perhaps it is time that the majority of Americans learn what life is like outside their bubble. I don’t know - I suppose we will see if anything is learned from all this.

But I’m going to end on a positive note.

I’m the editor for the Gallifrey Guardian, the ‘zine of the Guardians of Gallifrey fan club here in Florida. When the stay at home orders started taking off I decided to create a weekly fiction ‘zine as a free extra for the community at large. I tried to get assistance in spreading the word via Doctor Who news sites and culture sites like Boing Boing - and got nowhere. But the thing is, other clubs stepped up to help spread the word - one in New Jersey and another in Australia. Thanks to our collective efforts, Tales from the Matrix reaches over 1,000 readers now - no strings attached.

I’ll admit, I’m a little proud of that. If there is one thing I’m really good at, it is reaching out to people. Fan authors and artists have contributed their efforts, other clubs are helping us distribute the zine...and maybe life is a little less dark for even a short time while people read new Doctor Who stories.

It isn’t always the big things in life - sometimes those small points of light are enough to remind us of our way, guiding us through the darkness. So many people are doing what they can during these dark times, making and distributing masks, creating entertainment content, reaching out to those who have fallen silent.

America’s actions may be disheartening, but the actions I see around me continue to be inspiring.