Covid's cultural hangover is fascinating because on the one hand no one really wants to think about or remember it, but on the other it does seem to have permanently destroyed the last shreds of (at least) American civic society, in a way which is only becoming harder to ignore as time goes on.
It also started an ongoing health crisis that everyone is in denial of in a way that makes me feel absolutely insane. Long covid has overtaken asthma as the most common chronic illness in children, causing fatigue, depression, anxiety, and more. Disability rates in all ages have skyrocketed and will continue to grow. Every covid infection can cause long-lasting or permanent immune system and BRAIN damage and we're wondering why everyone is sick all the time and has no attention span or critical thinking skills. A study found that driving a car with acute or long covid is as dangerous as driving drunk because your brain is so fucked.
It wasn't just social isolation that's making everyone nuts, it's the wreck-your-brain-disease that everyone is spreading every day like its their full-time job. If you want to fight fascism, wear a mask!
unfun fact: any flu virus can cause this damage. even regular "normal" flu. covid seems to be very efficient at this, but influenza viruses can also cause "long flu" and months or even years of issues. i can't even count the number of people i've seen saying things like "i don't understand, it's been months and i still feel wiped out. it wasn't even covid, it was just flu!" like bruh. there's no "just" flu. flu fucks you up and can kill people too, especially the very young, very old, the chronically ill, and the immunosuppressed.
masks stop every virus, not just covid. wear a fucking mask.
