Have to admit that covid was for me the final nail in my radicalization five years ago. Been lurking the longhauler sub all this time and it's been a place of both incredible "just throw money at it and you'll be fine" takes and takes that show how people are becoming more class conscious due to the conditions they are in with longcovid.
The latest example is this discussion and considering that this is from reddit I'd say it looks like that people keep moving left when they have to live with the fallout of capitalism, even from more privileged positions.
This is the same thing that happened to me. The camaraderie of my friend group during the height of lockdowns and stuff is what helped me survive. However as soon as I started to see the general public start to pivot back towards “normalcy”, I began to realize that I was being left behind because of my continued precautionary behavior. Watching everyone go back to their crowded concert venues and packed sports bars without even an inkling of concern was really tough to deal with. I started to resent everyone around me except my wife, who was on the same page as me. I knew we were losing a massive part of our social lives and I’ve been mourning that ever since.
Now, 5 years later I have a very similar gut response whenever COVID comes up. It makes me physically anxious and upset to think about how apathetic everyone was to the situation once they got bored of it. At the end of the day it proves to me how little anyone actually cares about each other’s wellbeing when it’s not within the context of their own lives or aligning with their world view.
I’m ranting, sorry. I still have really really big feelings about this topic and this community is the only place besides my marriage that I don’t feel I’m being judged for my honesty around COVID and what we’ve lost to it.
And then I think about all the people who are fully alone with this and it makes me so sad.
I don't think all the covid related trauma that people are just carrying around now can ever even be unpacked properly now. The wrongdoing is so fundamental. I think it's good to vent about it, it too is a show of solidarity. It feels very lonely, but here we are, talking about it together
This situation makes me so angry! I’ve heard first hand so many people talk about this dynamic and in my eyes this behavior is malicious. It really brings into question how much they care about their partner’s mental and physical health.
Me neither, mostly because it’s still compounding… I still work in an office 3 days a week and mask for all 8-9 hours of it unless I’m eating alone in the corner or I’m outside eating or taking a walk. Still, after 3 years of working with these people I get weird looks and comments about my mask. Sometimes it’s an acknowledgment where they apologize for crowding my space when they notice, which I can appreciate. Although there is one guy that still goes “oh still, wearing a mask?” every now and then. That irks me beyond belief…
Agreed! This comm and its moderation is amazing for that. I mean it when I say it’s the only place besides my home that lets me express this without the judgement and gaslighting.