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Madrigal-YYZ's avatar

I firmly believe it is not my responsibility to convince anyone of anything. The live and let live attitude. It's not that I don't care. It's not that I am not concerned about the direction things are going. It is because I know that someone can only start to believe something when they are ready. And for me to do any amount of arm flapping is wasted energy and would irritate those who are not ready to hear the message.

I can indicate that I have a different viewpoint than they do. I can be open to discussing things honestly if they are willing to do the same. But it definitely has to be a two way street.

Full disclosure (as full as one can disclose hiding behind a pseudonym :-) ). I am an alcoholic. I can now admit that in the AA meetings I attend regularly. It has been over 4 years since my last drink. During my addiction, there were a lot of people doing a lot of arm flapping telling me I was ruining my life. I knew this to be the case myself. But I didn't care. The only thing that got me sober and keeps me sober today is that I decided to change my life and stop drinking once and for all. That is the only thing that worked. I tried many times to get sober to keep a job, or to not have my wife kick me to the curb but I failed every time. It was only when I decided myself that I wanted to quit that I came around.

And it is the same with the sheep. I see signs that they are waking up. You would think that people attending AA meetings would be more open minded but over the course of the last few years, the dominant discussions were very much closed minded. Informal chats before meetings were always about when they were vaxxed, what they got, how they felt, what about those anti-vax assholes etc. I was going to a town west of Toronto and had the chance to meet some people in person that I had only seen in zoom rooms. The first question one asked when I said I was coming to the town was "are you vaxxed?"

But now, I am starting to see some questioning of the narrative. I'm starting to hear some jokes about how maybe after 5 more boosters they might start to feel normal again. It's giving me some hope. It's taking a long time but it is starting to move in the right direction.

But they have to decide for themselves. On their own. It's our job to help them when they reach that point.

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sunsandwind's avatar

It's difficult to see all this and not feel anger and frustration. Moving past that and planning for the future is my current response. So many relationships I valued have been changed irrevocably. I'm now actively seeking community with people who value freedom to think, speak, and make their own choices in life. My energy will be used on projects and relationships with people who have those same values. A positive mindset and dreams are going to be needed to survive whatever comes our way.

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