We need to stop pretending that people wanting to see their fucking families over the holidays are selfish and stupid and the reason COVID is spiking

Don't get me wrong. Please do not gather for the holidays. But let's it's not some antisocial evil thing to want or even need to
The villains of COVID are the assholes in power who didn't prepare for this eventuality

The assholes who decided $1200 for nine months was enough to help people through and worse, called it a handout instead of a public safety measure

The government that prioritized our economy
The villains of COVID are the powerful people who dissuaded regular people from wearing masks. Yeah, people should have seen through the bullshit. But people are what they are, and they listened to a story that told them what they wanted to hear
What we are being asked to do is inhuman. For nine goddamn months we've had this hanging over our head. We're a social species, we are supposed to be part of a group, and yet for NINE FUCKING MONTHS we have been told to isolate, forgo everything that keeps us sane
I think about the experiment where baby monkeys were taken from their mothers and given fake milk-dispensing "mothers" made either of soft fabric or wire

The monkeys with the wire moms went insane

Imagine blaming the monkey for its condition. That's what we're doing with COVID
Our garbage society teaches us that only material needs matter. It's not true. We also require emotional and spiritual fuel to live. A lack of that can kill us just as easily

We were already so spiritually impoverished before COVID hit, and now we are emotionally starving
How about we say:

We get wanting to go home for Thanksgiving, but please don't if you can help it

If you feel like it's a Thanksgiving gathering or suicide, go to your gathering

Shit is going to get real bad and it's not your fault. You're human. You have human needs
(for the record, I will not be going home or gathering: I am in strict quarantine and also am, I think, on the extreme low end for "needs social interaction and physical touch." Not everyone is like me and that's ok)
EDIT: I feel like people are really missing the nuance here

*Yes, quarantine if you can
*Also, take care of yourself emotionally
*Also, don't be an asshole to people struggling
*Also, stop blaming individuals for this extremely systemic crisis
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