Either everything is okay or everything is not okay.
Everything is not okay.
Based on this premise (that everything is not okay) I see three different groups each characterized by their response, and each represented equitably across the political spectrum.
The majority pretend everything is okay and/or believe everything will be okay. I'll call this group the preebies.
The alarmists work to tell people everything is not okay. An alarmist may also work to offer solutions and/or make things better.
The crazies speak and act rashly and therefore sometimes dangerously; but the large majority of them do so with good intentions.
There is some crossover. For example, I know of some individuals who are (in most circumstance) a preebie but by choosing to ignore consensus science and remain unvaccinated, they qualify in this regard as a crazy. And, how many politicians can we call out as both alarmist and crazy.
A typical alarmist is (if not well-informed, at least) somewhat-informed. I believe a preebie should be required to become an alarmist before they are allowed to test the waters of crazy; though a well-placed alarmist who crosses the line into crazy has potential to do much more damage. And of course we cannot restrict the freedom of an uninformed or ill-informed preebie. If our leaders can traverse crazy, we must allow everyone that right. And I do agree with the essence of this equality, but I might work to mitigate the damage by somehow keeping ‘everyone’ from crossing that line. Some may argue that rash words and actions have some genius potential, but I would argue that there is a difference between rash and drastic; (keep reading).
I am an alarmist. I am an alarmist who believes in consensus science and acknowledges consensus fact. I am an alarmist who is also a consumer and a capitalist, though not by choice. But I am not a well-placed alarmist; and I am not doing a very good job.
Some of the preebies laugh at me.
Some of the preebies feel sorry for me.
Most of the preebies ignore me.
There is a growing movement of alarmists; and there are substantiated reasons, (see consensus science and consensus fact), that this movement is growing.
Most of the preebies dislike alarmists.
Some of the preebies hear some of the somewhat-informed alarmists and test the waters of crazy.
Some of the preebies hear the more well-informed alarmists but become overwhelmed and throw their hands up in despair and go back to being a career consumer believing everything will be okay.
Some of the preebies hear the more well-informed alarmists but because (as career capitalists) they believe they are personally okay, they find reasons to not react accordingly.
If one acts rashly, (without due consideration), they have for that moment crossed over into crazy. Due consideration requires thoughtful analysis of consensus (and opposing) science and fact, and it requires a certain amount of prescient forethought; (i.e. an examination of possible outcomes). With those elements in place, (thoughtful analysis and prescient forethought), one is justified in acting drastically for the sake of improvement and progress. Yet frequently, within the bounds of tradition, and within the bounds of consumerism / capitalism, some drastic actions that have been given due consideration appear to be rash, and the perpetrator of said drastic act appears to have crossed over into crazy. A protest against police violence for example, put against a backdrop of tradition and misremembered good old days, appears to be rash and unnecessary; but against a backdrop of human rights and the prevalence and injustice of implicit and explicit bias, it is the proud, gun-toting protectors of America who are acting rashly and who have crossed over into crazy. The same can be said about the prevalence and injustice of the high costs of housing and education, and the number and ease of evictions, and the ever-increasing wealth gap when looked at against a backdrop of consumerism / capitalism vs. a backdrop of Human rights. It is the wealthy and the landlords and the dollar-driven universities and the system itself that has crossed over into crazy. We must learn to differentiate between rash and drastic and we must recognize the context. Progress (and today, I believe survival) requires thoughtful, far-reaching, drastic action.
I am an alarmist.
And the forest is dark and scary. With trees encumbered by thick, knotted trunks and branches that from here, ground level, don’t look like the appendages of trees. So many obstacles. Briars and brush and undergrowth. Rotting wood and slick, moss-covered stones. It is hard to move from here to there, and it is even more difficult to find direction.