PicoBlog

Great essay. As a Brit, one of things which fascinated me was the wilful blindness of politicians across the West and beyond. The forget the political axiom that it matters less about what the majority thinks on a specific issue, and far more HOW MUCH they care. Generally, the apathetic middle have undertaken a collective amnesia, even though the 'science' now shows that the institutions were wrong on any number of issues- from masks to school closures, from vaccinations for the healthy under 30s to lockdowns themselves.

But consider this- once firmly entrenched in the Democrat camp are a significant number of Black Americans who were the most vehemently opposed to vaccines and refused them, despite the restrictions to liberty and work which this entailed- and many in this group will likely switch party or stay home because of this specific issue. The Latino community was one of the worst hit by lockdowns, with their constituency consisting of a solid blue collar base and a thriving small business community. Many will have family members or close friends who lost businesses or whose businesses were permanently harmed.

Worst hit were the kids. An early study on childhood development shows that younger children lost the equivalent of 22 points worth of developmental IQ, and nobody knows just how much of this is permanent, because some windows in development are finite- potential, once lost, can be lost forever. So whilst those who were for the restrictions and violations of personal autonomy have become forgetful of past tyrannies imposed, harms inflicted, those who were victims of the COVID regimes will have far longer memories. They will not forget. They will not forgive.

Besides, most of the support for abortion entails the hypothetical protection of the rights of other women. Most women who support abortion support access for the less fortunate, but would not willingly choose it for themselves. Those of us who are all too familiar with the Culture War often forget the basic concerns of ordinary people- on the ground reporting from the Youngkin victory shows, regardless of what the likes of MSNBC might try to convince you, the average parent was less aware and cared less about CRT or gender ideology than the pundit class would have you believe, but were deeply concerned about the harms inflicted on their own children by school closures and mask wearing.

Again, great essay.

Expand full comment

ncG1vNJzZmidnZ65uq7Uq6WsZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe9aiq6Flp528rnnDqJysZZWitq3FjKiqrZ2iYsSiutNmmKdnk6S6rrHNrao%3D