83 Million Will Likely Never See This Video Because They Can't

[ancianita]

A few days ago, an ICU doctor, Dr. Remy, posted this to show the harshest COVID reality.

I'd like to raise two other harsh realities -- ignorance, and no Internet.

People struggling to be functional don't have time to think about death, even though death is as real as reality gets. Pre-COVID, Austerity economic policy had Americans working two, three jobs just to pay rent; during COVID, 26 million people are now out of work.

My inclination has been to call non-maskers simple minded grasshoppers who call others fearful. Then I thought about how many of them would ever really see this message.

Those who scoff at mask wearers have likely never learned that fear is not a socially learned emotion.They likely never learned that fear is one of four genetically inherited emotions that ensure survival.

Why? 75% of Americans never took science past high school. Probably biology or psychology 101 would have given them more understanding of both the microbial world, and how humans learn.

Those they scoff at as living in fear, are adults living in rational caution. They don't know that.

Someone must have conditioned them to not want, value, or afford learning beyond high school.

But then, knowledge isn't free except on the Internet. But the Internet isn't free.

25% of America have no Internet -- that's 82,500,000 million people.
Either because they want it, but broadband companies won't go to all the places the post office goes; or because they can't afford the Internet.

https://www.statista.com/chart/21454/broadband-connection-in-america/

So this doctor's message will never reach them.

I've mocked this WH occupant and his enablers, and will probably keep on mocking the well off and well educated, but I'm learning that ignorance and no Internet might be the harsher realities everybody else have live with.

I'm going to reconsider why people end up in the hospital with COVID.

Because COVID truly has revealed cruelties inherent in our structures.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

1. I went without the net over

8 years when I lost my home.

I got a smartphone..

My phone had a 5 gig limit. Before I got the web I only had the net on my phone for another 4 years I had net on my phone until the 2nd week of the month.

Finally with help I can have the net here. I have to use some of my grocery money to have it. Budget is tight but I am glad I have net finally..It's been on for two and a half weeks .

The web needs to be a public utility.

Fuck the profiteers. They have enough.

[ancianita]

2. I'm so sorry for your hardship. This nation has shit for economic brains.

You say make the Internet a public utility? Abso-fucking-lutely!

It's not as if American taxpayers didn't already subsidize the backbone of the whole damn thing already, right?



Please stay safe!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

3. Fucking companies

Got to pay back the people who made the net possible,take what they got and let it go public. The stupid profit system is a failed way to run a country.

[ancianita]

4. Yes. Internalize all profit, externalize all costs and pollution.

As an old Marxist I've got a long list of what infrastructure and energy should be nationalized, and hell, we can't even get the hell out of corporate health care!

Fucking companies is right. I euphemistically call them Big Corp.

They be like "oh noes! covid help! our profit margins!" and congressional corporate whores just pulled 3 TRILLION of OUR tax money out of their ass and handed it over.

They're ALWAYS crying how the nation will collapse if they do.
While behind the scenes they threaten to pull their bribery-as-kick-back money.

Koch always said he didn't give politicians money on loosey goosey quid pro quo -- he said he paid them to say and do what he wanted them to say and do.

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. I was always on the fence about that idea...

until it became apparent that Big everything was going to use it for anything regarding hiring, and information. With this being the case, then we definitely need to have a public version of web availability. Preferably with a few regulations that specifically say they cannot allow rampant ads, cannot allow data mining, and most certainly cannot allow capitalistic restrictions on it. Otherwise, that public option will just be the equivalent of fools gold. It will look pretty enough, but you won't be able to do anything with it.

[tulipsandroses]

5. Problem is so many people not used to using the internet, fall prey to internet conspiracies

I am starting to think that everyone should have a license to use the internet responsibly. Either that or we start regulating Facebook, Youtube, and other companies and holding them responsible for the content on their platforms.

I remember back in the day, the worst I had to worry about when my mom first started using the internet was a letter from an African Prince. Now there's all kinds of nonsense, and folks get sucked in so easily. I think if my mother was just starting to use the internet today, I would be worried. QAnon is full of folks that were new to the internet.

But I do agree that folks should have more access.

[ancianita]

8. So it's the ignorance combined with the Internet. There's still a solution to both.

[Delphinus]

6. I've yet to watch

the video, but need to say your words really made me sit up and take notice. You've laid things out well and I realize I've not taken those points into account when I look around at the maskless mongers. I appreciate you and so much of what I learn from people here on Democratic Underground.