An Impossible Goal

I posted yesterday about the fella who believes that the teacher shortage (which is nationwide) is being caused by people getting shot in Chicago. Here, we have a post from a woman with hundreds if not thousands of followers who sincerely believes 

(1) that Christianity will soon be illegal in the USA 

(2) that the attack on the Capitol was "glorious" and that the rioters were attempting to resist an attack on "the Republic"

(3) that people who attacked the Capitol have been and are being tortured and murdered by the Biden administration

The comments are equally bizarre. The obsession with apple pie in particular is pretty strange. I mean, I like pie too, but honestly it's just pie. It's not holy communion, which is how it's apparently being treated by this lot.

But here's my question: when 25% (more or less) of our country believes such blatant nonsense, what are the chances that we can convince them to start listening to facts, and to base their decisions on those facts? I mean, clearly a huge part of their identity hinges on swallowing down this absolute bullshit.

I lay this at the feet of Reagan, as with so many other ills corroding our country. 

Meanwhile, Covid cases are surging here -- 7400 new cases yesterday, and 8 deaths -- but our locals are still insisting that not getting vaccinated is their "right," as is their refusal to isolate or wear masks. 

I'm currently reading Patient Zero, which is about historical epidemics and pandemics, and I'm here to tell you that this determined ignorance is nothing new. Polio was almost eradicated, but some religious zealots decided the vaccine was imperialism, and now 500,000 kids a year in Africa get the disease. AIDS did the damage it did because "only those people" died from it. And cholera killed millions because people insisted on the "freedom" to dump their sewage into their drinking water.

To quote Dorothy Sayers, Some consideration for others is necessary in the communal life. 

We're all on the boat together, after all.