Sometimes I envy those people's certainty, that they're so convinced that they're right that they wouldn't dream of even entertaining the thought that there's the slightest possibility that they're wrong, because if there's even a tiny chance that they're wrong, then they'd have to admit that there's a tiny chance that their refusal to put up with a little discomfort or inconvenience is putting others' lives at risk. The same goes for climate change deniers: if there's even the remotest possibility that climate change is real, is it worth gambling our children's future? If the government really wanted to microchip us all, why invent an enormously expensive and damaging pandemic? They could do that when we get our childhood inoculations, our tetanus shots. I can understand that people are upset and angry, that they're distrustful of the government, but that justified anger appears to have blinded them to any kind of critical thinking.
During the early days of the lockdown, my son got ridiculed for wearing a mask by a group of youths at a bus stop. “I'm not doing this to protect myself, you arseholes, I'm doing it to protect you!” was his indignant retort (excuse the language). It shut them up too. I should cease to be surprised by people's selfishness and stupidity. I can only express my sympathy and my admiration for your courage. My own view is that if I let people like that embitter me or change my outlook, then they've won and I refuse to let them. So good for you. I do believe that these people are a small minority, they just make a lot of noise – empty vessels? – and have a disproportionate impact. That and the social media trolls – and I feel sorry for them. Their lives must be pretty empty is they can only get their kicks by upsetting others, it's just attention seeking – makes it look like there are more of them than there really are.
I had reason to look up the seven deadly sins or cardinal vices, as they're also known, and came across the inversely corresponding cardinal virtues (I'm not religious, but I found them oddly heartening and universal. I hope they might be encouraging to you too): lust ≠ chastity, gluttony ≠ temperance/moderation, avarice ≠ generosity/charity, sloth ≠ diligence, wrath ≠ patience, envy ≠ gratitude/kindness, and pride ≠ humility.
Sometimes I envy those people's certainty, that they're so convinced that they're right that they wouldn't dream of even entertaining the thought that there's the slightest possibility that they're wrong, because if there's even a tiny chance that they're wrong, then they'd have to admit that there's a tiny chance that their refusal to put up with a little discomfort or inconvenience is putting others' lives at risk. The same goes for climate change deniers: if there's even the remotest possibility that climate change is real, is it worth gambling our children's future? If the government really wanted to microchip us all, why invent an enormously expensive and damaging pandemic? They could do that when we get our childhood inoculations, our tetanus shots. I can understand that people are upset and angry, that they're distrustful of the government, but that justified anger appears to have blinded them to any kind of critical thinking.
During the early days of the lockdown, my son got ridiculed for wearing a mask by a group of youths at a bus stop. “I'm not doing this to protect myself, you arseholes, I'm doing it to protect you!” was his indignant retort (excuse the language). It shut them up too. I should cease to be surprised by people's selfishness and stupidity. I can only express my sympathy and my admiration for your courage. My own view is that if I let people like that embitter me or change my outlook, then they've won and I refuse to let them. So good for you. I do believe that these people are a small minority, they just make a lot of noise – empty vessels? – and have a disproportionate impact. That and the social media trolls – and I feel sorry for them. Their lives must be pretty empty is they can only get their kicks by upsetting others, it's just attention seeking – makes it look like there are more of them than there really are.
I had reason to look up the seven deadly sins or cardinal vices, as they're also known, and came across the inversely corresponding cardinal virtues (I'm not religious, but I found them oddly heartening and universal. I hope they might be encouraging to you too): lust ≠ chastity, gluttony ≠ temperance/moderation, avarice ≠ generosity/charity, sloth ≠ diligence, wrath ≠ patience, envy ≠ gratitude/kindness, and pride ≠ humility.