Trump’s time may yield good
I’m enjoying the squeals of indignation over Donald Trump losing Twitter and other social media platforms where he whipped up support for his fantasies of omnipotence. It’s not right, apparently. Well, when was it ever right to promote lies? His outlets should have cut him off ages ago, before his base went feral. Strange how people who did his bidding these past four years have qualms now that his time’s up. Timid when he still had power, they’re having to join the real world where people have memories, and I hope those memories are long.
Some good may come of Trump’s bizarre career in office. People may start talking about rights, freedom and responsibilities, and remember why the two go together.
It’s not just Trump’s reckless lying that makes that timely: it’s the way so many people have behaved since the Covid-19 epidemic began. In some countries, notably America, they’ve insisted on their right not to act responsibly and take basic precautions to limit its spread.
In a sinister twist for a country with a worldrecord 400,000 dead from Covid-19, Americans rushed to buy guns as the pandemic spread. Heaven forbid you’d give a neighbour a can of soup in an emergency. And you a churchgoer.
There’s no merit in an argument that disconnects rights from responsibilities, or rights from duties, but an antisocial streak in many Americans, and others, has them jeering at medical advice, even in the government. It has been a badge of honour to spread the disease wantonly, maybe feeling clever because you’re not dead yet. The callousness of that is epic.
There have always been groups who oppose prevailing wisdom. That’s inevitable and most of it is probably harmless. I remember milder forms of it from way back.
People used to have strips of rubber hanging down from under their cars and dragging on the road in the earnest belief that these would stop travel sickness. Others – or maybe the same people – believed that bottles of water strewn over your front lawn would stop other people’s dogs using your grass as a toilet. You don’t see these interesting manifestations of the power of belief these days.
Maybe adults stopped smoking in cars, which always made me sick as a kid or – here’s an idea – people put up fences.
I still have the copper bracelet my grandmother once wore thinking it might prevent arthritis, which eventually crippled her. It reminds me to respect science.
Opposition to vaccination is equally nutty, though potentially more harmful. I thought we’d accepted it prevents sickness and death, but just as diseases were largely eradicated, people began to believe a vaccine could be more dangerous than the potentially fatal sickness it prevented.
Likewise, some people oppose fluoride in drinking water, which I credit with saving my kids from the ugly mouthful of amalgam fillings I have. There may be worse things than preventing tooth decay.
What has changed for humanity is the ability to spread any idea to a receptive population greater than ever before in history. In Trump’s case it’s the belief that he really won the election, promoted tirelessly, which led to the recent horror show at the Capitol, and his disgrace.
Regulation of social media is long overdue, not just for him. It’s going to be hard to govern that wilderness, but social media needs to take responsibility for the harm it causes by enabling it. Next, TV channels based on biased news coverage should be examined. Fox News is one sick puppy badly in need of a vet.