first they came for the swing sets
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first they came for the swing sets
(will all due apologies to martin niemöller)
many remember niemöller’s words from 1930’s germany.
they remember them because they carry in them an eternal truth:
it only gets harder to oppose a tyrant as their tyranny progresses and failing to stand up “just because it’s not you” is not the road to going along to get along.
it’s the railroad tracks you wind up standing on.
![Visitors stand in front of the quotation from Martin Niemöller that is on display in the Permanent Exhibition of the United States ... [LCID: img4857]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd1061db2-da21-458b-bd61-fc2c1feab4ed_700x430.jpeg "Visitors stand in front of the quotation from Martin Niemöller that is on display in the Permanent Exhibition of the United States ... [LCID: img4857]")
so how is it, in this day and age, we’ve allowed so much of this to be done to our children?
this is a real picture of the daughter of longtime gatopal™ @justinhart. it was taken by her mother. on a playground. where the swings were not available for children “cuz covid.”
and we let this stand.
we let A LOT of things stand. (photo collection from gatopal™ the robber baron)
because playing outside is not healthy.
and destroying infrastructure is now infrastructure.
and because performative fear mongering and isolation helps learning
and because you simply cannot run from “the science”
this has been obscene. we were supposed to be the adults and instead acted like terrified children hiding under a wubbie in a thunderstorm desperate to feel like we we “doing something” to assuage the wet pants atavistic terrors inculcated by a cynical set of panic pushers about a problem that was never a real danger to our kids.
we did this. not covid. us. you.
maybe we didn’t pass the rules and block the hoops, but we let them do it. and besides some bitter muttering, what did we do? who spoke out and stood up?
give it some real thought before you let the next one of these stand. bullies are not placated by appeasement. they are encouraged to sink to yet lower depths of nastiness.
and the dog you feed is the one that follows you home…
PS. humans:
when these kids grow up and stick you in a home when you’re old “for your own protection” remember who taught that to them.
i suspect it’ll be thin comfort, but at least you’ll be putting the blame where it belongs and not on them.
first they came for the swing sets
I remember being in a store in May with my daughter. She wore a mask and I didn't. She asked if I worried about what people thought. I told her and anyone else who would listen-When we accommodate fear, we reinforce it. For the record, I don't give damn what people think about me.
Our fourth and youngest was born in late 2019 with Down's syndrome. When she was born her doctors told us that she was particularly vulnerable to respiratory viruses. We asked what this meant for church, socializing, hospitality, etc. They said to try to be careful, but that it would be terribly harmful both to her and to us if we isolated her and ourselves from others. She was hospitalized (and in the ICU) with RSV (+Covid?) for a week from Christmas to New Year's, because someone from church got our family sick. We would have NEVER asked anyone in our family or society to stop their lives in order to possibly keep her out of the hospital; they would have thought we were insane if we did.
We've spent much of the last year and a half arguing with her physical and speech therapy agency (through a county program for low-income families) to get them to move sessions to in-person, since for most of her life she's been doing "therapy" on Zoom. Even the Texas state health department has told us "too bad," since they're (technically) a private company who can do what they want.
Today our daughter had an appointment with her eye specialist (one of a handful of specialists she sees every few months). This doctor's office called earlier saying that because she's just turned two, we need to mask her. My wife refused. They said, "It's OK if she doesn't keep it on, but you must agree to at least try to make her wear it." My wife adamantly refused, and filed a complaint. At the end of the appointment today (at which multiple staff and a nurse told my wife how ridiculous they think all this is), my wife told the doctor that parents should be free to decide whether or not to force a mask on their 25-month-old disabled children. The doctor exploded at her and viciously argued with her about how this is the "national policy," how it's for everyone's safety, how her own toddler does fine wearing a mask all day at preschool, and how we should find a different doctor. We are so angry and disturbed.