by dontlookmeupplease
No, really. Even if you live in a state with thousands of cases and and thousand deaths, it doesn’t matter because you don’t see it. It’s almost like just a narrative. Sure you can point to statistics, but statistics don’t convince people because there are arguments that can be made to skew them.
It’s about seeing the visual proof. When 9/11 happened, people didn’t question whether or not it was authentic or fake, and it’s because there’s gruesome footage of it happening. When the recession happened, people don’t question it’s authenticity cause their 401k plummeted or cause they lost their job. With natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, you can literally see the powerful winds and storms.
With Coronavirus, it’s basically an invisible disease with no visual symptom that’s particularly distinguishable. Even so, it’s while a lot of people will get it, only a small percentage of people actually die from it. As a result, there’s a good chance you probably don’t know anyone personally affected by it, although you may have a friend of a friend of a friend whose uncle or aunt or grandparent has it, which again, doesn’t feel real.
You know how there’s that stereotype of Americans hearing about some tragedy in another country and saying “Oh my gosh that’s so terrible” and then they continue eating their dinner? Well that’s what’s happening. Except the “other country” is “another state, or county, or city, or neighborhood.” Like if it doesn’t affect you personally, it’s not real.
What can be done to make the virus feel more real? If the virus actually felt more tangible, I don’t think you’d see people so full with enthusiasm and spirit to defy wearing a mask or wanting to gather.
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