One thing I keep thinking about is how in 1847 Ignaz Semmelweis hypothesized that maybe it was a bad idea for doctors to go straight from doing autopsies to birthing children without washing hands in the interim.

And you’d think doctors of the time would be like, “Oohhhhh shit that data on child bed fever looks solid, I will wash my hands!”

But instead they collectively threw fit because doctors were gentlemen and gentlemen BY DEFINITION had clean hands.

So Semmelweis got attacked in all kinds of literature and eventually became severely depressed and eventually through some kind of precise mechanism of mental illness/physical illness/maybe self harm? died.

One of the things that coronavirus is really doing is demonstrating that certain people are so used to privilege—at not having to obey things that are Laws for other people, and not having it matter—that they’re basically wandering around shouting GENTLEMEN HAVE CLEAN HANDS

And just. expecting? reality to conform.

I really think that it just never remotely occurred to Rand Paul that he could be carrying coronavirus.

How dare it. It wouldn’t.

Certain people get used to the fact that things that OTHER people take are risky for them but always turn out for YOU, and they think it’s because somehow they are better, and risk doesn’t come for them.

The entire system that’s shielded them from risk is invisible.

And now they can’t acceptable manage risk, because gentlemen have clean hands.