Just Wait A Little Longer
The language of communitarianism has infiltrated the most privileged in our society.
Six months ago, a long-time friend and I had a lengthy chat about the events of 2020. We agreed on many things, but our conversation went south when he suggested I continue to sacrifice just a little longer to handle the crisis of cases. I told my friend I did what was I was told; I wore a mask, I socially distanced, stayed home, and even relied on government support for me and my family since I was unable to work. Not only was I unable, but I was also forced out of work—indefinitely. My industry is still on hiatus and there may not be a return to work for well over 100,000 people who worked on Broadway for the foreseeable future.
I asked my friend what the end game was with these sacrifices I was supposed to indefinitely make. What was the goal? It seemed back then, just like now, there was no end game nor was there a goal. I kept asking him how much longer should I sacrifice? He just kept telling me that I needed to ‘man up’ and wait a little longer.
In April of 2021, President Biden urged Americans to "sacrifice a little bit longer" and continue taking precautions.
During a press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, "I think the president recognizes that this has been a long and difficult journey for the American public." "The country has been shut down in one form or another for more than a year now. And people have missed birthday parties, weddings, baseball games, going out to restaurants." "It is difficult, it is hard, and what he is asking people to do is to sacrifice a little bit longer."
In June of 2021, during an appearance on CBS This Morning, former Biden White House senior adviser for COVID Response Andy Slavitt suggested that Americans should have "sacrificed a little bit" more during the pandemic. Slavitt blamed the Trump administration, its policies, and American citizens for not forfeiting more of their liberties for the greater good of 'public health' and a common purpose.
He said, "If we're honest, we also made two other types of mistakes that caused a lot of loss of life. One was just plainly political leadership mistakes. We denied the virus for too long under the Trump White House. There was too much squashing of dissent and playing on divisions." "We all need to look at one another, and ask ourselves, 'What do we need to do better next time, and in many respects, being able to sacrifice a little bit for one another to get through this and to save more lives, it's going to be essential. And it's something that I think we all could have done a little bit better on."
It seems as if all of this sacrifice is never good enough. Those in power want everyone else to take the hit and not have to suffer personally. When they promulgate COVID-19 restrictions, policymakers need to be made aware they are asking the people with the least economic margin for error to sacrifice the most. It appears as if they don’t care and are basking in their increased power over those who are in the most pain. They are determined to keep the public confused by turning the events of last year into a chimera of fear with ever-shifting characteristics that make no logical sense. They feel ALL must forever sacrifice, and those who refuse must be scapegoated. Wherever power exists, it leverages crises and the talk of the common good for its ends, but today's communitarianism is condescension towards the public.
People who aren't in a position of power and influence want to force everyone to wear masks, vaccinated or not, even when outside, and continue with all other restrictions in perpetuity. Why? This has been an opportunity for the inner tyrant to emerge in lots of people. It's one of the many negative outcomes of the irrational government policies of the past 18 months. These mini totalitarians have used the past year as an excuse for online harassment and in-person bullying—employing the power of the state as enforcers. Too many of these people now conflate the individual decision not to wear a mask, even after vaccination, attending some indoor or even outdoor event, and traveling for pleasure with indifference to mass murder.
The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment was a classic test of delayed gratification. The ‘wait a little longer’ trope is more like one of those sneaky tests where they keep promising you a marshmallow in 2 weeks and never wind up giving it to you. This new experiment is changed regularly, and the goalposts keep shifting. Their goal seems to be more about how long you'll continue submitting to a sunk cost fallacy argument. The authority figures will send reminders every month or so, suggesting that since you've invested so much, if you could just invest a little bit more, (you know, wait a little longer), it will make your sacrifice worthwhile!
Delaying gratification has its limits.
After months of people doing what was asked and the results becoming more suspect, the people running the experiment will next shift the blame onto the test subjects and claim they weren't believing hard enough for the magic to happen. It reminds me of cult-like behavior—a modern-day Heaven's Gate. It's not the cult leader's fault for lying when aliens fail to come and take us all away to the promised land in their spaceship made of moonbeams; it's the congregation's fault for lacking faith.
These cult leaders keep the gullible on the marshmallow treadmill, constantly confuse and mislead them, take your jobs, liberty, and freedom away, without ever intending on giving it back. They go on to blame others as failures. It's a clear "blame the victim" framing that is dishonest and misleading. It's also wearing thin. Many have moved on and will not accept a move back into 2020, especially after a summer of living the new normal—which is the old normal.
People aren't waiting a little longer because they realize this will never end until the people say so.
Thought-Provoking Articles:
Read my lips: We’re not going back to masks and lockdowns again - Are we really doing this again? Are we really talking about returning to masking? Again?
Politics over science: Biden Admin signals intent to force FDA approval of COVID vaccines - Full approval opens a bigger mandate arsenal to feds.
Has the Ruling Class Sold America Out? - The Newsweek Magazine Podcast
'The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind' - A psychiatrist lecturing at Yale's Child Study Center spoke about 'unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way.'
Don’t Apologize - If the mob comes for you, stand up for yourself. A free society demands it.
Something Interesting
I watched this romantic comedy with my girlfriend last night. It’s one of the better ones out there. Check it out on a date night if you get a chance.
Clayton Craddock is a father, independent thinker, and the founder and publisher of the social and political commentary newsletter Think Things Through and host of the Think Things Through Podcast.
Follow him on Instagram, Twitter or read more on his website: claytoncraddock.com
This is my first-take hit, having just read your column. It is not a defense of any statement or action of any government agency, just another point of view offered for discussion's sake. As with any discussion of major events, there are multiple points of view and considerations, sometimes in conflict with one another and sometimes not. So, in no particular order;
1) The marshmallow comparison is of no value. Marshmallows are not comparable to anyone's health and the example trivializes the trauma felt by all, in one way or another.
2) No one is suggesting anything go on "in perpetuity" and such characterizations only raise the temperature of an already heated debate. Let there be conversation about all the measures being suggested, but let those conversations happen as calmly as possible (noting the difficulty of that point as the pandemic continues to affect all of us in various ways).
3) Mistakes have been made all around. Even in hindsight, none of us can claim that another course would have served the city, state, region or nation better with absolute certainty. The Monday Morning Quarterback never gets cut. There can be time and value for historical review but developing a game plan for the next game is what's necessary.
4) It seems clear that vaccinations, while not offering 100% protection, have been the best way to mitigate the effects of Covid-19. There are breakthrough cases, but statistically few that lead to hospitalization and fewer that lead to death. Unvaccinated people make up over 97% hospitalizations at this point and in some hospitals the numbers of such cases is so high that ICU beds are simply not available.
5) NOTE: Vaccinations are provided free to anyone who wants them.
6) Much (I think most) of the delay in getting back to normal is the result of perceived personal safety. For example, you can open Broadway and offer tickets for sale, but you cannot make people feel safe about sitting in a packed theater to watch a show -- at least, probably not enough to sustain the production costs. Yes, you can argue that government and media have contributed to the climate of fear, but that is an academic discussion about causation. Fear (and it is not all irrational) is real and each individual measures his/her own level of comfort -- Perceived Personal Safety. Tourists must feel safe traveling and coming to NY, for example, to do so. Just as when tourists stayed away because they feared crime in Times Square, something has to happen to assuage that fear. Unfortunately, as difficult a problem as crime was, it was easier to overcome than a pandemic.
I am not telling anyone to get vaccinated. I do think it is worth noting that the vaccinations are effective and free and that they offer excellent (not perfect) protection for the individual taking the shot(s) and, incidentally, aid others in their Perceived Personal Safety and when enough people feel safer things will move toward normal and our elected followers will follow, endorsing what is already happening.
Again, I'm not telling anyone to get vaccinated. I am suggesting it might help the larger picture and help us return to normal.