How Have You Been Changed by 2020?

 

I realize that we are only halfway through 2020, but there has been so much disruption and confusion, it seems as if six years have passed. So, I think it’s worthwhile to see if and how we are in the process of reassessing our attitudes and beliefs following this chaotic time. First, I’m curious about the impact of the Leftist disruption and violence on you. Second, COVID-19 has had an impact with the demands made on citizens, from lockdowns to masks. I’ll share some of my own thinking and I hope it will inspire you to share yours.

Regarding the civil unrest, I am far less optimistic than I once was regarding the ability and even interest in this country to “set things right.” I once thought almost everyone believed in the rule of law; I don’t know if that’s true anymore. I also thought that in spite of the incursions of Marxist thought into our public schools, I could imagine that damage being turned around at some point; I don’t know if that’s possible anymore. I have also committed to concealed carry; a year ago, I would not have considered that possibility, and to some degree I resent feeling the need to do it now.

Regarding COVID-19, I have been bewildered and distressed at the level of fear and paranoia of people in this country; keep in mind I’m in the most vulnerable population at the age of 70. I’m also frustrated at the politicization of the virus; as a pretty optimistic person, I’m angry at how much more disillusioned I’ve become about the degree to which the media, politicians and medical experts have been busy meeting their own agendas, rather than seeking and promoting the truth. That we have become pawns in their insidious plans is so disheartening.

Although these changes are discouraging, they are forcing us to find alternative ways to move forward as a country. I believe the demands to defund law enforcement will contribute to so much violence that, ironically, we will realize how important the police are to maintaining the rule of law, and we will fund and improve law enforcement to meet the societal needs. Regarding education, we will see a continued increase in homeschooling and charter schools. And citizens will continue to arm themselves to be sure they are prepared for further unrest. Regarding COVID-19, a new skepticism and realization will emerge; people will begin to learn that we just do not know what will happen. Some people will struggle with this reality, but others will learn to adjust to living with the unknown and move forward in spite of their concerns and limitations.

In spite of the apparent negative changes in outlook that I’ve experienced, there are a few positive outcomes. One, I am savvier about the world (even at 70, it’s never too late to learn) and am more motivated than ever to seek the truth, wherever I can find it. Second, I will in short order be able to protect myself when I am out and about, and that strengthens my resolve to be a free, responsible, and empowered woman. Third, I take consolation that even if I can’t always trust the rest of the world, I believe I have strengthened my trust and confidence in myself and my relationships, including those of you I’ve gotten to know on Ricochet.

So, my question to you is:

How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes, and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

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  1. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    iWe (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    Yep. Sounds about right. 

    • #2
  3. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I do have one glimmer of hope for those who live in states like Florida: as cases go up, some governors are still choosing to move forward. I think that determination sends at least two good messages: leadership trusts the people to make sound decisions; our ability to recover emotionally and financially depends on our moving forward. 

    • #3
  4. Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) Member
    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing)
    @Sisyphus

    iWe (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    We are united in this.

    • #4
  5. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    We are united in this.

    Ironic, isn’t it @sisyphus? At some point, it would be very interesting to see those areas where our estrangement brings us together–such as in education as I mentioned earlier. Or those of us who choose to move forward in our lives in spite of all the fear mongering.

    • #5
  6. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    iWe (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    iWe, I feel much the same way.  I never thought I would  feel this way.

    • #6
  7. OldPhil Coolidge
    OldPhil
    @OldPhil

    I have become MUCH less inhibited about expressing my opinion, both on-line and in person. I try hard not to be rude, but my wife tells me I have gotten pretty snarky.

    Just two days ago on our community FB page, the original poster took a post down after I got into it (politely, IMO) with a gloom-and-doom “until there’s a vaccine no one should do anything” basement dweller. I messaged the OP later and he agreed completely with me, but didn’t want the discussion to spiral down.

    I just sent in a letter to the editor of our local paper responding to a column that basically said “Trump killed 130,000 people! And the US is the absolute worst!” I used CDC and Statista links, but my overall tone was, I hope, snarky.

    • #7
  8. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    OldPhil (View Comment):
    I have become MUCH less inhibited about expressing my opinion, both on-line and in person. I try hard not to be rude, but my wife tells me I have gotten pretty snarky.

    Good for you! I think we all must get more comfortable with speaking out and not insist on remaining in the silent majority. I don’t want anyone to lose his or her job, but even with those people we personally encounter, we must not remain silent. A friend of ours had a mutual friend declare that she and her husband were systemic racists. Our friend spoke up and reminded her how she was not racist. The other woman conceded the truth of her comments, but I don’t know if she’ll be able to resist the pressure to conform. Sigh.

    • #8
  9. JustmeinAZ Member
    JustmeinAZ
    @JustmeinAZ

    I didn’t think I could be more pessimistic about the future of our country than a was I few months ago. But here we are and I am more pessimistic than ever. I just want to withdraw from society and talk to no one other than a very small circle of friends. The election will determine the direction of my thinking.

    • #9
  10. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    JustmeinAZ (View Comment):

    I didn’t think I could be more pessimistic about the future of our country than a was I few months ago. But here we are and I am more pessimistic than ever. I just want to withdraw from society and talk to no one other than a very small circle of friends. The election will determine the direction of my thinking.

    I fully expect Trump to lose, and lose big.  The Dems will implement “the Great Society part two”, and we’ll never be rid of it, and my kids are screwed.  I’m old enough that I’ll probably miss the worst of the collapse.

     

    (More pessimistic than that?!)

    • #10
  11. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    JustmeinAZ (View Comment):

    I didn’t think I could be more pessimistic about the future of our country than a was I few months ago. But here we are and I am more pessimistic than ever. I just want to withdraw from society and talk to no one other than a very small circle of friends. The election will determine the direction of my thinking.

    I fully expect Trump to lose, and lose big. The Dems will implement “the Great Society part two”, and we’ll never be rid of it, and my kids are screwed. I’m old enough that I’ll probably miss the worst of the collapse.

    (More pessimistic than that?!)

    Yes

    • #11
  12. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    I’ve been disappointed in the apparent lack of willingness of those tasked with maintaining order to do so.

    • #12
  13. Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) Member
    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing)
    @Sisyphus

    To iWe’s point, the government response to the virus has been a disaster on the order of the virus itself. Quarantining the healthy is not and never has been scientific. The panic in NYC was natural and to be expected given the enormity of the crisis. And, as it turned out, the gross incompetence of Governor Cuomo in forcing elderly Covid patients into the nursing homes while forbidding that they be tested for active virus. No one else anywhere in the world did this, going this far. Four other governors giving similar orders made no such provision against testing. Those orders were also monstrous on their face in the absence of crowding in the hospitals, but they might be dismissed as merely imbecilic. 

    Cuomo’s provision against testing reveals an undeniably sinister motivation to spread the disease as widely as possibly in the most vulnerable population. 

    You, iWe, and I, I believe, expect and demand that action proceed from the facts available reasonably considered in accordance with community values. That has not and is not happening in too many cases, with Cuomo staking a nihilistic extreme that reveals a blackened soul, and it strikes at the heart of the people’s faith in republican institutions to provide for the common welfare. Prudential governance is in sore demand, and a couple of 2nd generation politicians have achieved notoriety for their ineptitude in protecting their citizens, Governor Cuomo and Mayor Durkan of Seattle. 

    With my youngest entering his final year of high school, and in a county attempting to dedicate itself to the propositions that all lives matter is a microaggression and that Christianity is the enemy, my thoughts the last few days have been populated with high school imagery and I see the whole Ricochet experience as akin to the that niche of kids who find a quiet hallway at lunchtime and all quickly agree the administration of the school is very foolish and badly broken but spend many a lunch period hotly debating the particulars and which bit of madness should be acclaimed the most egregious. 

    My personal sense of alienation in this season of stupid is that my newly elected governor, Northam, was also handed a narrow Blue majority in both legislative houses and they began their freshly minted terms by passing gun control measures so sweeping that every Uber driver, every barber, and many others spontaneously expressed their rage over it to me for weeks. Northam has been extremely foolish, looking competent only in comparison to Cuomo, Newsom, Whitmer, et. al. And not by much. 

    I have found that getting out and about reduces my sense of isolation. (Who knew?) As my neighbors forgo their masks out of doors, especially the young and healthy, and refuse to be terrified. Of course, the ones I don’t see on my outings are the ones too terrified to venture out. And they are the worst victims of the campaign of fear overshadowing any attempt at a reasonable response.

    • #13
  14. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

     

    • #14
  15. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    I’m still pondering the question.  But one thing that I know is that I’ve been changed much more by the events seemingly unrelated to COVID-19 than the events related to COVID-19.

    • #15
  16. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    GrannyDude

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

    This is a brilliant insight. Thank you.

    • #16
  17. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    To iWe’s point, the government response to the virus has been a disaster on the order of the virus itself. Quarantining the healthy is not and never has been scientific. The panic in NYC was natural and to be expected given the enormity of the crisis. And, as it turned out, the gross incompetence of Governor Cuomo in forcing elderly Covid patients into the nursing homes while forbidding that they be tested for active virus. No one else anywhere in the world did this, going this far. Four other governors giving similar orders made no such provision against testing. Those orders were also monstrous on their face in the absence of crowding in the hospitals, but they might be dismissed as merely imbecilic.

    Cuomo’s provision against testing reveals an undeniably sinister motivation to spread the disease as widely as possibly in the most vulnerable population.

    You, iWe, and I, I believe, expect and demand that action proceed from the facts available reasonably considered in accordance with community values. That has not and is not happening in too many cases, with Cuomo staking a nihilistic extreme that reveals a blackened soul, and it strikes at the heart of the people’s faith in republican institutions to provide for the common welfare. Prudential governance is in sore demand, and a couple of 2nd generation politicians have achieved notoriety for their ineptitude in protecting their citizens, Governor Cuomo and Mayor Durkan of Seattle.

    With my youngest entering his final year of high school, and in a county attempting to dedicate itself to the propositions that all lives matter is a microaggression and that Christianity is the enemy, my thoughts the last few days have been populated with high school imagery and I see the whole Ricochet experience as akin to the that niche of kids who find a quiet hallway at lunchtime and all quickly agree the administration of the school is very foolish and badly broken but spend many a lunch period hotly debating the particulars and which bit of madness should be acclaimed the most egregious.

    My personal sense of alienation in this season of stupid is that my newly elected governor, Northam, was also handed a narrow Blue majority in both legislative houses and they began their freshly minted terms by passing gun control measures so sweeping that every Uber driver, every barber, and many others spontaneously expressed their rage over it to me for weeks. Northam has been extremely foolish, looking competent only in comparison to Cuomo, Newsom, Whitmer, et. al. And not by much.

    I have found that getting out and about reduces my sense of isolation. (Who knew?) As my neighbors forgo their masks out of doors, especially the young and healthy, and refuse to be terrified. Of course, the ones I don’t see on my outings are the ones too terrified to venture out. And they are the worst victims of the campaign of fear overshadowing any attempt at a reasonable response.

    So articulate, @sisyphus, and mirrors my own thinking (as you’ve said). I do hope the kids have a way to share with each other without being silenced by some zealous teachers. I feel for them.

    • #17
  18. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

     

    Oh, @GrannyDude, what a chilling thought. I can barely countenance the idea. But I can’t argue with it, either.

    • #18
  19. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    iWe (View Comment):

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    GrannyDude

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

    This is a brilliant insight. Thank you.

    I can’t get there.  Things are bad, but genocidal murders in the millions are on another level.

     

    • #19
  20. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    GrannyDude

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

    This is a brilliant insight. Thank you.

    I can’t get there. Things are bad, but genocidal murders in the millions are on another level.

     

    I don’t think she’s necessarily saying that we will end up there, but there are signs of the possibility. Yes, even I have trouble imagining that.

    • #20
  21. KentForrester Coolidge
    KentForrester
    @KentForrester

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

     

    GrannyDude, you have an interesting point there.  There are elements of today’s chaos that resemble the rise of Fascism. However, I think the whole thing will finally fizzle out before it reaches a critical stage. 

    • #21
  22. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Hoyacon (View Comment):
    I can’t get there. Things are bad, but genocidal murders in the millions are on another level.

    Cancel Culture advocates jailing Global Warming “deniers”, and silencing all racists. They openly joke about killing black conservatives. Bernie’s organizers talked of concentration camps for people who are not Woke. And, of course, All Lives do NOT Matter.

    It looks a lot like the runup to the Reign of Terror to me.

    • #22
  23. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    Also, and critically: the advocates are entirely unbound by conventional religious morality that says that each person has a value inasmuch as we are each made in the image of G-d. 

    Without that belief, things can get very bloody. It is the contrast between the US Revolution on the one hand, and the Reign of Terror and Russian Revolution on the other.  Orders of magnitude differences in bloodshed.

    The key to any eradication campaign is the dehumanizing of the Other. That is why name-calling matters.

    • #23
  24. The Cynthonian Inactive
    The Cynthonian
    @TheCynthonian

    iWe (View Comment):

    Hoyacon (View Comment):
    I can’t get there. Things are bad, but genocidal murders in the millions are on another level.

    Cancel Culture advocates jailing Global Warming “deniers”, and silencing all racists. They openly joke about killing black conservatives. Bernie’s organizers talked of concentration camps for people who are not Woke. And, of course, All Lives do NOT Matter.

    It looks a lot like the runup to the Reign of Terror to me.

    The logical conclusion of “Cancel Culture” is a Holocaust.  

    • #24
  25. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

    I have to admit I remain mystified, just more understanding that things can go from clearly good for most to bad for everyone (except the ones dropping the boot on our necks).

    Nothing has changed other than my outlook. We have clash coming. Hopefully it is only at the ballot box.

    • #25
  26. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    GrannyDude (View Comment):

    I am no longer in the least mystified by how the Germans came to permit/commit the Holocaust.

     

    One of my favorites jokes from the late George W Bush Administration:  

    Q:  What’s the difference between Hitler and George W Bush?

    A:  The Germans liked Hitler.

     

    • #26
  27. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    The virus has not effected me much.  Only perhaps to realize that I enjoy working from home so much more.  I’ve taken the virus in stride.  I was certainly much more effected by the 9/11 attacks.

    As to the civil unrest, I think most of us had seen similar before but what disturbs me more than any of the previous riots is how middle America is ready to capitulate to the thugs.  I’m not talking about a weakness that I think has been there is the past too.  Most people don’t want trouble and will go along to get along.  This time it seems different.  It seems like a goodly amount of middle America believes what the rioters believe.  It’s not a question of being spineless.  It’s a question of joining them.  That really scares me.  

    • #27
  28. Giulietta Inactive
    Giulietta
    @giuliettachicago

    I was thinking of a post on an aspect of this 2020 syndrome as well. I want to be more honest with my friends about my political beliefs. Several of my closest friends are liberal (not necessarily progressive) and they have been very devoted friends. My own views have shifted over the years and I am right-leaning in several areas now that I was not before which is a big difference. While I’m not a provocative person, I do love a passionate, cheerful discussion but I have always avoided them with friends because I never felt it was important to talk politics with them- I didn’t want to test the friendships with politics. But the riots changed everything for me. I can’t hide how I feel about them- I’m beyond disgusted. I don’t feel like being Switzerland anymore- I don’t want to be merely polite while other people say things like, “oh yes it’s too bad the Michigan Ave got trashed but you know, so many protests were peaceful.” I loathe it when people passively put down Trump just because they don’t like his personality when it has absolutely nothing to do with what he has done to govern. I want to be diplomatic when I actually speak but how I feel is angrier- what is that line from Network?I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!

    • #28
  29. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    I’ve never felt so genuinely angry before.  I don’t even recognize some of the values of my fellow Americans.  I’m mostly disillusioned and… sad.  

    • #29
  30. Hartmann von Aue Member
    Hartmann von Aue
    @HartmannvonAue

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn: How have your outlook, your personal beliefs, attitudes and values changed as a result of the events so far in 2020?

    I have become much more disappointed in the ability of the world to think things through. I feel more disconnected from the rest of humanity than ever before.

    We are united in this.

    Recent events have certainly reinforced my awareness that, like  father Abraham, I am a sojourner passing through this world and it is not (thank God) my eternal home.

    However, these same events have not altered my core beliefs, values or even attitudes much. I knew already that “The heart of man is deceitful  beyond measure. Who can understand it?” was one of the greatest truths in Scripture, so I am unsurprised by the perfidy and cowardice  of politicians and fellow citizens in reaction to the COVID-19 crisis, which I regard as largely self-inflicted damage. The campaign of pillaging, rampaging, murders, assaults and rapes all committed in the name of “social justice” by Antifa, BLM and their various hanger-on organizations has not surprised me, really, either, since they have been threatening to unleash this wave of barbarism since 2016. What has surprised me is the willingness of some people to defend the vile actions as if they were morally equivalent to the lunch-counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights Era. The  wave  of violence and  intimidation unleashed by the reaction to the murder of George Floyd, and the rhetoric that drives it, has had the painful  side effect of making relationships with my friends and relatives of African Ancestry- those who aren’t conservatives anyway- strained for the first time in years, in some cases the first time ever. However, I am not going to back down. I will keep saying “All Lives Matter” and pointing out that BLM would better named “Black Lives only Matter to us when we can politically exploit them.” That’s quite a mouthful of course, but it’s what everyone should hear or read when they hear or see that name.

    • #30
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