i think a lot of people who deny the severity of the second wave have never really experienced hardship before. i think they have never before really had their freedoms hindered or had to alter their behaviour in any way.

this must be their first experience of what it feels like to not truly understand why you're not able to do everything and anything you want, and having to stick to that.

for your own safety, for the safety of others. i think people who are pushing against restrictions such as masks, social distancing, self isolation etc basically lack empathy. that's an obvious take.

im trying to formulate something about how, imo, people who have experienced societal oppression bc of who they are are vastly more empathetic. that they can see how there is a difference between oppression and "oppression" in the form of masks and national restrictions.

for people to kick back so forcefully, red in the face, at these restrictions and to yell that it is oppression, well... its very telling. what they think is "oppression" is, in its most basic form, protecting the most vulnerable health-wise (elderly, immuno-compromised, etc).

if they cannot conceptualise that and mull it over and understand that it is for these groups' safety most accutely, to practice empathy, how are they ever going to grasp societal oppression?

in any other time, they could imagine an elderly person, or someone in hospital with lung cancer, or a person with asthma, and think "they're clearly having a tougher time than me", surely?

frailty, decline in health or being in pain are universal things to position yourself apart from when you're not those things. when you're healthy you empathise with people who aren't, no?

if they can't extend empathy to even the most clear cut cases of illness, reliance on medication and care, and vulnerability, then they have no empathy. if you can turn it off in a time like this, maybe it was never there.

i don't think you need to have been oppressed or go through some kind of trauma to be able to be fully empathetic and abide by restrictions. but i think experiencing it does make empathy more fine-tuned, an acute appreciation and practice of care and solidarity.

im interested in hearing why you all think people are kicking back with such severity.