It seems like thirty seconds after Covid-19 first hit the shores of this beautiful nation the Powers That Be had propaganda phrases at the ready. These phrases were meant to mollify and inspire. These phrases were meant to bind us together as a nation while we fought the Kung-flu by, um, staying home and doing nothing. Now, after eight years two months, these phrases, that were always trite, feel like a boot on our national throats. They are meant to silence dissent. I am done.
The Powers That Be (Trump, Fauci, Birx, et al.) have likened fighting the Chinese Communist Party Flu to fighting a war. Wars mean action. Even the Cold War with the Soviet Union had moving chess pieces. Not this war. Our government isn’t asking us to collect rubber or tin. Our government isn’t asking us to plant a Victory Garden. To the contrary, Michigan Governor Gretchen Witmer made vegetable gardens non-essential.
So, the great Powers gave us meaningless phrases. Here are the ones that need to stop yesterday:
Flatten The Curve
This phrase was coined to keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed. It’s a particular favorite of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. Meanwhile, Governor Party Tits was sending Covid-19 infected patients to nursing homes to increase the curve.
Social Distancing
Stay six feet away from anyone is public. That’s what they told us. Why six feet? Straight from the CDC:
In addition to everyday steps to prevent COVID-19, keeping space between you and others is one of the best tools we have to avoid being exposed to this virus and slowing its spread locally and across the country and world.
Now, I am not a virologist but if this was meant to keep us from getting that aerosolized sneeze or cough, bah. I have seen some people sneeze 12 to 15 feet.
It is not a natural state for people to stay apart. As a matter of fact, it’s psychologically necessary:
There are studies showing that touch signals safety and trust, it soothes. Basic warm touch calms cardiovascular stress. It activates the body’s vagus nerve, which is intimately involved with our compassionate response, and a simple touch can trigger release of oxytocin, aka “the love hormone.”
We Are All In This Together
This one and its variant “We Are All In The Same Boat” are big, fat, hairy lies. We are not all in the same boat. Some people have a yacht and some people are clinging on to a deck chair about to go under. We are not all in this together. Some people, like the scientists who got all the models wrong, are still getting a paycheck. Other people, salon owners, restaurateurs, small business owners of every kind, are in danger of losing everything. Big. Fat, Hairy. Lies.
The New Normal
There is nothing “new” or “normal” about any of this. Some of us (points to self) will never be down with not seeing family or going to restaurants. Full stop. If you think you can get used to the “New Normal”, see a shrink.
Stay Safe
Lord, help me, Jesus. People used to say this to someone getting on the road. Now, it’s meant to get you to “Stay Safer at Home”. Some people are not safe at home. Psychology Today has an article on the rise of domestic violence. Lock people up together and what do you get? An uptick in domestic violence. Not to mention the fact that most accidents happen at home.
We are not “Safe at Home” when celebrities are making PSA’s. I am a huge Matthew McConaughey fan. Dude, alright, alright, alright. Please stop. Here is McConaughey as Bobby Bandito teaching mask making.
In the name of all that’s holy, no more Covid-19 propaganda slogans. The Powers That Be, with the their paychecks and all the brainpower of grass clippings, are making us sick.
Fight The Powers That Be.
Featured Image: Ghazaleh Ghazanfari/flickr.com/cropped/ Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Nina says: The whole stay safe and lockdown is super is by no means the best or new normal that we should be used to.
Yet those who want this are the very same people who will grandly inform you that all this will ensure that mom/dad/grandmother/grandfather will not die from Kung-flu lung rot. When asked about the effects on lockdown regarding the significant rise in child/domestic abuse, medical issues NOT related to this bug? The answer is: to hell with them, we must save all from Wuhan flu!
Which is why I’m definitely on board with permanently retiring the slogans you note above.
Scott says: Philadelphia is completely shut down. My aunt and uncle never left the house, my cousin and his family that they lived with only did so when absolutely necessary… Both my aunt and uncle died from the Wuhan flu. If you’re one of the people that is especially susceptible to this disease (likely because of pre-existing conditions), it will get you, if you are not, there’s a nearly 99% chance it won’t affect you seriously.This lock-down and the ridiculous slogans you mention have all GOT TO GO! The cure is becoming much worse than the disease, and that situation will accelerate if we do not get back to an actual normal.
These tyrannical statists, and the braindead celebrities that support them (and don’t follow the rules they impose on the rest of us anyway) need to shut up and go away!
OOh, and ” Governor party tits”??? thanks much for a mental image id did NOT need… I threw up in my mouth a little, and there’s just not enough brain bleach to fix it!
GWB says: Condolences on your aunt and uncle. Did they remain home even after contracting it?
As to Cuomo’s chest, I prefer the Ace of Spades moniker: Nipsy Cuomo.
(Evidently someone started an internet thing that it looked like he had pierced nipples. He has, to date, not disrobed in public to prove his assertions to the contrary.)
(Some people are weird.)
Scott says: They were at home until they got admitted to the ICU. He lasted about 5 days, she made it two more. And thanks for the condolences.
Formerly known as Skeptic says: The ship of state took shelter in the safe harbor to ride out the storm, but now there are those who wish it to remain forever at anchor lest it be lost at sea.
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
GWB says: after eight years two months
With a link to Creative Commons. Huh?
staying home and doing nothing
Hey, this is probably the only time in history the left has ever embraced “Don’t just do something, stand there!” Revel in it. 😉
Our government isn’t asking us to collect rubber or tin.
Honestly, we didn’t do this with the last war (GWOT) either. I think we’re not really serious about any of our “wars” anymore.
Though, the left wants us to give up all of our Bill of Rights and our livelihoods, so maybe they are taking it as if it’s a war. Just a war on us.
Why six feet? Straight from the CDC
Though, WHO only recommends 3 feet (1m).
if this was meant to keep us from getting that aerosolized sneeze or cough
Nah, it was meant to keep us out of the other person’s miasma.
Some people … are still getting a paycheck.
Yep. And most of them are the ones demanding we stay shuttered another few months. Because it doesn’t hurt THEM.
There is nothing “new” or “normal” about any of this.
There’s one thing we could take out of this as part of a new normal: all those people we used to complain about coming to work sick? Maybe they’ll wear masks now and wash their hands frequently. That would be an improvement. (That’s aside from the death of the “expert ruler” I keep hoping for.)
Cameron says: Here’s another trite phrase that needs to go away: “Non essential.” If you have a skill set that puts food on your table and a roof over your head, there is no such thing. And frankly, I now use that term as an insult to some folks.
And yes, I truly despise “The New Normal.” It’s a defeatist attitude and I don’t have the time for it.
Jim says: Speaking of “Non essential” I cannot think of any reason, essential or otherwise, why the autistic enfant terrible is being asked to participate in a CNN ‘townhall’ discussion with medical specialists. What is the ‘angle’?
Scott says: Well, the title of that show is “facts and fear”.. I’m guessing that it’ll be very light on facts, and that she’s there primarily for the fear angle…
DAVE says: This is a sociopolitical, NOT scientific response to a population challenge — Drs. Fauci, Birx, et al. have turned a reasoned, logical, response into a politically expedient power stance (Birx not so much, actually…) — Sloganeering seems to be the most evident result of the challenge so far; this is the “DUCK AND COVER” baloney for this era. Fear was beginning to lessen with the economic upturn and that HAD TO STOP. Read Charles Ortleb’s works on our “medical leaders” for some nifty insights into the whole gang currently bending Trump’s ear and ruining the nation’s heart. Extreme legal action must be started at once to root out the tyrants and preserve what’s left of LIBERTY!!!
GWB says: I’m still not getting any real answers when I keep asking why folks don’t simply ask “Where’s my 5th Amendment payout?” You want to take my business away for 2 weeks or 2 months, fine, that’s a “taking” under the 5th Amendment, and here’s what it will cost you.
Cindy Salyer says: This is great Toni! I agree 100%!!
Taylor says: Another phrase that needs to go away is the word “iconic”. I know it has nothing to do with Coronavirus but I find it is annoying, elitist, and misused.
GWB says: BTW, Toni, you forgot “unprecedented”. Because they keep using it for things that have happened before – you know, a “precedent”.
Ren Amamiya says: “We’re all in it together” was one of the recurring lines in “Brazil” (1985). I don’t know about anybody else, but that’s not a world I want to live in.
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