COVID-19 And The New Puritanism

I have a friend who was raised in Mennonite country, and he has been torturing himself over COVID-19. I don’t mean he has the illness; he feels responsible.
 “The guilty voice in my head keeps telling me that COVID-19 is my fault.” “Why is it your fault that people are dying of COVID-19? “God is punishing the world because of all the bad things I did.” (My friend is very kinky and very sexual. A lot like me.)
Well, of course it’s crazy to think that immorality caused COVID-19. Or is it? What is happening now seems to have a lot more to do with virtue signalling than science.
Science can’t tell us how to treat this disease, or how to cure it, or how it is passed on (do we get it from asymptomatic people or not?) But the government denies us testing (sorry, there aren’t enough ‘kits’). But when asked questions like ‘Does the virus evolve and mutate?’ or ‘Once you get it are you immune?’ we get ‘Sorry, but we’re working on that.’ There is no vaccine in sight. And no there is no idea what the real statistics are because increasingly it kinda seems like everybody has it, or could have it.
I’m not blaming the scientists or the medical profession; I just think our cultural emphasis should be on facilitating the work of scientists and doctors, not on social distancing.
We are being told to stay indoors, not to see our friends, not go to see plays, not drink in bars or eat in restaurants, not go to the gym, not go to libraries (where are we supposed to get the books we supposed to read at home?). We are being told not to have pleasure, not to have fun.
Let’s put this all in perspective. In Italy — the country that has been hit hardest by COVID-19 in the west — there have been 2,158 deaths from COVID-19.  In the same country in 2014 there were 20,183 deaths from diabetes.
For those of us who lived through AIDS, all this hysteria this all seems more than ridiculous — it’s insulting. In 1982 — before the syndrome was even identified — there were nearly 500 deaths from AIDS in New York City alone. The men who had it were shunned. And they died in agony, demonised — helpless and abandoned. As another one of my friends said ‘Remember AIDS, when we were afraid to touch our friends for fear we might die? But we still hugged. And we still did other things…as safely as we knew how.’ Why? Because we knew that loving each other was an important part of staying alive.
Now all of us face a hugely less dangerous challenge than AIDS, and yet we have decided to punish ourselves by not having fun — and oh, by the way, destroying our economy at the same time. I have no doubt that international travel and large gatherings of people should be cancelled — and people should certainly practice the recommended hygiene. But what we are seeing is virtue signalling on a nightmarish scale. It started with Wet'suwet'en blockades and is climaxing with COVID-19. People can’t stop talking about how virtuous they are, and about how much they care about the ‘vulnerable’ — making sure to remind us that they are not vulnerable themselves. This is about showing off—  not about protecting ourselves from disease. How many emails have I received from places like the Pickle Barrel assuring me that they are concerned about COVID-19? (Do I care?) Everyone wants to show that they care about the older and the vulnerable. But while scientists fumble around from lack of funding and support, we are denying ourselves fun. Well I am one of the older, vulnerable people. My ancestors came over on the Mayflower. In fact I come from a long line of humourless, music-abjuring, self-flagellating puritans but I’m not going to deny myself that soul-nurturing essence called human pleasure — because I know that to do so might make me more ill than touching my face.
Okay, yes I am a ‘bad.’ I will continue hugging my friends, kissing them, and maybe even….’other things.’
Arrest me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AyuhbnPOI&feature=emb_title&app=desktop