A friend predicted to me that by midsummer, not only will "normal life" have returned, we will "forget" what we had been through. Struck me as an interesting thought.
Right now people are buzzing about whether they've received the vaccine yet. Such a perplexing pandemic: we are supposed to treat it as if we're all potential victims, yet we know that very elderly people were the prime targets. Of course they were not the exclusive targets, just the prime targets.
Unspoken in all this was the thought that nursing home deaths need not be grieved as much as for younger people. Nobody wants to see anyone die. However, it was legitimate to weigh the fact that young and middle age people of basically normal health, non-overweight people, had substantially less to worry about.
And yet this was not the truth that was conveyed by the media. The notorious media - never mind that it is not a monolith - processes things through a propriety filter - a more raw term is political correctness.
I remember Bernard Goldberg from the one good book he wrote, "Bias," writing about the AIDS crisis from the same viewpoint. The media like "Oprah" felt it had to convey that AIDS was a danger lurking around the corner for all of us. Which would be fine if it was true. The media succumbs to the bias of making us all seem equal.
It's taboo at present to suggest that overweight people are more vulnerable to a pandemic. We are not supposed to be judgmental in this way, just like we were not supposed to be judgmental vs. gay people during the AIDS outbreak. Goldberg pointed out with sincerity, the fact that death among gay people was a horrible tragedy. It was self-evident. But the media was defensive so as not to be perceived as being hard on the gay element of the population, an element that had striven over time to escape the shackles of discrimination.
Goldberg pointed out a danger in the media's coverage, that people not at risk could become petrified by fear. The media, because it wants to reach the masses for commercial purposes, wanted us to think we were all equal. The media fails whenever it shies away from facts for reasons of self-interest.
I got to thinking about the overweight thing a couple days ago when a TV news channel showed pictures of numerous pandemic victims. So many were overweight, many in a way that I do not recall from when I was young. They looked overweight in a truly bloated way.
People are very guarded in the comments they might want to make about this.
Body image bias is something we are constantly trying to avoid in this age of being so non-judgmental. But if you think someone is overweight, "bloated" in a way that doesn't seem healthy, why blot that out of your thoughts? Well, men nowadays are supposed to erase from their thoughts any notion that a woman is "good looking." The push is toward the non-objectification of women. Seems to have merit, right? And it's right in line with the meme of how "we're all equal."
I think it's fine if men modify their thoughts so that the "ideal" is no longer the "36-24-36" women. (Later it got modified to 38-24-36.) Didn't Jesse Ventura get laughs by referring to a certain bra size?
Banter along these lines was once common, now it's pretty much discouraged. But can you believe that men are not still forming judgments about women in the more, shall we say Neanderthal way? And let's not be judgmental about Neanderthals. (Just kidding on that one, but we need a way to describe Republicans these days.)
Sometimes we'd be sitting at McDonald's and notice quite rotund people ambling in. But we are less likely to even notice that aspect of people now. I'm 66 years old and remember a time when a "fat person" entering an establishment would invite a stare and some whispers perhaps. Hardly ever happens now, either because of the "non-judgmental" meme out in society, or the scary fact that there are so many rotund or "fat" people.
My language might strike you as Neanderthal at times. I grew up in times when crass objectification of women was standard. Women should have protested but they probably thought it'd be fruitless. The forces of change and evolution need time to build up, get momentum. Of course, maybe we should not accept the normalization of being overweight. Obviously there are health issues, as we seem to be reminded during Covid.
I personally have not felt scared during Covid. Even though I'm 66, I am not overweight, and outside of taking Lipitor every day I seem fully stable. I have had my first vaccination shot for Covid.
Maybe it's actually good that I spent about ten years of my life with a distance running hobby that I'm sure convinced many people I was nuts. I was actually underweight during that period, got comments about it even. But maybe the pastime served to add some years to my life. That time period, incidentally, was 1982-92. I had to phase it out because of chronic soreness in my right foot. Yes it was a real problem, not like Donald Trump's bone spurs.
And speaking of the overweight former president, he of the junk food preference, why is there still a Trump campaign sign near where people turn off the highway onto Columbia Avenue? It's in such a conspicuous spot. Increasingly I find this sight offensive, especially in light of what happened on January 6. Who is behind this sign? What are they trying to tell us? Who owns the land? It is becoming a public relations issue for the Morris community. I know we have a disproportionate number of Trump supporters here - heaven help us - but why allow this to be advertised to the world?
My podcast for March 14
My, we're two days away from the most revered "St. Urho's Day!" I won't fool you here: it is a faux holiday but one that is enjoyed by many. We need some excuses for reverie now. The question is: do you have enough energy left over for St. Patrick's Day? I invite you to listen on my "Morris Mojo" podcast:
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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